Page 59 of The Game
My heart clenches almost painfully, but it’s suddenly all making even more sense.
“That’s why…you take care of the girls, too, isn’t it? But…I’ve seen you with little Alina. You’re just…pure,” I whisper, leaning back against him, his strong arms now relenting and molded to my body instead of pinning me down ruthlessly.
He snorts.
“I wouldn’t say that I’m pure, bunny. Still a lot you don’t know about me…but yeah, it’s why I do what I can to help them. And Alina is innocent. If I can help protect that, then I will.”
Tears knot in my throat almost painfully after how long I sobbed in the tub, but now they’re tears of loss.
Loss because I know how this ends for us, and though there’s joy and hope to be found in the thought of returning to my twins, there’s also an ache in my chest that only Teddy can soothe. Selfishly, I want to keep them all, but I know that would never work on either end, and I’d never force that decision for Teddy or Jameson and Tristan.
“You’re still in your head a lot,” he points out softly. Turning my face, I hide my expression in the crook under his chin, breathing in deeply his unique scent, committing it to memory.
“Because I know how this ends, and I don’t want to lose you,” I say, voice breaking as I gear up to cry again. He squeezes me tighter, his heart thudding against my body.
“You’ll never lose me, Alice. No matter where life takes us, you’ll always have me if you need me. Promise.”
Sniffling, I nod, because it has to be good enough for now. My heart and my head are just confused despite the fact that he was upfront about all of this when we started fucking. He’s not looking for a relationship, and neither am I, but the thought of losing the one thing that has kept me going makes me want to cave.
“I know,” I whisper brokenly. He chuckles against me softly.
“I love you in my own way, Alice, and I always will. You’ve given me just as much hope, given me an out whether you can see that or not.”
Blurry eyes glaring at his coffee table, I wipe my nose with the back of my wrist and attempt to not fall apart.
“I love you in my own way, too, but I don’t understand how I’ve given you a way out,” I grumble. He chuckles at my obstinance, chafing my arm.
“Because if we want this plan I’ve been creating to work, we’re going to need some help…” he trails off softly. Perking at this, I pull my head up, our eyes meeting in the dimness of his tidy living room. Ice becomes my veins, my heart hanging above a precipice. I don’t want to ask it, but I know I have to, for I’ll find out either way come tomorrow.
“Who is going to help us?” I whisper, although I think I already know the answer. Jaw tightening, eyes blazing, he speaks the words we’re both apprehensive to hear for various reasons, and they dangle in the air like a guillotine about to be loosed.
“We’re going to need Jameson and Tristan. Are you ready to go back to your twins?”
CHAPTER 29
Alice
1 month later
“What about carrots?” Teddy suggests as we peruse the produce section of the grocery store. Wrinkling my nose, I shake my head. He rolls his eyes and pushes the cart along to the leafy greens. We’ve been planning tirelessly for weeks, and in the meantime, Teddy’s been building his hall of mirrors for Dick—which will subsequently be his fucking downfall. The plan is to trap him in it, kill Daniel, then get my twins to us so they can help break Teddy’s mom free.
I’d asked why we couldn’t just chop Dick’s thumb off to use with the scanner, but that was when Teddy had told me something that had churned my guts: he himself built that chamber on Dick’s request not knowing what it was for. He’d made it ‘Teddy Proof,’ as he called it. The scanner needs a thumb print, a temperature reading, and a steady but not resting heart rate. Dick has to stay alive long enough to get her out of there, and that’s where the twins come in; they’ll be able to help transport Dick and get the rest of the girls out while Teddy stays behind to hack Dick’s encrypted files and find the rat.
The plan is much more complex than that, of course, but he always loses me when he starts talking hacking and coding.
Since Thanksgiving is soon, and since his mirror-project is launching tomorrow night, we’d decided to make dinner early and celebrate the end of this chapter in our lives. Only, I am super grumpy because I’m not ready for all of this, and I’m fucking nervous as hell no matter how many times he’s told me it will all be okay.
“Brussels sprouts?”
His voice pulls me from my dark thoughts as I gag out loud. He snorts, draping his arm around my shoulders before he leans in, pressing his face into my hair.
“I still have time to paddle your ass for being a little brat, bunny. I know you’re nervous, but work with me, deal?”
My mouth runs dry, and I twist to glare at him, feeling surly. He’s just grinning impishly down at me, his eyes alight with more life than I have ever seen them. The prospect of freedom, of getting back to his mother and ending this once and for all has made him so fucking happy it almost hurts.
“Fine,” I mutter, allowing him to show me the affection I’ve come to crave rather potently these last few weeks. Rearing his hand back, he smacks my ass so hard the crack snaps through the grocery store, and my high-pitched yelp follows. Beet-red and glaring even more now at his chuckling form, he pushes the cart to the potato section and scans the selection as though he didn’t just spank me in public.
“There’s more where that came from. Be a good girl.”