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I shake my head, though she's not looking at me. I don't have answers for her. If she knows Jag, it would make sense why Dante chose her.
"He just showed up. He knows Dante. Do you know him?"
She lifts her face, misery etched in every groove and drowning in her light blue eyes.
"My brother is the president of his MC. He's the third in line. He's going to fucking kill me."
Well, shit.
Twenty-Nine
Dante
"Get in the room, Jag," I say, striding toward him.
His pensive face turns stormy. "What did you do?"
"I found her. Get in the damn room."
He bursts through the door, scanning the room as soon as he makes it over the threshold. I push the wood closed, stopping him from storming into the bathroom where the shower is going.
"No use scaring her more. You can wait."
"How the hell did she get here?" he growls, pacing back and forth as his fingers dive through his dark hair.
"I told Rachel to keep an eye out for anyone from Synd or Harris. She told me about this one today, so I think she just got in. Maybe we'll be able to keep her in here, away from the rest of the shit going on." I lean against the door, tracking his movements.
He's already shaking his head before I've finished. "We have to get her out. She can't be here."
"Jag," Aelia calls, closing the bathroom door quietly behind her. "She'd like you to contact her brother and tell him she's safe."
His explosion is slow, building gradually and marked by the curling of his fingers, then a flush overtaking his face. His eyes are the last to blow, darkening in a way I thought only happened in books.
"Safe?" His voice is deadly, echoing through the silence, and I step in front of Aelia, directly in the line of fire. "She's the furthest fucking thing from safe."
Like a curse, the last word drops in front of him as if he's throwing down the gauntlet, begging me to deny it. I'm not stupid enough to poke the bear. I thought I'd seen him go off the deep end before, but this is a whole new level.
I wonder if he's in love with her, watching from the sidelines while her brother controls where she goes and who she sees. I shake my head, unwilling to go down that rabbit hole. I have enough issues dealing with my own relationship without inserting myself into his.
Aelia steps next to me, placing a hand on my arm. "Avery is much better off than many other women who come through here. She just arrived and while she's dirty, she isn't hurt. Dante found her before anyone else could and claimed her, thereby placing her under his protection."
His lip curls as he advances on her. "Is that supposed to make me feel better? I've seen what his protection gets you, Aelia."
She straightens her spine, tipping her chin up. "Our situations are vastly different. You can't judge mine against anyone else's. We'll keep her in here until we're able to find a way out for her."
"I'm taking her now," he growls, and I step in front of the door, pushing Aelia toward the closet.
"Knock it off, Dante," she hisses, batting my hand away. "Jag, either you're going to listen to me or you're going to get the fuck out. She's terrified, and your presence doesn't help."
He rears back as if he's been slapped. "What does that mean?"
She sighs, glancing at the door, then back to Jag. "She thinks you're going to be upset with her. I believe her words were, ‘he's going to kill me.’ No matter what I said, she is convinced you're going to be pissed."
The water shuts off and his body sways, his feet at war with his mind. I've never seen him this gutted, as if his entire world has tilted on its axis. I knew Avery, being Ghost’s sister, was important to the Phantoms, but I didn't realize how close Jag was to her. Then again, maybe it's a situation like Helms and MacKenzie.
I always suspected those two would get together given the right circumstances. Then all of us were thrown a curve ball and most of the leaders died, including Helms's dad, leaving him to take over. When our dad moved us to Rima, Mac left part of herself with the Reapers, and I don't know if she'll ever get it back. I thought when we went to Synd to help them deal with the Guild they would reconnect, but Helms had to be his usual asshole self.
"Jag, I'm not going to tell you what to do, but just know if you start bossing her around, she's only going to fight you harder. I've seen it before. Be the one she runs to, not away from," I say, regret swirling in my gut.
