Page 56 of Always Us

“Were you ever going to tell me?” I ask him.

He rubs my hand with his thumb. “I was hoping I’d never have to. I was hoping it would just be over and you’d never have to know.” He pauses. “I never would’ve let him hurt you, Jade. I would’ve done everything possible to protect you. I spent all last week trying to figure out ways to keep you safe. I stayed up all night, every night, thinking about it.”

“Is this ever going to end, Garret?”

He wraps his arms around me and kisses my head. “It’s over. With my grandfather gone, this will end.”

“But what about that burglary and the fake cop? What if the organization was behind that?”

His body stiffens and I sit back again.

“What is it, Garret? Do you know something about the burglary?”

He slowly nods. “That was his original plan. But it didn’t work. The burglary was set up by my grandfather. He hired a guy to break in here and—”

“Kill me?” A chill runs through my entire body.

“I’m so sorry, Jade.” He pulls me back into his chest. “I’m so sorry I got you involved in this. I’m sorry I put you in danger. I’m sorry for all of it.”

“It’s not your fault. You didn’t do anything wrong. It was all your grandfather.”

“Yes, but I should’ve been more aware. More cautious. My job is to protect you and I didn’t. That guy would’ve killed you. He almost did. He didn’t because he was scared off by the security cameras.”

“Why did the fake cop show up here?”

“My grandfather knows how my dad checks into stuff like this. He knew my dad would try to find out more about that guy who was lurking around our house. So my grandfather hired that man to pretend he’s a cop and tell us our neighbors were robbed. That way we wouldn’t think the guy was targeting us specifically and my dad would just assume it was a random crime. Anyway, when the robbery didn’t work as planned, my grandfather decided to take a different approach.”

We sit there in silence, Garret hugging me too tightly again, but it’s what I need right now. I need to feel safe, and the only place I feel safe is in Garret’s arms.

Holton’s going to die any day now, but I still feel scared. I was almost killed. Holton wanted me dead. I’d be dead right now if that burglar had done what he was hired to do.

Is this really over? How can Garret be sure? He didn’t know about his grandfather’s plan, which means he may not know about other threats against me, or against us. I shudder just thinking about that.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

14

GARRET

It’s done. I told Jade everything. Every last detail. And she’s scared, just like I knew she would be, which is why I didn’t want her to know. Her whole body is shaking, and no matter how tightly I hold her, I can’t get the shaking to stop.

“Jade, get up.” I push on her a little until she backs away. “Let’s go to the bed.”

“I’m not tired.” Her eyes are red and teary, and I can see from her face that she’s more than just scared. She’s terrified.

“Let’s just go lie down. You don’t have to sleep.”

I stand up and help her off the floor. We go to the bed and I shove the covers back and we get in. Then I pull the covers back over us.

“Just breathe,” I tell her as her shaking continues. I have her body pressed into mine, my arms completely around her.

“What if he sends someone after me? Like Roth? What if they’re in on this together?”

I didn’t tell Jade about my grandfather being friends with Roth and I’m not going to. She can’t handle any more than what I’ve already told her. I’ll talk to my dad about Roth and see if he thinks Roth poses any kind of threat. I don’t know why he would. He doesn’t care if I run the company or go to Yale. And I don’t know why he’d want me back in the organization after the embarrassment I caused him. He was the one pushing for me to be president someday and then I acted out last spring and made him look like a fool for picking me in the first place. If anything, the guy should want to kill me, not Jade.

“Nobody will hurt you, Jade. I swear. They’ll have to kill me first. And if I’m dead, my dad will protect you.”

“Don’t say stuff like that. You’re not going to die. You’re not going to leave me. Say it, Garret.”

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