Page 24 of Dark Christmas
“Stay with me,” I repeat. “I’ll keep you safe. I swear it.”
Chapter 13
Amelia
“No.”
I’m staring into those intense, steely eyes of his, still in a total daze. There’s no question he’s serious—he wants to protect me, and he’s definitely not used to being told no. But I’m standing firm.
He looks confused. “No?”
I cross my arms, my tone shaky but determined. “There’s no way in hell I can stay with someone as dangerous as you.”
His brow furrows. “Dangerous?”
“Yes, dangerous! There’s a gun in your hand and a dead body in your kitchen!”
He stays calm,toocalm for someone who just killed a man. “The body will be taken care of.”
I throw my hands up. “See? This is exactly my point! You just killed someone, and you’re talking about it like it’s some random recycling you need to drop off. This is insane!”
The words continue to tumble out of my mouth, my voice getting louder, but I don’t care.
“I just had a gun held to my head! Does that faze you at all? I’ve never been that close to death in my life! And now I’ve got trauma that I’m going to have to spend God knows how much money on therapy to unpack!”
I know I’m rambling, but I can’t stop. “What the hell, Melor? I just went from a hot dinner date to witnessing a murder and being held at gunpoint! How am I supposed to process this? I’m just a baker for fuck’s sake!”
He sits there calmly, saying nothing, as if he’s letting me get it all off my chest first.
I’m breathing hard and my hands are shaking as I wrap up my rant. “I’mnotstaying. I’m going home, where I can pretend I didn’t just live through a scene from a true crime thriller.”
There’s a beat of silence before he finally speaks, his voice low and unyielding.
“No.”
“No?” I echo, blinking at him like he’s lost his damn mind.
“No.”
“You’re not in charge of me.”
“You can’t go home,” he states matter-of-factly. “You’re not safe.”
I scoff, crossing my arms. “I have nothing to do with any of this!”
“It doesn’t matter,” he counters, his eyes darkening. “They saw you with me and unfortunately that puts you in danger.”
I shake my head, trying to come up with another option. “I’ll stay with my best friend. Claire’s—”
“That won’t work,” he cuts in. “It won’t take much for them to figure out where you work, who your friends are. If you go to your friend’s place, you’re putting her and whoever else lives there in danger, too.”
I open my mouth to argue, but then stop, the weight of his words hitting me like a punch to the gut. He’s serious. And I know he’s right.
“Whether you like it or not, Amelia, whether it’s fair or not, you’ve been pulled into this,” he says, his voice hard as stone. I can feel the anger bubbling up inside me, mixing with an awful sense of helplessness. This can’t be happening. I’m trapped in a nightmare I can’t wake up from.
I look up at him, narrowing my eyes. “Pulled intowhat, exactly?”
He says nothing, his jaw tight.