Page 140 of Emergence and Ascendance

"Nah, I'm good…"

"Kevren, leave, please." She shut that down quickly and I appreciated that she knew how serious this was, even if she was stupid enough to be caught up with him in the first place.

He hesitated for a minute, looking to his side when she moved around him, then at me, grilling me hard. He was smart enough not to try his luck by staying but the slick ass muthafucker kissed her temple before he walked away.

"How long?" I looked at Jona and kept my voice calm but could have easily snatched her ass up and dragged her out of this building.

"Can I explain…"

"Nah, you can't do shit right now but answer my fucking question. How long?"

She lifted her chin defiantly. "A few months."

"So this is why you been dodging me and Cress, avoiding calls and not hanging around?"

"It's not like that…"

"It's exactly like that. What the fuck do you think you're doing, Jona? You don't have a damn clue what this family is involved in."

"Don't I? It's the same thing you're involved in."

I laughed, shaking my head. arrogantly "We're very different, baby girl. I toe the line with a lot of things, but Kevren and his family don't have a gotdamn line. They don't care who they hurt or how they get their money."

"His brother maybe, but Kevren is different."

"Jona, you don't know shit about his world."

"I know enough. This is not the thing with Elias. Maybe I didn't know back then, but I do now."

"You don't have a damn clue what the hell you're talking about."

"Yeah I do, but even if you don't believe that, I'm grown, Christian. I love you but you really can't tell me what to do."

As much as I hated that, she was right and what I hated even more was that some lessons had to be learned from experience. Kevren might be different but I highly doubted he was, and regardless, if a side had to be chosen, he would pick his family over mine, which meant Jona would be stuck in the middle.

She was old enough to make her own decisions, even if they were ones that would end up causing her heartache. The realization landed in a way I wasn't comfortable with.

"You're right. You're grown, and if this is what you want, I really can't do shit about it."

She looked relieved but I wasn't done. "But please understand if this ends badly and he hurts you in anyway, any fucking way, Jona, I'm killing everybody he loves and that will be on your conscience. If you choose him, I pray you can handle that. Because when the bodies drop, I will sleep just fine, without a care in the world, but can you?"

For a brief second, she looked like she wanted to run, but true to the Devereaux blood in her veins, she rolled her shoulders back and schooled her expression.

"Yeah, I can."

Her tone wasn’t steady or certain but she kept her eyes on mine until I nodded and she walked away, leaving me with a horrible feeling I couldn't do a damn thing about. That conversation changed so many things between us, but she was still my sister, and I would burn down the world for her. I just hoped she could live with the consequences of her actions if it came down to that.

I walked into the Meridian and found Alex sitting at a table in the back that gave a clear view of the entire place. I smirkedbecause it was the exact spot I would have selected. He looked up when I reached the table but didn't move.

"I hope this won't take long."

“It won't; I have a flight to catch."

He motioned to the empty chair across from him and I took a seat. He waved over a server who smiled at him then turned to me, waiting for my order.

"Black Ops, whichever one you have is good."

"Got it, I'll be right back."

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