Page 15 of Say You'll Stay
“I’m not taking you away right now. We’ll prepare her. And we won’t remove you until she’s safe. But I’m working toward that. It’s been a long time since we’ve been apart. We need to be together now. Tell me, what are the conditions that you need to feel like she’s protected?”
Vasey grimaces. “Gideon has to be gone, but that’s not possible. Roberta won’t send him to boarding school because she wants him to be close with Thomas.”
“Ware has no interest in the kid. He barely has interest in Roberta. It’s hard to understand why the two of them married.”
“To give Jasmine a mom,” Vasey confesses. “He came home one day after a business trip and said he was giving Jasmine what she wanted the most. I thought, stupidly, it was this doll from Japan that she’d been talking about, but it was a mom inthe form of Roberta. Only Roberta is interested solely in Gideon, and she hates Jasmine.”
That explains a lot. “This actually works in our favor. We just need to get solid evidence that Roberta is a scheming, dangerous bitch and then present it to Ware. The two get divorced, and you and I get married.”
“How is that easy?” Vasey cries.
“Just watch.”
Chapter Eleven
VASEY
The sound of a mysterious creak has me sitting up in bed. I’ve been a light sleeper my whole life. Especially when I was younger. Back then, it was about survival. The uncertainty of my surroundings always had me on guard.
The only time I ever fell into a deep sleep was when I was with West. I knew that if he was close, nothing would happen to me. He was my safe place and my protector. I miss having that, but maybe soon I will have it again.
When I hear another creak, I throw my legs over the bed and slowly stand. I try not to make a sound. Jasmine is fast asleep. I ended up falling asleep in bed with her last night. She clung to me, thinking that I was leaving. I reassured her over and over that I wasn’t ever going to leave her. Seeing her like that broke my heart.
My eyes stay trained on the door as I tiptoe closer to it. There is no missing the shadow of feet that land on the other side of it. I already have a good idea of who it is. The lock I flicked before turning off the lights tonight clicks over. I grab the handle and open it before he can.
Gideon’s eyes go wide when he sees me standing there. He stumbles back a step, giving me room to walk out into thehallway and close the door behind me. I have the element of surprise on my side.
“What are you doing, Gideon?” I make a concerted effort to look at his hand holding the tool he was using to pick the lock. He doesn’t answer. I can tell his wheels are spinning, trying to think of some sort of an excuse as to why he would be breaking into a little girl’s room in the middle of the night. The silence stretches between us. He wobbles on his feet, and I realize he’s drunk. His eyes are glazed.
“What are you doing?” he slurs out.
“You should go to bed.” Gideon's eyes wander down and back up my body, making my skin crawl. I hadn’t thought about how I was only wearing thin sleep shorts and a tee.
“We can go to bed.” A smirk pulls at his lips. I keep my shoulders back to avoid giving the impression that I'm intimidated by him. Even if I am. Gideon might be a teenager, but he’s not small.
“It’s late.”
"Actually—" He lifts his hand to check the time on his fancy Rolex watch, which likely cost more than I make in a year. He squints in order to see it clearly. “It’s early morning.” Gideon takes a step toward me. I match it by taking a step back, but I find myself pressed against the door.
“Go to bed.” I keep my tone firm. It does nothing. The next thing I know, he’s on me, pressing me hard into the door. My hands go to his chest.
“You’re not my nanny. I don’t have to listen to you.”
“Stop it.” I push, but he doesn’t budge.
“Give me a goodnight kiss first.” He lowers his face toward mine, and I do the only thing I can to stop it. I lift my knee and nail him straight in the balls. He lets out a high-pitched yelp, stumbling backward before he falls to the ground. The tool in his hand lands next to him. I snatch it off the floor.
“You cunt!” Gideon groans out.
“Stay out of her room.” I don’t wait for a response. I hurry back into Jasmine's room, flicking the lock back into place.
I lean up against the door, trying to listen to what he might be doing. My heart is racing. Fuck. I hate that little shit so much. When I feel tears burning, I close my eyes. I will not cry. A million questions flit through my mind, including if he’s going to snitch on me. I’m going to bet not. Then he’d have to explain why he was trying to sneak into Jasmine’s bedroom.
My back slides down the door. I’m not sure how long I sit there, but I see the sun start to peek through the bottom of the blinds. I might have dozed off for a second. I pull myself up from the floor and go to my own room to get dressed for the day.
When I make it back to Jasmine, she slowly wakes up. “Morning, sweetheart.” I drop a kiss on top of her head.
“You’re here.”