Page 67 of The Fallen
He calls a number on the phone and ends up speaking to the Jenkins police officer. They converse about Tallington, about the fact that the entirety of the west wing is secure, and that the bomb unit will work through the night to make sure the rest is too.
At least the conversation ends with us being safe to go back there because, honestly, the last thing I want is to be back at my own place when I’m still fearful of everyone I love being hurt again.
“We should probably go to Earlwood,” Landon says the moment the call ends. “But I will not be run out of my own fucking home. Certainly not by a dead man.”
I cringe at the terse tone, still unsure how to calm him down about any of this.
“Neve, I think, with Noah-”
“Landon, not now, okay. I can’t argue with you. I can’t fight. I know you don’t like him, but really, I don’t care what you think, and after everything that's happened today, we all need to just take some time. You can’t dictate my life.” I close my eyes, feeling bone-tired and spent.
“Are you done?” he asks.
“No, but I’m really fucking tired.”
He twists his head to look at me. “What?”
“What?”
"You swore. You never swear.”
“Well, that makes one of us.”
His low chuckle does not alleviate my tension, and it certainly doesn't make anything better. “What I was going to say is that perhaps I didn’t handle things particularly well when I realised you’d slept with him.”
Now it's my turn to look at him in surprise. “Is that an apology?”
His eyes stay on the road. “Absolutely not.”
Guess that was too much to hope for.
“You’re my sister, Neve. That’s all. I don’t think he’s good enough for you.”
“That’s not your decision, Landon. Haven’t you learned from Seffi?”
“That was different. Scott’s a Foxton.”
“And look at that mess now. The family history, the secret hidden, Seffi in Paris. It’s not worth it, Landon.”
We slip back into silence, but the unsaid words build an anxious tension between us again. Not least because I want to ask about Noah’s brother. I’d never do anything that would jeopardise his safety, but Landon needs to realise he can’t just order us all around anymore.
“Noah Locke isn't someone you should be playing with, Neve. He's dangerous, manipulative, and from an entirely different world from you.”
“I know. But he's not just that. He's more, and you can't just label him because you've coerced him into doing your dirty work.” I keep staring out the window, refusing to back down regardless of the trouble I’ve caused. “If you gave him a chance, you'd see someone else, someone good, like I have.”
He sighs and steers us through the roads. “And I suppose me telling you you can't see him is pointless.”
“That depends. What would you do to his brother if I do?”
His hands grip the wheel as if he’s calculating what’s next. “Having leverage over Locke is useful.”
“That’s not an answer. If I told you I was in love with Noah and that we were together, what would you do to Stefan?”
“Locke knows a lot of secrets.”
“If this is just a game to you-”
“Considering the end of our relationship would occur, I would be relatively moronic to attempt anything regarding his brother, wouldn't I?”
