Page 81 of Fight for You

His expression darkens at the sound of Kaleo's name, his brows snapping together. "I'm going to take everything from him and then leave him in a ditch where he belongs," he growls.

I flinch, caught off guard by the hatred seething in his tone.

He notices. "I'm not a good man, baby girl," he says, his expression hard. "You keep thinking I'm some kind of hero; you're going to be disappointed. I've spent so much time with gangbangers and cartels that I'm as bad as they are. Worse. I'm the monster other monsters are afraid of. Don't ever forget that."

"I'm not afraid of you," I whisper, pressing my ear to his chest to listen to the steady thrum of his heart. "You don't scare me."

"You never have to be afraid of me, January," he vows, the quiet intensity in his voice letting me know he means that. "I'd give up my life in a second to keep you safe."

"I know." He's done nothing but try to protect me since he was seven years old. "And I know you have to deal with Kaleo too. He's dangerous."

Cade disentangles my arms from around him and takes a step back, tipping my face up until our eyes meet. His are solemn blue, so serious. He looks like the boy I fell in love with all those years ago….the one who told me so earnestly that he'd never be mean to me.

"He's more dangerous than you know," he murmurs, holding my gaze. "Promise me that you will never let him get close to you. If he comes looking for you, you run and hide. If I'm not here, you call me."

I've never been particularly afraid of Kaleo. Even when we were kids, he didn't scare me. He stayed away for years after Cade left, keeping his people off my block and out of my hair. If that new school wasn't going up, I don't think he'd be trying to run me off now. I know what type of man he is. I hate him for who he is and the things he's done. But I'm not afraid of him.

"I will," I promise Cade anyway, unable to deny him anything with worry shining in those eyes of his.

"Are you avoiding me?" Mariah demands, cornering me in the teacher's lounge at noon on Thursday.

I glance up from my chicken salad to find her standing in the doorway with a hand on her hip and a scowl on her face. "No," I say, only partially lying. "I've just had a lot of meetings with parents this week."

She harrumphs at me and then sashays over to the fridge before prowling around inside. Once she's got her lunch bag and bottle of water, she drops down in a chair across from me and cocks a brow. "You going to tell me what happened with Cade or not?"

"We talked," I say, pushing the rest of my salad to the side. I pick up the cap from my water bottle and fiddle with it, keeping my eyes off my best friend. Truth is, I have been avoiding her. I'm worried about what she's going to say when I tell her I'm sleeping with Cade. I don't want to see the condemnation in her eyes.

"You fucked, didn't you?" she says, a little too loudly.

"Shh," I hiss, hurriedly glancing around. We're the only two in the lounge, thank God. The last thing I need is for Principal Withers to overhear us discussing my sex life on school grounds. He'd have a fit and fire us both. The man has no sense of humor.

"You are sleeping with him," she says, speaking more quietly this time. Her dark eyes narrow on me and she points a manicured nail in my direction. "Spill it, sister. Now."

"I…" I'm not sure how to explain what we're doing together. It's not just sex to me and I know it isn't to him either. We've been inseparable the last few days. When we're not making love, we talk about everything and nothing. But I also know there's a lot he still hasn't told me. There's a lot still unsettled between us. I don't even know if he plans to stay in Los Angeles or if he's still planning to return to Seattle once Kaleo is dealt with.

Jesus, what if this is only temporary for him?

No, I don't believe that.

"He's still in love with me," I whisper, partly to Mariah, partly as a reminder to myself. Whatever is going on between us, it's not temporary. I know that much.

"Obviously," she says with a snort.

"I'm still in love with him," I admit.

"Duh." Mariah laughs at me and then must see something on my face. She falls silent, her expression turning serious. "You've been in love with him forever, January. After he left, I thought you'd eventually find someone else and forget about him, but you never even tried. Eventually, I realized that you would always be hung up on Michael. He's always been your one."

"I never wanted anyone else." I frown, thinking about what he said about waiting for me. He may have been over a thousand miles away, but my heart always knew things weren't over. How could I move on when I always felt like I was his?

"Is he moving back?" Mariah asks, popping a strawberry into her mouth.

The question sends a ripple of worry through me.

"We haven't talked about it." I bite my lip and peek at my best friend. "There's a lot we haven't talked about."

She frowns at me.

"I stopped him," I say before she can blame him. "He started telling me about why he left, but I didn't let him."