Page 9 of Forged in Flames (Made of Steel 2)

"Of course it matters!" my voice cracked. He was too good. Way too good for me. I would bring him down. I'd pull him into the darkness. I climbed out of bed.

He ran his hand through his hair in that sexy way of his. "You're mad at me because I'm mad at myself for failing to keep a promise?" He looked exhausted.

"I'm mad at you for still caring." God, that sounded stupid. "I'm mad at you for not living your life. You have to move on."

"I'm trying to live it." He gestured back and forth between us. "Sadie, I'm trying to move on." He climbed out of bed and reached for my hand.

"Well, you can't move on with me."

"Why? I can see it in your eyes. You want to be here. So why are you running away? What are you so scared of?"

"You!" I wasn't sure why I was so mad, but I was furious at him. How dare he give up on his life because of me? How dare he stop living when he still had a choice? I already had enough on my shoulders. I couldn't live with that too. I couldn't. It felt like there were hands around my neck.

"Sadie." He took a step closer to me. "Please just talk to me. You know the doctors told me about the physical abuse. I saw the x-rays. I know..."

"I shouldn't have come here."

"It's the middle of the night. Just stay. Sadie, please."

Time seemed to freeze in my mind and turn over. It really did feel like we were back in his tree house. And he was calling after me as I ran through his backyard, away from my hopes and dreams, away from everything that had ever made sense. "You have to forget about her."

"I'm not upset about her. You brought her up. You wanted to hear the story." He pushed his hair off his forehead. "I'm up

set about you, Sadie." He looked pissed. And he probably deserved to be. I was the one that had shown up in the middle of the night. I was the one that had invited myself inside. Yet, I was the one freaking out.

"Then forget about me too." Apparently I had transported back in time and was acting just like an eight year old as well. What was wrong with me? I opened up the door and slammed it shut in his face. I knew exactly why I was angry. Because I made a promise to myself when I was still technically a child too. I promised myself that I'd kill Don Roberts. And no matter how much time passed, that promise was never going to go away. I was going to kill him. And I'd watch the life drain out of him just like he watched mine drain out of me.

Once that was done, there was no going back. If there was any piece of Summer Brooks left inside of me, that would kill her. And Miles couldn't love a person like that. I couldn't let him keep his promise to a monster. He deserved the brightest star in the sky. Not the darkness in between.

Chapter 5

Friday

I had no one to turn to. My last bridge had just been burnt. Last night I had made the decision to leave New York City, to try to lure Don out. But this city was the big leagues. Don wasn't going to leave. He had just sunken his claws in. He'd just send someone after me to kill me. He'd still ruin this city.

I waved my key in front of the scanner and the door clicked open. I stepped into the hotel room. At least I had the money my parents left me. At the rate I was going, I'd never graduate. I'd probably never step foot back on campus. I'd need this money. I sat down on the edge of the bed and collapsed backwards.

For once in my life, I wasn't going to run. I was going to stay and fight. I just had to figure out what was going on. Miles had helped with that. It was everything I thought I knew. Minus the part about him being in love with me too. That had felt like news.

I closed my eyes. I was not going to think about him. I took a deep breath and exhaled. The question was, why would Don make it seem like I died? I knew it was him. Especially since his criminal record had changed too. I bit my lip. Joan had mentioned that their leverage was Eli, Miles, and Kins. But what if she had just thrown some of those names in to get me off their tracks? I knew Eli was bad news. Liza had said that Eli's technology was next level. So if Eli was working for Don, then that meant Don had that technology. Which probably would have allowed him to alter files. Right?

I touched my forehead. That was a leap. Eli might not even be working for him. So who was he working for? Because despite Joan putting him on her list of my friends, there was something seriously wrong with him. The anger in his face. The fire in his touch. I shivered at the thought.

And what about Mr. Crawford? Was he hurt? I had this awful feeling that the blood on my bunny slippers was his. There was no way Mr. Crawford could have been bad. He had gotten me away from Don. He gave me all this money. I sat up in bed.

The money. Couldn't people track that? They could certainly track transactions. Shit. I wasn't safe here. They could find me. I ran to the door and was just about to throw it open when my cell phone bleeped in my pocket. I pulled it out and looked down at the screen.

"Not that way."

It was from V. How could he see me?

"There's a fire escape outside your window. Get to the roof. Now."

This was ridiculous. All of this was completely insane. If I couldn't trust Mr. Crawford, I certainly couldn't trust the vigilante.

A knock on the door made me jump. I looked out the peephole. There were two huge men in suits standing on the other side. Their arms were folded across their chests, making their muscles bulge. They did not look friendly.

I quietly backed away from the door and opened the window. There was a possibility that they were good guys. Maybe the police had decided to listen to me after all. But Detective Lewis hadn't dressed anything like these men. His suit pants were worn whereas these men were sporting suits with crisply ironed lines. And all I could think was that Don wore suits like that.

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