Page 101 of Octane

“Yeah, I just… I don’t believe this is the end yet. It’s too good to be true, you know?”

“I know what you mean.”

“I feel like Daniel is a disease that I’ll never get rid of.”

The elevator doors open. Then he leads me into his penthouse, still holding onto my hand. I never want him to let go. If he keeps a good enough grip, maybe Daniel won’t be able to take me again.

When we get into his penthouse, he locks the door and puts on the deadbolt.

“What if he comes back up here? What if he breaks down the door or something?”

I panic. I can’t let myself get comfortable. When I do, something always goes wrong.

“No, I went to the building manager this morning, and she deactivated his code. She said she’s going to fire the person from maintenance who Daniel paid off as well.”

I breathe a sigh of relief as we walk over to the sofa and sit down.

“Are you okay?” I ask him. He’s rubbing his jaw, and I’m concerned that he’s in a lot of pain. It appears as though it’s swelling up.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” he says as he takes his jaw between his thumb and forefinger. “I think I’ll have a bruise for a little while.”

“I can get you some ice,” I offer.

“No, it’s okay. I’m fine. I promise,” he smiles at me.

I don’t believe him, and I shoot him a knowing look. Walking to the kitchen, I grab the same ice pack I gave him last night.

“You mentioned that my father is going to be okay? How do you know that?”

“I’ve been in contact with him over the past couple days, and he was able to secure some funds in order to pay off the people he owed money to.”

“But I don’t understand, how is that possible when he owed so much money?”

“I think Daniel must have fudged some of the numbers. Your father only owed fifty million. Not billions.”

“Only?” I cock an eyebrow at him. “Okay, but still. How does someone with no money all of a sudden come up withfifty milliondollars? What if he borrowed money from more bad people?”

Jackson takes my face in his hands and kisses me. He kisses away my worry, my fear. He kisses away the time that we’ve had to spend apart. He kisses away all of the hurt and pain. With every kiss, he shows me more and more how much he cares about me.

My lips protest when he stops, and I actually whine.

“He didn’t,” he laughs at me. “I promise.”

“How do you—” that’s when it hits me. “It was you, wasn’t it?”

Jackson paid off his debt. He doesn’t need to answer me. His eyes tell me everything I need to know.

“I can’t divulge the details of our meeting. All I can say is that you no longer have anything to worry about.”

“I don’t know what to say, Jackson. That’s so much money.”

He stares at me intently before he speaks again.

“It’s a small price to pay to ensure your safety, and I would pay millions more if I needed to.”

Tears prick my eyes, and I don’t know whether I’m shocked, happy, relieved, or otherwise. My mind is racing, and I’m feeling so many emotions at the same time. But there is one that stands out, stronger than all the rest.

Love.

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