Beyond(37)
“I’m fine,” I say. “As you can see.”
I lower my voice. “I saw my mother.”
Dane visibly cringes. “Christ Olivia.”
“You knew then,” I state.
He steps into the water with me, and pulls me against his chest. “I knew. I’ve seen her around the walls. She looked just like you. Evan made sure none of us went near her.”
“Dane… I…”
“What baby?” he whispers.
“I told Jase to kill her,” I blurt out. “She would have hated it, living like that. I couldn’t see her like that.”
He rubs my back, exhaling deeply. “That must have been a hard call to make, but I think you did the right thing. I wouldn’t want to live like that either.”
“I feel like Dad kept so much from me.”
“He wanted to protect you. You’re everything that’s good in this world Olivia. There isn’t much of that out there anymore. Everyone just lives for themselves.”
I lift my head up. “You don’t. You help everyone. Protect everyone. You’re amazing Dane.”
I grin as I see his cheeks redden.
“I don’t know about all that,” he murmurs. “But it means the world to me that you think that of me. To be honest, the need to protect you… It consumes me. It’s a little fuckin’ scary.”
He scrubs his hand down his face, looking frustrated. “I want you back behind those walls. Now.”
I roll my eyes. “I’ve made it this far and I’m fine. And now that I’ve been out, don’t think I’m not going to come out here again.”
The muscles in his throat work as he swallows. “We’ll talk about it later.”
“I’m a capable woman Dane,” I tell him quietly. “I know you want to protect me, and I love that, but I’m a not just your wife. I’m a leader and a warrior too.”
He groans and buries his face in my neck. “I know, trust me, I know.”
We stay like that for a while, our ankles in the water, our bodies pressed against each other, his face in my neck.
“We need to get going,” he finally says. “It’s never safe to stay in one place for too long.”
I nod. “Okay. Dane?”
“Yes beautiful.”
“Is there any tuna left?”
We had to walk back through Aaron’s camp, and to be honest, I was crapping myself. I hadn’t told Dane about what had happened and neither had anyone else. We still had a few hours before we got there, but I was already envisioning what was going to go down.
Sam must have been thinking the same thing because he mutters, “Few hours until we’re all killed. Except you, of course.”
I roll my eyes. “He won’t do anything to you.”
He whispers. “I let you go in that tent with him! Dane is going to gut me and love every second of it.”
I can hear Jordan in front of us, telling Dane how nice it is that he doesn’t care how close I am with other men.
Bitch.
She’s trying to start shit, I know she is.
I turn to Jase, who was walking on my other side. “Can’t you keep her occupied?”
He chuckles, shaking his head in amusement. “Dane doesn’t want her. Control your jealously princess.”
I make a scoffing noise. “I’m so not jealous.”
The men beside me laugh. I lower my voice and decide to change the subject. “Is there any way we can go around Aaron’s camp?”
Jase shakes his head. “Those ways aren’t safe. Why do you think we had to cut through his way? He knows it too. That’s why the bastard set up camp there.”
“Who the hell is he anyway?”
“Who knows,” Jase replies. “He sees himself as some sort of ruler.”
“Not a very good one,” I say. I see Lars and Gina walking side by side, next to Dane. “What’s going on there?”
Sam doesn’t raise his head. “It’s complicated.”
I look at Jase, wondering how much I can say in his presence.
He puts his hands up. “I know it all. I’m not stupid. I think everyone knows now Sam and Lars have something going on after they hugged each other like that.”
I clear my throat. “Have you and Gina...”
“No,” Sam replies. “Not into chicks. If I was, I would have gone for you Olivia.”
I look at my best friend. “You are so damn sweet.”
He shrugs his broad shoulders. “It’s the truth. I care for Gina as a friend and because Lars obviously cares for her.”
“But would you kick her out of bed?” I whisper. I hear Jase chuckling from my other side, so I turn to him. “You’re not all that bad, you know that?”