Page 62 of Xactly What She Needs

The lame joke is met with a self-deprecating smile, and I know what she’s going to say before she even opens her mouth.

“No, you wouldn’t deserve it,” I say firmly.

“But—”

“I mean it. You don’t. You didn’t do anything wrong, but it’s exactly what he’d want. To make you feel guilt about something he did. He always did that to me. Don’t you dare let him win.”

It’s with a lot of satisfaction that I watch as Dani lets herself breathe through the stressors and calm herself down. By the time her hands are steady enough to lift her coffee up without them shaking so much that it spills over the side.

“Sorry. I lost my head for a moment there.”

“You never had your head.” I snark hoping to make her smile.

“Fair enough, I guess.” She grins.

Helping to calm my sister down makes the whole situation easier to swallow, but still the niggle of panic is striking at the back of my conscious mind. I can feel it, trying to take control, but I’d be a huge hypocrite if I ignored theadviceI just gave my sister.

He does not control me. Not inany way.

“Okay. So what do we want to do about this?”

“We?” Dani repeats, her eyebrows shooting up into her bangs. “Darling, ‘we’ aren’t going to do a fucking thing. But Xander and Jax? I think they’re about ready to hunthimdown and murder him.”

Oh Christ, that doesn’t sound good.

“Where are you going?”

“To stop whatever hair-brained scheme those two knuckle-heads are devising.”

Dani laughs out loud, and I let her, because I know I sound like someone’s cartoon mom.

“Come on, let’s talk them out of committing a crime,” I say, rolling my eyes.

On the shop floor, I find both brothers with their heads down over the computer, and next to it is an unassuming black rectangle. The tracker.

“I’m not surprised that he stooped so low, but I am disappointed.”

Jax jumps at my sudden appearance, but not Xander. He doesn’t even look up from the screen, too focused on his work to bother.

“What do you mean?” Jax asks.

I gesture over to the tracker.

“He always wanted to know where I was at any given time. I was so sure he’d bugged my phone, so when I ran, I ditched everything I owned that was electrical. Sold it to an electronics store and bought cheaper versions until I could save up to replace them properly. I couldn’t live with that fear.”

At the time, I felt as though I was giving away all of my worldly possessions. My phone and laptop were everything to me. I ran my life and business from them, so I was suddenly very naked and vulnerable. But I knew I had to. He’d given me no choice.

“He must have known Dani would come to me eventually. I always told him how close we were, and although he never liked her — nooffenseDani.”

“None taken.”

“He knew thatwe wouldalways end up near one another.”

It’s only after I’ve said this that Xander straightens up, and I see there’s true anger in his eyes. Dani wasn’t kidding. He really means to kill.

“Let’s close up shop half an hour early,okay? How about you guys come to Xanders?” I say to Dani and Jax. “We can order pizza, watch a movie, anything.”

Anything to take their collective minds away frommyex-boyfriend and the danger he poses. It wouldn’t be right if theguys risked themselves just to put him in his place. Whatever happens, I’ll do everything in my power to make sure he’s the one who hurts for this.

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