Page 126 of A Dark Duet

He runs a frustrated hand through his short hair. “I’ll pick you up when I’m done here.”

“Can’t. Gotta work tonight.”

“What the fuck? What do you mean work tonight?”

“The world revolves around money, Jaden. I obviously broke the agreement I had with Ethan by lighting the damn car on fire. I have these pesky little things called bills and I can’t exactly look for work as a therapist until I complete the hours and pay what I owe to the school,” I say sarcastically.

“If it’s money you need, I will—”

“No.” I shake my head and repeat the word. “No.”

“Why are you being this way?”

Setting my lips in a grim line, my eyes find his. “I asked myself the same question when you kicked me out of your life. Then I asked the same question when I saw you on television with your latest hookup and I came up with the same answer every time. I wasn’t important enough for you to have me around. The last thing I need is for you to play the hero for me right now.”

When I try to walk out, Giselle and Nate stand aside while Jaden blocks my exit.

“I can’t let you leave on that bike upset. I told you I was sorry for treating you like that. I will tell you every day if I have to but I can’t let you dance at some club for money. You are mine. We—”

I interrupt him and ask. “Do you love me?” I know I’m pushing. Maybe Ethan’s words are fucking with my head, but I want to push. Something deep inside of me keeps pushing the limit and I am tired of hiding. I’m tired of wondering where I stand. If he can’t tell me he loves me after all this time. The flowers and his nice gestures are all bullshit in my eyes. Pointless actions of affection with no meaning. He told me he doesn’t know what love is, and he is probably incapable of it, but I want to hear him tell me how he feels about me. About us.

“Wh-what?” he asks like he didn’t just hear me ask the words.

“You heard me. I asked you a simple question. Do you love me?”

From the corner of my eye, Giselle looks at Nate and bites her bottom lip. Seconds tick by and I already know the answer. He doesn’t have to say it. I already knew that Jaden Cyprus could never love me. My eyes get glassy but I quickly gather my composure because the only thing I have left is my pride.

“You know what? Don’t bother answering that. I knew what the answer was before I asked.”

The silence is so deafening you could hear a pin drop inside the studio’s office. He moves to let me pass through the doorway, but I turn and give Giselle a silent nod. She gets it and probably is the only person in this world that understands me. It sucks to ask a question like that and not get the answer you hope for, hope is such a bitch, but it’s the only thing you have left when you have nothing.

Jaden

What the fuck? Everything was fine. We were fine and she went crazy on me.

“You need to let her go, Jaden,” Nate says to me, walking back toward the gym after Briana sped off on her motorcycle. That thing is a death trap.

“I can’t, Nate. She needs me.”

“No, she needs someone to love her is what she needs and obviously you can’t give her that. She is dealing with her shit and she is tired of people letting her down. Everyone has let her down. She feels she has no one except Giselle. She still feels guilty about what happened with Giselle and blames herself. The only friend she knows that loves her, in her mind, she failed her. She has nightmares to remind her every night.”

“She won’t have the nightmares if she sleeps in my arms.”

Nate nods his head. “Yeah, until you toss her out on her ass, and it starts all over.”

“What the fuck is that supposed to mean? I would do anything for her. I’ll give her anything.”

“Except what she wants the most, and it definitely isn’t your money. She wants you to love her, Jaden. She wants reassurance that you will be there for her. Always. If you can’t be that for her and you can’t love her, then you need to let her go and let someone else love her like she deserves.”

We walk to the back and enter the office, where I had already placed a picture of all of us from my last fight when we were all in the cage with Brie by my side.

We were all smiling, and it was the best feeling in the world to know I have a family. She asked me if I loved her but I’m too much of a coward to understand the meaning of that word. I care about her so much; I have killed for her. Something is not right and has her acting rash and unpredictable.

Inwardly, I smile about her lighting the Bentley on fire. Fucking prick deserves the show for deceiving her. I knew the minute he was present in her life he was taking advantage of her.

“What do you plan to do?” Nate says, sitting in the office chair while I look at the photo, contemplating my next move. My phone vibrates, letting me know Brie made it to her apartment. I have a tracking device on her phone and cameras inside her apartment. I placed the tracking device after my call with Ethan for her safety. My head is spinning, playing out different scenarios. Why would Brie want me to train her in self-defense all of a sudden?

“Nate, call the South Dakota detention facility and ask if Briana’s mother was released.”

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