Page 55 of Hurry Up And Wait
“I thought that’s what I just said.”
A nasty smirk filled his face as he bent low, trying to intimidate me with the amount of space he filled up. “Take a fucking shower and look at yourself. Then, ask yourself if you want your sister to end up just like you. Or dead.”
And with that, he stormed out of the room. I listened as his heavy footsteps faded and then the door slammed in the distance. I didn’t know where he went, but when his car started up and peeled down the long drive, I sighed and closed my eyes. I really hoped he hadn’t just abandoned me here.
12
IKE
Why the fuckhad I gotten myself involved in this situation? You’d think I would have learned my lesson after what happened with Jane, but instead, I put myself right the fuck in the middle of the disaster of her relationship. I could still see that fucker’s face as I held him down and threatened his life. The fear in his eyes and the way his whole body trembled were the only things that allowed me to walk away without killing him.
He put his hands on her. He fucking slammed her up against a brick wall. How the hell that woman ended up with a loser like him, I’d never understand. Then again, Jane jumped in the trunk of my car to follow me. Maybe it was just women in general that couldn’t be trusted.
I glanced back at the house one last time before getting in my car. She was safe here. I had systems in place to alert me if anything happened, but nothing would. Besides, I was keeping tabs on her ex, and he was nowhere near the state. That didn’t mean I could let my guard down. After all, her fridge had just been blown up. But we were clear when we left the hospital. No one followed us, and the car was clean.
I needed to pick up her prescriptions and some food, but first, I hadto stop by OPS and find out why the fuck I had been ordered to take her to my place. And then I was going to have a conversation with Rae about why she knew I had a house here and why the fuck she wanted to keep that information under her hat. Of course, I was pretty sure all of OPS already knew about it. IRIS would be pissed, thinking I had bought the house to come back for his wife.
That ship sailed long ago. I shoved Jane from my mind and vowed never to let her take up residence in my brain again. She had a husband who loved her and a life she could never have with me. I found out the hard way that some people were tougher to shake than others. If I had stuck around, I would have gone down a road that would lead me nowhere but to heartache. And that was one thing I vowed to never let happen.
Cash was already outside talking with the builders when I arrived. As soon as he saw me, I swore he cursed under his breath. I was probably the last person he wanted to see. I had killed Zavala, and I knew Cash wanted that courtesy, but I couldn’t allow a man like that to walk and breathe after all the crap he’d done.
“Cash,” I nodded.
“What the fuck do you want?”
“Information.”
“Yeah? Get in line,” he said, turning from me.
“Hey.” I grabbed his arm as he turned away. His eyes narrowed on my hand and his whole body stiffened. Yeah, he was still pissed at me.
“Get your hand off me.”
“We need to talk.”
“I have nothing to say to you,” he snarled.
He jerked his arm, but I quickly caught it in my grip, pulling him closer. I lowered my voice, not wanting to cause a scene. “What would you have me do? If Zavala had stepped out of that helicopter, we wouldn’t have gotten Isabelle to safety. It was her or him. There were no other options.”
“You don’t know that.”
“I do,” I hissed. “He had men waiting for him. But because I took him out, the moment we landed, Zavala meant nothing. Nobody caredabout Isabelle. We cut the head off the snake and everything fell apart.”
“Not everything,” he spat. “There were no orders to stop the execution of my brother. Did you think of anyone else when you killed him?”
I hadn’t. All I could think about was ending his life, but I stood by what I did. It was a necessary evil. Rafe knew what he was getting himself into, and while I wouldn’t wish a death like that on anyone—or the guilt Cash had from pulling the trigger—I did what I had to do. Someone with no emotions or attachments involved had to make the decision, and I was the only one who had that capability.
“Rafe made his choice to go to the island. Isabelle didn’t.”
He couldn’t argue with me on that point. I knew his hatred was really anger at the situation and himself. He was forced to take out his own brother. His twin. I couldn’t imagine the amount of strength it took to pull the trigger.
His shoulders sagged slightly and the anger in his eyes diminished just a little. I knew we weren’t okay yet, but this was a start. “What do you need?”
“I need to know why the hell I took Isla to my place instead of here. And why is her sister staying away?”
Cash cursed under his breath. Jerking his head, he stalked off, leaving me to follow. We walked to the temporary office and I let the door slam behind me once inside. The place was a fucking mess, but that wasn’t a surprise considering that the office was a trailer and Cash was working off newly printed files that had yet to be organized.
“Her ex is causing problems,” he said, searching through a particularly large stack of files. “It wasn’t even twenty minutes after the bomb went off that he filed a restraining order against OPS. And you.”