Page 80 of Linger

WILLOW

A vicious, critical blow. That’s what his words had been.

I turned in a daze, my brain numbly begging me to follow Diggs. And realized long after I should’ve that I still wasn’t alone in the room—except the man in the doorway wasn’t the man I wanted to see.

Dare was there. Arms folded over his chest. Handsome face looking worn and haunted, clearly expressing the hundreds of demons he’d been fighting throughout the day.

I understood that far too well.

His dark eyes drifted around the room before locking on my face. His voice soft and almost thoughtful when he said, “You aren’t going anywhere.”

A breath that was equal parts humor and devastation burst from me. “If it’s because you think I’ll tell someone about...” I waved my hand at him. “You know...you or this or the rest of the people here; I swear to you, I won’t. But I can’t—” My jaw trembled as tears pricked at my eyes. “I was just told in no uncertain terms that Diggs doesn’t want me, and you can’t ask me to stay here, reliving that heartbreak over and over again.”

A rumble of understanding left Dare as he took a step into the room. “I heard. But pushing the people we love away is just part of this life.”

“If you heard him, then you heard me.” I pressed a hand to my chest when a pained-sounding laugh scraped up my throat. “I told him I was here—that I could handle him and this life. Trust me, he doesn’t—”

“So, that just makes all the bullshit between the two of you disappear?” Dare asked over me, voice an odd combination of power and kindness. “You have to decide if you’re strong enough to stand by his side through all this shit, but he has to live with the knowledge that he pulled you into our world. He has to live with the knowledge that you are now in constant danger and a target...because of him. He has to figure out how to keep you safe and not falter in his job—a job that weighs heavily on him.”

“Because of you.”

His eyebrows lifted at that, but he just said, “We all have our parts. None of us could do this without the other. And they all know I would do anything to get us out of this life if I could.”

A bitter-tasting sigh left me, but I held back the retort gathering on my tongue because I’d heard the story the night before. I knew Dare had tried pulling them from this life and that their old enemies had pulled them back in.

Besides, it wasn’t Dare I was upset with.

It was Diggs’ whiplash and cruelness. It was my heart for getting so wrapped up in him.

“When Lily and I were just starting, I made her think she was nothing to me. I wanted her to,” Dare said, surprising me. “I would’ve said anything to keep her away from this life...but I only lasted a few days before I broke down, begging her to forgive me.” He gave me a meaningful look, his voice lowering when he added, “I know exactly how much you scare him. I know why you do. And I know he can’t live without you, even though he’ll keep trying.”

A muted sob broke from me, my head shaking quickly as I hurried to brush away the tears that slipped free. “How long?” When Dare just slanted his head in question, I asked, “Diggs just packed my bag for me. How long am I expected to stay, showing him that I’m here, before I realize I’m just some delusional girl who won’t take a hint?”

Dare fought a smirk as he dropped his head, a hushed laugh leaving him before he met my stare again. “Maybe in the real world with a normal man, I’d tell you to take that hint. But we don’t live in that world, and anyone in this life who has a soul will do what he’s doing. So keep fighting. Stay. With Diggs,” Dare quickly added, as if correcting himself. “I’m not giving you a choice on staying here. You have to.”

A stunned breath fled from me. “In the real world, that’s kidnapping.”

“My wife was kidnapped,” he countered darkly. “What we’re doing is protecting you.”

“I’m sorry.” Shame coated my words as I remembered exactly who I was talking to and what he’d gone through in just the past twelve hours. “Do you know where she is yet?”

“That’s why I’m here...why Diggs was here.”

“I don’t...” My gaze flitted from where Dare stood to the empty doorway. “I don’t know where she is.”

“No, but we do,” he countered. “Keane Street has her...and they want you.”

A sharp, bemused sound forced from my lungs but fell flat when Dare’s expression didn’t waver. “I’m sorry, what?”

“One of the Keane sons wants you and is holding Lily for trade,” Dare said calmly, as if we weren’t talking about the very people who had murdered Mike and haunted my every thought for a year.

As if we weren’t talking about trading a life for a life.

I floundered for a response, but he went on before I could form one. “We aren’t trading you. But they won’t wait long to see what we’ll do—they’ll come for you here too.”

I stared straight ahead, seeing nightmare after nightmare play out as my shaking hands searched for the bed behind me and my knees weakened. But I only managed one unsteady step back before my legs gave out beneath me and I clumsily landed on my butt.

When Dare continued, his voice was so much closer than before. Softer. Gentler. But every word was filled with the brutal realities of this fucked-up day. “Need you to understand if you leave, you’ll be in more danger. If you leave, KSG will continue searching for you in places we can’t protect you. Diggs knows that.”

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