Page 55 of Cruel Betrayal

Her family doesn’t see her for the woman she is. They don’t want to see her like that. They would rather pretend that she’s going to be able to slot herself into the lives that are expected of them.

I don’t think they’ve ever seen her as the individual she is.

Jade finishes the crust of her pizza. “It’s going well. I really like my professors and the knife work skills we’re learning are harder than I thought they’d be. And then all the lessons on food safety. I didn’t think there was so much I didn’t know.”

“Does that mean you’re going to open your own restaurant one day?”

“I’d have to talk to my family about it.” She leans back against the cushions, pulling her knees to her chest. “Speaking of my family, I want to go see them. I need to talk to them about Noah, and I want to tell them that I’m safe. I know they have to be worrying about me.”

“You think you’re safe?” I look at her as I finish my slice.

She shrugs. “Pretty sure I am. You might talk a good game about killing me, but I don’t think you’re actually going to do it. If you were, you would’ve done it by now.”

“You seem awfully confident in that.” I put my feet up on the coffee table, grabbing the remote and turning on the television.

I keep the volume low, putting on one of her favorite movies. Something about a blonde lawyer.

“Are you going to let me see my family or not?” She sounds exhausted, and as I study her, all I can do is weigh the pros and cons of letting her go to see them.

It would be all too easy for her to never come back. And I’m not going to let that happen.

I turn over the request. “I want to go with you, and I want to see that Zoe and Gia are happy there.”

Jade’s eyebrows climb. “They are.”

“You want to see your family, and I want to see mine.” I stare at her, gaze locking until she finally looks away first. I smirk and turn my attention to the movie. “Consider this the first step in you having more freedom.”

She bites the inside of her cheek before blowing out a breath. “My family is probably going to try to kill you the moment you walk through the door. You know that, right?”

“Guess it’s a good thing I have you to use as a human shield, isn’t it?”

Chapter Seventeen

EZRA

How many waysare there to kill a person in a bowling alley?

Sure, there’s the classic bashing someone’s head in with a bowling ball, but that’s gotten old and boring. I guess I could see how far someone could be stuffed in the ball return, but even that seems to be lacking originality.

Jade takes my hand, hauling me closer to her as we cross the dark parking lot and head toward the bowling alley. “You look like you’re going to go in there and murder everyone. Maybe if you looked a little more friendly, they’d behave too.”

“You’re not going to put the blame for what happens on me. Your family has been causing problems for years, and you know it as well as I do.”

“It’s not like your family is any better.”

I reach the door first, opening it for her. “There’s going to be a horde of Lyndes in there, and they’re all going to want to kill me.”

“Ellie probably won’t. She’s the softest one, though. Summer, maybe. She’s decently removed from everything most of the time.” Jade steps into the bowling alley.

I follow her, wrinkling my nose at the scent of stale beer, wax, and popcorn.

There are children shrieking at the other end of the alley, and there, off in a dark corner, are the Lyndes.

And none of them look happy to see me.

Zoe’s jaw is clenched tight, and Gia looks like she’s seen a ghost, the color draining from her face. Their husbands are right behind them, looking like a pair of assholes who would love nothing more than to get their hands around my neck.

Or worse.