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Caring for someone else means taking more from me to give to another. And I don’t have any pieces of me left to give. Not right now. Not ever.
Whatever game he’s playing with me right now, I don’t have the energy to figure it out. Silently, I leave him on the sidewalk and hurry up the stairs.
Family. Is that why I feel so intensely protective of Cadence? Is she my family now?
“No matter what, you can’t chase the stink of poverty on your skin and you can’t change the fact that you’re a charity case. You will never be good enough for him.”
“You’re mine. I’ve made that clear. If someone hurts you, they hurt me.”
“Whether you trust me or not, it won’t change the fact that you belong to me.” He tilts his chin up. “And I always take care of my property.”
“I don’t know when it started for me,” Dutch purrs. A hint of his cologne swirls in the air between us and makes my already heightened senses turn delirious. He smells so good. “I don’t know the exact moment I fell for you, but I know that I did and I know it wasn’t random.” His eyes flash, endless honey. Sharp golden pools. “This is real.” “You never fell for me. You fell for a fantasy. For someone you thought you could control.”
“Kiss me now and I won’t stop, Cadence. Kiss me now, and you will never escape me. Not in this life or the next.”
“Dammit, Cadey.” There’s a harsh bite in his words, but I’m sensing that it’s from impatience more than anger. “I’m not letting you go. I am never letting you go. I warned you when you kissed me and I meant it. Whatever’s going on, you either tell me or don’t. I don’t care. But I’m in this.”
“How many of them will I need to take out? If it’s more than five, I’ll have to call my brothers.” His eyes shift to me. “I’m not a ninja.”
“You have that look in your eyes,” he says, returning his attention to the road. “It’s that face you make when you’re going to shatter someone’s world.” My eyebrows hike. “I do?” He nods. “It’s hot as hell.”
“Controlling adults isn’t in my skill set, Jarod. If it was, you wouldn’t have been such a massive disappointment in our marriage.”
“I know that the moment I get married to Cadence, that’s it for me. I’m married for life.”
“I know that she’s important enough to me that I’d die for her. And I know that when I’m with her I feel…” I inhale deeply. “I feel like that first time I stepped on stage with my guitar. Lightheaded. Eager. Alive.” Finn turns to me. His eyes burn. “I’m in.” My eyebrows shoot up. “Let’s make Cadence your wife.” Zane reluctantly walks over. “And let’s hope we’re more successful this time than when we tried to kick her out of Redwood.”
If I ever make the mistake of falling for Dutch Cross, I’ll be falling in love with a madman.
“You’re mine. Everything that involves you involves me.”
“I’ll protect who you protect. I’ll love who you love. I’ll hate who you hate.”
“You and Vi are a package deal. That doesn’t scare me.”
But he still takes a second to think about his reply. “You have something to protect and I have something to destroy. You escape into music and I’m trapped there. You hid from me and I still found you. Where you end, I begin.” He wraps long fingers around the back of my neck. “We may not be from the same world, Cadence, but we’re made of the same freaking soul.”
“You’re my girl. My fiancée. My wife. Did you think I would let you walk out of here before convincing you?”
I’m already falling for you. I can’t let my sister take the same path.
I’m a jealous, possessive bastard, and I keep picking up vibes between Sol and my future wife. I hope I’m wrong. But if I’m not, a lifetime of brotherhood with Sol is about to get trampled.
I don’t say anything. I don’t have to. My eyes whisper one thing: she’s mine. If he wants to lose everything, he can challenge me on that.
I know how dangerous Dutch is. I know he’s only using me. Just like Jinx. Just like Jarod Cross. I’m their plaything.
“Every night, I had the same nightmare.” His voice drops to a dangerously low tone, something guttural and empty. “You looked at me with that exact expression. Like you hated me.”
“You don’t have to need me. You don’t even have to want me. But you’ve got me, Cadey. And since I’m here, you won’t ever have to struggle by yourself again. I won’t let you. I forbid it. ”
It strikes me then, in the deepest caverns of my heart, that Dutch Cross doesn’t just want to screw me. He genuinely wants to know me. I didn’t believe it before. Who would? The most powerful guy on campus… drawn to me? Ridiculous. And yet I’m starting to think that I can trust him. I offered my body up on a platter, and it didn’t mean as much as a simple phone call. An invitation into my life. A promise to share my thoughts, my burdens, my words.
“You could be over-reacting.” “If you’re right, I lose nothing. But if you’re wrong…” I stare my brother in the eyes. “I lose everything.”
“You disobeyed her,” I note. “Because I know you love my sister and I know the only time she’s ever loosened up and depended on someone else was with you. She’s not used to being the weak one, but Cadey deserves to have that. She deserves a place where she can be fragile and taken care of.”
“My mom told me about my grandmother’s will recently, but I wanted to marry you long before that. The night I came to your apartment, I’d already decided that my future belonged to you.”
