Page 20 of His Sacrifice

“Well,” here we go; this was going to be the point where Jada punched me in the face or said yes. “Since Candace seems to go after the people we care about, Leo figured I was up next.”

She tipped her head to the side. “And I was your target?”

“That obvious?” I asked.

“I just put two and two together and got four, Creed,” she drawled.

I watched her closely as she turned to watch the sun dip. I didn’t know what else to say. She didn’t seem pissed, but I wasn’t sure what she was thinking.

“So what now?” she asked.

“Uh, well, as of right now, the plan hasn’t changed. Candace has proven time and again to go after the people in our lives to get to us. If we get her to think you and I are together, she’ll hopefully come out of hiding, but this time, we’ll know she’s coming.”

“You guys are the Banachis. Can’t you just find her yourselves and just kill her if she’s such a bad person?”

“We’ve exhausted all of our connections to find Candace. We did catch her on camera a couple of weeks ago by the bookstore, but nothing since then.”

Jada sat up straight. “She was at the bookstore?” she gasped.

I shrugged. “She could have been, but I find it hard to believe. At the time, Tatum wasn’t even in the state. We haven’t seen her since.”

Jada nodded and tucked her hair behind her ear. “Makes sense, I guess. Kind of scary she was at the bookstore.”

“I’m sure Candace didn’t want anything to do with you then,” I reassured her. “She very well was just taunting us.”

Jada pursed her lips and nodded. “Yeah, no, of course not. I’m no one to you guys.”

“At least back then, you weren’t.”

Her eyes connected with mine. “You guys really think you can trick this woman into thinking that you and I are together? We literally just met two days ago, and now we’re supposed to be in love?” Jada shook her head. “Not going to work.”

“I think we might know better what is going to work,” I grunted.

“How is she going to know you and I are together?” she asked

“Because Candace seems always to be watching, even though we don’t know how. We’d go out. Be seen together.” I cleared my throat. “Be affectionate. Like a couple in love.”

“And what do I get out of this other than being the likely target of being kidnapped or killed?” I asked. “I mean, I’m sure kissing you and whatnot is great, but if it’s not real…” she trailed off.

“Name your price.” I hadn’t expected Jada to agree to this without something in return. I could give her pretty much whatever she wanted.

“The penthouse next door.”

That was not what I thought she was going to ask for. “Uh, I’ll see what I can do, but I know there is a pretty lengthy waitlist because Apollo is on it, and they told him by 2028 he could be in.”

Jada’s jaw dropped. “The fact that many people could afford this place absolutely blows my mind,” she laughed. “And, I was joking. I’m not the penthouse type of girl. I love the city for work, but living in the heart of the city isn’t my thing.”

“Then what do you want?” I asked again.

“I don’t even know if I want to do this, Creed, let alone what I would want in payment.” She shook her head. “I can’t even wrap my head around this right now.”

“What’s holding you back?”

“Uh, it probably has to do with the fact that I could very well end up dead,” she laughed. “Yeah, that is making me hesitate.” She ran her fingers through her hair and shook her head again. “You’re insane.”

“Nothing will happen to you,” I promised.

“Besides a crazed woman coming after me to hurt you. Yeah, that’s nothing.” She stood and smoothed her hands down her shirt. “I need some time to think this over.”

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