Page 120 of Destined to Fight

She turned on the TV and flipped to an old rom-com. Those movies always made her feel better, even if they were complete and utter bullshit.

She’d made it through about half of her pint when Kade knocked on her door.

“What?”

“Can I come in?”

“Nope. I have company, and he tastes sooooo good.” She was twenty-six, not fourteen, but who was counting?

“Come now, lass. I just want to check on ye.”

“I’m perfectly fine. Thanks for your concern.”

“Yer lying.”

“Go the fuck away, Kade.”

He sighed. “I see tonight’s the night we’re going to have that fight.”

“I didn’t say we were fighting.”

“Nae, yer just acting like it. I’m coming in.” He opened the door and closed it behind him.

Damn him for looking sexy in his jeans and button-up shirt. Why did the man have to be so drool-worthy?

Turning back to the TV, she gave him another childish jab. “I said go away.”

“I’m not going away until we get this worked out.”

“What is there to work out, Kade?”

“Let’s just go back to the night ye left and start there.”

Yep, they were really doing this. “What about it?”

“Ye called fucking Dominic to help ye distract us while ye snuck out the back, that’s what. And let me guess, he wants to take ye out in return for his little favor, does he not?”

“Yeah, he does, so what? We’ve been friends for years.”

“Aye, so ye have, but he wants to be more than friends, and I’ll be damned if he’s going to lay a hand on ye.” Kade let some power slip, and it hit her in the chest, pushing her back.

“Oh, so now you’re jealous? You don’t give a shit about how I handled things that night, you’re just mad that I called an old friend who’s good looking to help me out?”

The muscles in his jaw clenched. “I’m mad about how ye handled it, too. We’ll get there soon.”

Kelly set her ice cream down beside her. “Let’s just get to it now, shall we? Frankly, I’m pretty damn proud of my planning. And for what it’s worth, I kept it from all of you to keep you safe. You get that, right? I planned to hand myself over and give them what they wanted in exchange for everyone’s safety, not just Ginna’s. If I went with them, they’d leave all of you alone. I walked in there and laid my life down for all of you!”

“That’s the fucking problem! We’ve all lived lifetimes compared to ye, it’s our job to protect ye, and ye went and threw it all away!”

“So now I’m just a job? That’s all I am to you?” Her fingers began to spark.

“I didnae say that. Yer putting words in my mouth.”

“Then, please, tell me what I am! All of you are running around this house so focused on work that no one has an ounce of time for anything but that. You’re distancing yourself from me like I’m diseased or something, and Fabian won’t even train with me even though I’m fully back to normal. The new people treat me like I’m made of glass, and they’re all afraid to talk to me. Your mom left without a word. I don’t fucking understand what’s going on! Ever since I came back, everyone seems to think I’m a ticking time bomb.”

Kelly took a minute to breathe. Kade gave her a moment, somehow knowing not to speak just yet. He’d obviously had practice fighting with women in his almost 300 years.

“Is that what it is? Are all of you scared of what I’m going to do? Is everyone done with my drama and baggage? Are you just protecting me to win the war? And what the fuck is up with you being so goddamned overprotective? I’m not your property. You don’t get to act like you own me when you’ve hardly said a word to me all week.”

---