Page 4 of Cruel Betrayal

I can deal with my stalker on my own.

Summer sipsher mimosa and looks up at me. “You look like you’ve barely been sleeping.”

“And you look like law school is sucking the soul out of you. Think you’re going to be ready to graduate soon?” I reach for my water, wanting a drink but not wanting my senses to be dulled.

“Sure, if by ready you mean that I have one more year to go, and I feel like I’m going insane.”

“Well, drinking a mimosa with dinner is insanity, so at least your drink choice is appropriate to the way you feel.”

“You know, we might be twins, but I don’t think you’ve ever been more unlike me in your life. A mimosa is an anytime drink, and you should know that. The orange juice is good for you.”

I snort and cut the steak in front of me into thin pieces. “You might be the only person I’ve ever met who is willing to argue that mimosas are healthy.”

Summer smirks and sips the drink again. “Come on, Jade. You need to let loose and have a little fun.”

“And how am I going to do that? Noah is back and after months of pretending to be dead, he’s gunning for all of us. You know the second he can, he’s going to start taking us out.”

“You worry about life too much.” She dips a chunk of her lobster in the bowl of seasoned butter in front of her. “It’s been weeks since Aiden last saw him.”

I glance at the tables around to make sure nobody is listening to us. “In that time, there’ve been several attacks on arms and drug deals. I’m going to keep worrying about it because there’s no telling when there’s going to be a knife to any of our throats.”

“You sound paranoid.”

“Maybeyoushould be a little more paranoid.”

Summer laughs. “Jade, I love you, so I’m going to say this as nice as I can. You’re starting to sound too much like Aiden was last year.”

“He had a point, even if none of us were willing to listen to him.”

“Sure, he had a point. But do you really want to spend the next few years worrying about when Noah is going to try and kill us? Especially when you know that Aiden is taking care of things?”

“What if he can’t?” I stab another piece of steak and pop it into my mouth, chew it and swallow. “Look, I know that there’s very little that Aiden can’t do, but you have to admit that this is going to be one of those things he might not be able to do.”

Summer looks at me for too long, making the hair on the back of my neck stand up.

I hold her gaze, knowing that the moment I look away, she’ll start badgering me with whatever else she’s thinking about.

And knowing her, that will lead to frustrating me until I say something that will give away the shitstorm that’s going on in my life.

It’s what she’s done since we were young.

Summer hums and leans back in her chair, wiping her buttery fingers off on a napkin. She blows the hair out of her face as the warm spring wind blows it around. “Are you sure that this stuff with Noah is the only thing bothering you?”

“Yes.”

No.

But how do you tell your sister that there’s a stalker when you don’t want your entire family to come storming into your life like a pack of tornados? Wanting to control you. Smothering you. Caging you.

How do you tell her that you feel like you’re losing control of your life? That you’re losing your mind? That you can’t sleep at night because you know there’s something lingering in the shadows and watching you?

The simple answer is you don’t.

Chapter Two

ERZA

I gripmy cock a little tighter, looking at the way the lavender bra perfectly cups Jade’s breasts. She’s been sending me nudes and lingerie pictures for weeks outside the chatroom.