Simon had been taken care of. Now I had to take care of the other piece of the puzzle, the one I should have taken care of a long time before.
CANE
“Where is she?” I stormed into the kitchen, Max a few feet behind. I hadn’t bothered knocking or ringing the bell and Kari looked a little surprised to see me.
Kari stood with her arms crossed, looking at me silently.
“Where is she?”
Someone better fucking answer me before I lose control.
“She’s upstairs,” Kari said softly, “in her room. But I don’t know that you should just go up there, Cane.”
“Thanks for your input,” I muttered, making my way to the staircase and taking the stairs two at a time.
I had to see her. I had to know she was okay.
I knocked lightly on her door but there was no answer. I knocked again.
“Jada? Are you in there?” I pressed my forehead against her door. Even if Kari hadn’t told me she was in there, I swear I would have known. I was drawn to that room, like there was a chord attached to me and something on the other side. It was insane and I would have laughed my ass off if I had heard someone else say that. But it was true in this new strange world I was living in.
Please don’t let me have completely fucked this up.
I waited a few seconds before cracking the door open.
My heart paused in my chest as my eyes found her. She lay in her bed, her brown hair splashed across her white pillows. Her face was calm, unmarred, and just so damn beautiful.
A peace settled over me as I watched her, a feeling I didn’t have very often. The only peace I was ever able to grasp was from avoiding shit I didn’t want to think about. I had never known peace like she had at that moment and I wished she always had it. Not like the night before when her face had been so twisted in anger with me.
For the first time in a long ass time, I was embarrassed of myself.
I quietly made it over to the bed and knelt beside the mattress. I pulled the comforter down a little and the purple marks on her upper arm jumped out at me. They were obviously finger marks, narrow prints lying like they were wrapped around her arm.
I felt the incredible urge to go beat the shit out of Simon again.
Jada stirred in her sleep and I placed the comforter back over her, tucking it lightly around her small body. She rolled over onto her back and opened her eyes slowly.
I rocked back on my heels, giving her a little space.
This will go one way or the other …
Once she focused on me, she scrambled to sit upright. “Cane! What are you doing here?” Her voice was squeaky, verging on panic.
“Shh, it’s okay. Calm down.” I smiled softly at her. “I came to make sure you’re okay.”
“Of course I’m okay. Why would I not be okay?”
I shot her a knowing look. “I know what happened, Jada.”
She swallowed hard, pulling the comforter up and around her, creating a barrier between the two of us. “Cane, look, it’s really none of your concern.”
“The hell it isn’t.”
She sat with her mouth open, like she didn’t understand anything I just said.
How is this not crystal clear to her?
“How is this any business of yours?” she asked, her eyes narrowing.
I shrugged my shoulders, the adrenaline starting to wear off. I scrubbed my hands over my face, exhaling a breath I had been holding for a long time.
“Cane? What’s on your hand?” Jada leaned up and took my hand, turning it over. “Is this blood?”
I nodded hesitantly, closing my eyes and enjoying feeling her skin-on-skin. Being with her, touching her, feeling her—even if it was only our hands—made me feel differently than I ever had. It was like a part of me instantly quieted. A piece of me found the link it was looking for.
It was scary and stupid and amazing.
Her eyes were wide as she looked at me in disbelief. “Whose blood is it?”
“It’s Simon’s.”
“What did you do?”
“What do you think?”
She let her head fall back against the headboard. “Why did you do this? This was my problem, not yours!”
“The moment you agreed to go to dinner with Simon, you made it my problem.”
“And how is that, Cane? Are you a knight in shining armor now? I can take care of myself. That’s how I roll.”
I clenched my jaw, my eyes blazing. “That’s how you roll, huh? Well here’s how I roll, sweetheart. If someone fucks with you, they fuck with me. There is no grey area.”
“That’s asinine! It makes no sense!”
“Lots of shit doesn’t make sense. I’ll agree with that. But there’s one thing you need to get through your fucking head—do not fuck with Simon Powers, Jada. It is not negotiable. I’m not kidding.”