Page 31 of Burn of Obsidian
“Oh, so you’ve finally brought a man home!” Mum squealed with excitement, dropping down the few steps. “Wait until I tell your father. A little warning would have been nice, but – ”
“He isn’t staying; he was just dropping something off.”
“Of course he’s staying! I won’t take no for an answer.” She gently patted his arm, her height barely reaching his chest. “Call me Dorothea. Thea’s named after me, you know,” she said with so much pride Thea’s heart ached. “I hope you like beef.”
How was I going to get out of this?
“We’ll be up in a minute.” Thea forced a smile, noting how Jax tilted his head toward the shadows. “I just need to quickly check something with my boyfriend.”
Her mother pouted, but she retreated to the house. “Dinner’s served in five minutes. Don’t make me come back out here.” The door clicked closed behind her, and Thea had to fist her hands to stop them from shaking.
“You shouldn’t be here,” she whispered, looking up to find her sisters Molly and Rosey watching from the window. The curtain jerked, both of them trying – and failing – to hide.
“I said how easy it was for me to find you,” he said in his deep rumble of a voice.
Thea grabbed Jax’s arm, pulling him away. “They don’t know anything.”
“You know what I want.” His eyes glistened, even in the dark. “Agree to help me, and I won’t tell them about your illegal activities.”
“You’re seriously blackmailing me right now?”
Jax dropped his head closer, the air stretching taut between them. “Do you remember the men that attacked you? The ones I protected you against,” he growled. “Well, if I don’t get that document back, more people are going to get hurt – or worse.”
Thea glared at him. “What if I can’t get it back?”
“Trust me, you’re going to want to get it back.”
“Well, that’s confirmed it,” she said as Jax’s brow quirked up. “You’re just as much of an arsehole as your brother.”
Jax huffed out a breath, almost like a laugh. “You really don’t like Sythe.”
“He mated to a woman without her consent.” Thea rolled her eyes. “I don’t care that they’re fated or some shit. It’s called communication, which he, and clearly you, lack.”
“I think my communication has been pretty clear.”
Bloody hell.
“You’ve made your point,” she said, trying to push him away. It was like trying to move a mountain. “You can leave.”
Thea heard the giggle of her sisters, panicking at the idea Jax would actually join her family for dinner. He wouldn’t actually go through with it? Would he?
“Mum says dinner’s ready,” Rosey, the youngest, said with a grin. She’d recently lost another tooth, leaving a large gap right at the front.
Thea swallowed the rising dread, her voice barely above a whisper. “Leave, please.”
“Theeeeaaaa!” Running in her bunny slippers, Rosey reached for Jax’s hand before Thea could stop her. “Come on!”
Her chest squeezed, her hand curving around the blade in her pocket. If he made one move against her baby sister, she wouldn’t hesitate. She’d use his own pocketknife to stab him, which she thought was pretty poetic.
A smile creeped on her lips, and Jax seemed to frown at the sudden change in her mood as Rosey tugged excitedly, which was basically the only other expression the man possessed. Empty, or a scowl. It was so subtle that it was barely a wrinkle around his eyes, but she noticed.
“Come on!” Rosey sang. “Molly was telling me all about Bianca’s kittens. Can you believe she has kittens? Like real ones. Not stuffed ones like – ”
“Okay, okay, we’re coming.” Thea didn’t release her grip on the knife, despite the metal tingling her fingers.
“I like kittens,” Jax replied with a note of challenge, his eyes never leaving Thea’s.
Rosey squealed with delight, too young to understand. “Really?” She was essentially hanging from his arm. “Can I show you my room? I have lots of stuffed kittens. And some teddy bears too!”