Page 97 of Together We Burn
Turning away, I closed the car door and exhaled. Jake wrapped his hand around my neck and gently brought my lips to his. It wasn’t a kiss I was used to; it wasn’t devouring, demanding, or dominating. It wasn’t slow, soft, or sweet either. It was him telling me he was by my side till the end.
He pressed his forehead to mine, and I fisted his Henley in my hand, breathing in the rich scent of bergamot and blackcurrants from his cologne. He slid his hands down my arms and laced our fingers together, guiding me to the middle of the empty car park.
Emilia was late.
The least she could do was be punctual if she wanted Nate instead of making us wait. My nephew was locked up safe in Alex’s Dodge Ram, parked behind us as we stood in formation–Alex, me, and then Jake, standing side by side in the dimly lit parking lot.
The two men were armed to the hilt; Glocks tucked into waist belts, knives strapped to the outside of their trouser legs. And then there was Alex. His fingers drummed impatiently against the machine gun strapped to his chest. I had no idea why he thought he needed such heavy artillery for this fight. Apparently, for my sister, he was all flare.
Jake gave our laced fingers a reassuring squeeze. I glanced up, meeting his gaze and gave a small, forced smile.
“I love you, Stefany.”
I froze.
He what? I’d stopped him a while back when I thought he was about to say those words, but I could have been mistaken. I’d never heard those words before. Not from my father, not from my mother, certainly not in a non-platonic way that Alex or Mac had said it. No one loved me in that way.
“No matter what happens tonight. I love you.”
My lips parted, eyes wide, as words clogged in my throat.
“They’re here,” Alex called, and Jake pressed a kiss to my temple before walking off to join Alex as he started to make his way toward Emilia’s car.
The driver got out of the Bentley and walked to the back passenger door, opening it and holding a hand out. Emilia’s long, slender hand appeared from the doorway first, followed by her two feet wearing the brightest pair of white heels that were almost blinding in the moonlight.
Pushing down onto the gravel, she rose from her seat like she’d been practising how to make an entrance. She dropped her driver’s hand and waited as another man, her bouncer, dragged my sister from the car.
My breathing hitched at the sight of a small but noticeable bruise on her cheekbone, but at least she was in a better state than I had been in my mother’s hands. Her blue eyes found mine, and a small whimper escaped from her lips as the man holding her tied hands behind her back pushed her to stand beside Emilia.
“Are you incapable of following instructions?” Emilia asked, looking at the two men strapped to the hilt in weapons. I stepped out of formation, lifting my arms and doing a slow spin, catching Alex’s eyes as I moved.
“I am unarmed. You didn’t say anything about them.”
A flicker of anger entered her eyes, but she quickly recovered as she touched Chris’s arm and led her forward.
“And the boy?”
“No,” Chris whispered, but her small protest was loud enough to be carried on the wind and punch me straight in the gut.
I swallowed hard, forcing myself to speak. “He’s in the car.”
“No, Stefy, what are you—”
Emilia backhanded her across the face, and I flinched, feeling that sting as if it was me she'd struck. Chris sobbed and stumbled forward as our mother pushed her again to keep moving.
“Well?” Emilia asked, digging her long red nails into Chris’s arm, stopping her when she was nearly in touching distance from me. My gaze darted across Chris and then Emilia, calculating the odds of trying to snatch my sister right now and making a run for it.
But keeping true to the narrative of letting my brand-fucking-new emotions cloud my better judgement, I never accounted for Emilia holding a gun to Chris’s back, testing me, taunting me, trying to keep me in line.
Fuck my fucking life.
Emilia tilted her head with a smirk, pushing the gun barrel into Chris’s ribs. My fingers itched to punch that condescending smile straight from her botoxed face. Impatient with waiting, she dug the gun in deeper, and Chris winced, trying to escape it.
My jaw ached with how tight I clenched my teeth together, and then I made the mistake of looking into Chris’s eyes as I turned toward the car and nodded at Alex.
I wished I had never looked; I wished I was strong enough to keep her out of this, but the blinding panic in the depths of her blue irises, followed by the flash of hatred as Alex banged on the side of the truck, would forever haunt me.
Slowly, the back cabin door opened, and Nate’s trainers crunched on the gravel. I eyed him as he gasped at the sight of his mom, then snapped his eyes to me.
