Page 20 of Call It What You Want
I push out a harsh breath. “Fine, then I need to see my dad. Not a phone call. Not a text. I need to look him in the eye and know he’s okay. Chase, too.”
“That’s a hardnoon Mr. Manbun,” he growls. “As for your dad, fine. You can see him tomorrow.”
“Why not now?” I ask. “I talk to him every day. He’ll freak out if he doesn’t hear from me.”
“Christian texted him from your phone last night. Told him you were staying with a friend for a couple of days.”
“He won’t believe you,” I tell him. “He’ll know something is wrong. I never go anywhere.”
My life is work and home. Occasionally, the grocery store. That’s it.
A smile touches his lips. “He said you deserved a break and not to worry. He’ll get what he needs from your apartment.”
My heart lurches at the blatant invasion of my privacy. “W-what else did he say?” What I really want to know is, what else did my dadreveal?
His thumb brushes my jaw, deceptively gentle. The scent of copper lingers in the air, proof of the violence that lives insidehim, simmering just below the surface. And no one knows when that violence is going to erupt. I don’t even think he knows.
“He wants you to have a good time,” he says. “And lucky for you, I’m the only one who knows how to give it to you.”
I make a disapproving sound.
“You were having fun earlier,” he says with a smirk.
I twist my head and glare up at him. “You’re a monster, Jackson McKnight. You destroy everything you touch. And you may have gotten me off, but don’t think for a second I’ve forgotten how dangerous you are.”
Or, more importantly, how dangerous he isto me.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Jackson
You’re a monster. You destroy everything you touch.
She’s not wrong.
I’ve spent years trying to justify my actions, wrapping them in pretty words like “protection” and “necessity.” But standing here in this suffocating silence, I can’t escape the truth Ava just threw at me.
Regardless, I’d do it all again in a heartbeat.
I stare down at her, taking in every detail of her face. She’s so beautiful. No makeup. No pretense. She’s always been this way, comfortable in her own skin. She’s never chased trends or worried about what people think. She gives zero fucks about all that, and damn, if that level of confidence doesn’t just make me want her more.
“I never claimed to be a good guy,” I say, my thumb tracing the line of her jaw.
“I guess it’s my fault, then.” Her eyes glisten, but I know she’s too damn stubborn to let a single tear fall. “All those years ago, I thought I saw something good in you. Something redeemable. Clearly, I was wrong.”
“Yeah.” I release her and take a step back, my chest suddenly tight. “Clearly.”
She glances away and pulls in a deep breath. When she looks back at me, the anger is gone, replaced with, I don’t know, uneasiness, maybe. “Seriously, Jackson. If there’s any part of you that still cares about me, then you’ll just let me go now.”
“I can’t do that.”
She glances away again to hide the tears, then she walks over and sits on the edge of the bed. I curl my hands into fists and pull in a deep breath. I could confess everything, tell her every detail about why she’s here. But it’s better if she thinks I’m the villain in her story…
It’s the role I know how to play. The role I’ve been playing for years.
“Is this about Chase?” I ask before I can stop myself. “Is he the reason you’re so desperate to leave?”
She glances at me sharply, unflinching. “You think this is aboutChase?”
