Page 102 of Heartbreaker

“Can’t wait,” he mutters, then sighs and claps me on the shoulder. “Anything you need, man. Anytime.”

There’s an odd tight feeling in my chest.

I’ve been such a fuckup, such an asshole.

Taking my family for granted, avoiding them whenever I could, content to sit in my misery.

And they?—

Well, they refused to let me remain in the darkness, and they held tight when I was determined to fall.

But it was Jade who pulled me out.

I’m not fucking going back.

Not when she’s become my world.

“Thank you,” I rasp.

He nods, lifts his phone to his ear, and I hear him barking out orders.

First Atlas. Then Dash.

Banks bumps his shoulder against mine. “Let’s get you back to Jade.”

I nod, start walking. “Banksy?”

He looks over at me. “Yeah?”

“Thank you.”

“I didn’t do anything.”

“Yeah,” I mutter. “You did. Youhave.”

Understanding slides through his expression, and he exhales. Then he squeezes me roughly on the shoulder. “You’refamily.” A tilt of his head to Jade. “And she is too. We’ll close ranks, keep her safe.”

I know they will—though that doesn’t make the tightness in my chest go away.

But it makes it bearable.

Because Jade is the most important thing in my life—more than avoiding the press, more than music, more than my fucking hand not working properly, more than…

Everything.

“Th—”

His fingers on my shoulder tighten. “No thanks needed.” His eyes pierce into mine. “Notever.”

I close my eyes, just for a heartbeat, then open them again. “I need to get back to Jade.”

He drops his hand, and then we’re both exiting the hallway, moving back over to the table.

I don’t make it there, though, because when I’m less than five feet away, a hand grips my arm and drags me to a halt.

Wrong—the touch is completely wrong.

Long nails dig into my skin.

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