Page 99 of Russian Roulette
“You owe it to yourself and the animals to at least consider it,” she says. “I realize this sounds selfish or like I’m playing you to help me, but it’s the truth. You’ve convinced me you’re all trapped by Giovanni. I have a plan that might free everyone from Giovanni’s grasp, and you’re against it. Why is that?”
“We understand what he’s capable of and how he ruins people’s lives. You’ve never even met him, so you can’t possibly understand how dangerous your plan is.”
“Not if I don’t get caught,” she argues. “If we all worked together as a team, plus Natasha, if I can ever fucking find her, we could do it. I’m sure of it. It wouldn’t be easy and would take a ton of plan to work out every detail, but I’m sure we could pull it off.”
Jade’s voice rises in excitement and her face lights up. She’s truly convinced her plan is possible. Her enthusiasm draws me in and for a brief second, I consider the idea. Working together with Jade and the other guys to bring Giovanni to his knees would be a dream come true.
Could it really work?
I’m too worried to open my mind to the possibility. Once we went down that path with her, we would set something into motion that we couldn’t stop or reign in. There would be no turning back. Teaming up with Jade on her plan would mean all of us would put every single thing we’ve worked for at risk.
The stakes are too high.
49
JADE
“I’m sorry,” I say to Kit. “I shouldn’t have brought it up. You were kind enough to share your life story with me, and now it sounds as if I’m trying to take advantage of you. Please forget I mentioned it. I’m still working on being more tactful in conversations. I blurt things out and say what’s on my mind before I think it through. I won’t bring it up again tonight if you won’t.”
“Good idea,” he says, giving my shoulder a squeeze. “Why don’t we go into the kitchen and fix dinner? I’m a decent cook and can rustle up a quick stir-fry if you’re interested. You can sit and watch me try to dazzle you with my talents.”
“Great.” I stand up on my own and hold out my hands. “See? I’m much better now.” My leg still throbs, but I’m hiding the pain. He needs to quit worrying, and I need to get on with my life. I can’t hang around the house all day doing nothing.
“Are you sure your leg is better?” he says, keeping a close eye on me when I walk in front of him into the kitchen. “Another day of bed rest would help your leg heal.”
I’m gritting my teeth through the pain when I walk to keep from limping. I turn to smile brightly at him. “I’m fine. Stop worrying about my leg. Can I help you chop up vegetables for the stir-fry? I’ll sit on a bar stool at the counter.”
“Sure,” he replies. He heads to the refrigerator and begins pulling out a variety of vegetables and puts rice into a cooker. After washing the vegetables, he places a large cutting board in front of me and hands me a knife. “Knock yourself out,” he says. “Cut up whatever you want me to cook.”
I’m enjoying being with him in the kitchen doing normal, everyday things. We work together in perfect harmony without a need for constant conversation. Kit is easy to be around and even easier to look at.
“Do you enjoy living out here alone on the ranch?” I blurt out.
He stops stirring the vegetables and turns to answer me. “I’ve never really thought about it, and I’ve never brought another woman here, if that’s what you’re asking. Between work and taking care of the animals here at the ranch, I’ve never had time to consider a social life. There are only so many hours in a day.” He studies me quietly for a moment. “I enjoy having you here. It was a good feeling driving into the garage tonight and knowing, or should I say hoping, that you would be here when I opened the door. I hope that you’ll stay. Have you decided yet what you’re going to do? Are you leaving town or staying here in Vegas?”
“I haven’t made any plans to leave,” I answer truthfully. “I can’t quite figure out how things would work if I stay in Vegas.”
“What do you mean?” he asks, his expression turning serious.
“You understand exactly what I mean,” I say. “I don’t need to spell it out in detail. You saw what happened with Seven and Vulcan. I can’t be the reason any of you get hurt. I care for all of you and don’t want to hurt anyone or for you to hurt each other.” Breaking his gaze, I look away. “I don’t know what to do.”
“Youdon’t have to do anything,” he says. “Stay in Vegas and give us time to work it out between us. We’ll figure out something. None of us want you to leave, so don’t go.”
“How can this situation be worked out?” I ask. “There are three of you and one of me. I’m a statistics nerd and numbers don’t lie.”
“Believe me, we’re all fully aware of the situation,” he says quietly. “You need to trust us to work it out. All we need is more time. We can fix this. It might take a little time, but we can do it. We don’t want to lose you.”
He walks over in between stirring the vegetables to give me a quick hug and kiss on the top of my hair. Kit makes it all sound so easy when that’s not the case. Eventually, one of them will demand that I choose between them.
How can I possibly choose?
I can’t.
50
JADE
Sneaking out of the house was easier than I expected. Kit went to bed around midnight because of an early rehearsal in the morning, which gave me plenty of time to plan my escape. I left a note on my bed telling him not to worry and that I’d be back before morning. I’m not dumb enough to believe he won’t realize I’m gone. The ranch has security systems everywhere that will alert him.
