Page 38 of Before the Fall

“No. I’m not going anywhere. And I can’t believe you think you could just send me off like some unruly teenager to military school.”

Okay. Damn. I didn’t expect that response.

“Tia, it’s for the best. You couldn’t handle me talking about killing Victor, and I understand why. You’re a nice person, and hearing someone talk about killing his uncle must have freaked you out. You don’t belong in this world. You belong in a place where people are kind and nobody gets killed.”

She steps closer to me and sets her hands on her hips. “I belong with you. That’s all there is to it. Yes, I had a hard time before, but give me a little grace here. I’m new to all of this. You try being thrown into a world you know very little of and see how you handle it. I’m tougher than you think, Jaxon. I got shot and lived through it, for God’s sake.”

I can’t help but smile at how sweet she is, even when she’s trying to be a badass. “That’s the damn reason I want you away from me and everything in my world. You got shot, Tia! Do you have any idea how bad I feel about that? I want to kill the guy who shot you right now even more than I want to kill Victor, and believe me, I want that bastard dead.”

Shaking her head, she sighs, and I seize on that. “See? That right there. You can’t handle this. I don’t blame you. I blame myself. I was selfish and wanted you back, but I didn’t think about how you’d do when push came to shove. Now I know.”

“So now I can’t sigh or show any emotion? That’s complete and utter bullshit, Jaxon. So I don’t like to hear you talk about killing people. So what? Does that make me unable to handle things? No, it doesn’t. It just means that I don’t like the thought of people dying, especially because of me. I’m not going anywhere, so get used to it.”

I look into her blue eyes and wonder how I ever convinced this beautiful soul to love me. Whatever I did, I got damn fucking lucky she even gave a chance that first time I went to her apartment. Ninety-nine out of a hundred women would have told me to fuck all the way off out of their lives, and I would have deserved it.

“So now you’re tough enough to handle this life? I don’t know if you understand all that goes into being with me, Tia. I’m a bad man. A killer. Do you get that? Because that’s what I am. Now’s your last chance to get the hell away from me and meet some nice guy who can give you a new house, kids, and a minivan. If you don’t go now, there’s no way I’ll ever let you go again.”

She gives me one of her beautiful smiles and cradles my face in her tender hands. “You’re not a bad man, Jaxon. You’re a man whose job requires you to do bad things. I understand the difference now. And I don’t want some guy who’s going to hand me over to someone because he can’t pick winners in a basketball game. I want you.”

Confused, I shake my head as I try to figure out what she’s talking about. “I think I missed part of our conversation because I have no idea what you mean. What guy? What basketball game?”

“Forget it. Just something I heard.”

“Well, I don’t know who you’re talking to, but I’m not handing you over to anyone.”

She stands on her toes and kisses me softly. “Good. Now that we got that settled, maybe we should do something about that eye of yours. I think it needs some ice to make the swelling go down.”

“I thought it was looking better. I think it makes me look tougher, like a fighter. What do you think?”

Gently moving her hand along the side of my face, she touches just underneath my eye, making me wince. “I think some ice might help. Did I hurt you much?”

“No. The only thing that was hurting me while you were gone was thinking about how I had to send you away. Now that I know you’re staying, I don’t care how much pain my body is in.”

Tia tenderly wraps her arms around me and rests her head on my chest. “Thank you for caring enough about me to protect my parents and me. I didn’t realize how much that means to me until I was outside thinking about everything.”

I rest my cheek against the top of her head and sigh at how good she feels in my arms again. “I’d give my life to make sure you’re safe, Tia. Never doubt that.”

Leaning back, she looks up at me and shakes her head. “Well, I don’t want that. I want you around so when things calm down again, we can be happy.” She wrinkles her nose and adds, “Things do calm down with all of you guys, don’t they? It isn’t always like this, is it?”

God, she can be so cute.

“Like any other job, it’s long periods of practically nothing happening punctuated by bursts of way too much goddamned happening.”

“Okay. I can handle that. I love you, Jaxon.”

I kiss her and smile against her lips. “I love you, Tia. Never doubt that.”

“I never do.”

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Tia

“Are you still really sore?” I ask with an ulterior motive about his answer.

Jaxon shrugs, unaware of my secret meaning. “I took a really hot shower, which felt incredible after my skin got used to the temperature, so I’m fine. Why?”

Tugging on his hand, I pull him toward the bed. “Well, I thought since we have this room all to ourselves and nobody’s talking about anyone going anywhere anytime soon, we could take advantage of this bed conveniently being right here for us.”