Page 104 of Endure the Pain

I tilted my head. “Why? You had no problem leaving me before. I remember you being pretty insistent on sending me away. You did just about anything to unburden yourselves of the woman responsible for your baby’s death.”

Jamie winced and stepped away.

“That’s not true and you know it,” Louie argued. “We wanted to send you somewhere safe so we—”

“So you could what?” I snapped. “Get back at the Aryans for me?” I laughed darkly. “I don’t need fucking men to fight my battles for me. The only thing you two ended up doing was make me look weak to the rest of the family.”

Jamie’s fists clenched. “You were weak.”

“I had my baby gutted from me!” I roared. “You couldn’t give me a fucking minute to grieve. Instead, you wrote me off. You abandoned me!”

“We didn’t abandon you! We were trying to protect you!” Jamie roared back. “You left us. You shot me and disappeared for three fucking months.”

“You think I wanted to leave? That I wanted to do this alone?” My eyes filled with tears and I lowered my gun. “I needed you and you tried to send me away.” My voice cracked.Damnit!“And don’t tell me it’s because you wanted to protect me. You both knew that once I was able to pull myself to my feet, I’d want revenge. You tried to take that from me, to punish me.”

Louie shook his head. “No. We—”

“It’s my fault we lost her,” I interrupted, not wanting to hear his lies. “Right, Jamie?”

Jamie stared at me with a clenched jaw. I did my best to regain my composure, but a tear fell down my cheek. I quickly wiped it away.

“I don’t blame you,” he said.

“We never did,” Louie quickly added.

I stepped away from them. If I stayed here much longer, all my determination would wither away. “It doesn’t matter.”

Jamie moved closer. “Yes, it does. I didn’t mean any of it. I was hoping that if I hurt you, you’d go. You weren’t safe and I was desperate.”

My disbelief must have shown because he continued on.

“I know it sounds stupid, but you’re a runner,” he said. “You tried to run from Louie when you thought he didn’t want to be with you. You’ve run from me I don’t know how many times. When it involves emotional pain, you run.”

Louie also moved closer. “We almost lost you. It scared us. We were angry and grieving. Did we go about things poorly? Yes. But our intentions were to protect you, especially since we have no idea who is feeding all our secrets to the Aryans.”

I shook my head and took another step away from them. I felt like they were closing in on me. I felt trapped. I spun and darted for the bathroom. An arm locked around my waist, stopping me. “See what I mean? You run,” Jamie said.

I jammed my elbow into his ribs, and he released me with a grunt. “If you’ve said all you needed to say, then leave.” I dashed into the bathroom, slammed the door closed, and locked it.

“We’re not leaving,” Louie said from the other side.

I woke the next morning to a warm breath on the back of my neck. I cracked my eyes open to Jamie lying next to me. At first, I felt content, thinking I had woken up before Jamie and Louie for once. Then I blinked and my memories came back to me. I lifted my head and looked around. We were still in the hotel room and I was lying between them on the only bed.

The last thing I remembered from last night before falling asleep was sitting on the bathroom floor, with my back against the wall and my knees pulled up to my chest.

They must have broken into the bathroom while I was asleep and carried me out here. Bastards took my gun too, no doubt.

Their breathing was slow and even. Louie was lying on his stomach and Jamie was on his side, facing me. I sat up slowly, careful not to move too much, then beganscooting down toward the foot of the bed. Once I had my feet planted on the floor, at a snail’s pace, I stood. Free from the bed, I released a breath I hadn't known I'd been holding.

I tip-toed toward the closet by the front door, where I had a small bag hidden. It held a change of clothes, identification for a new alias, cash, and a key for a car parked downstairs. I slid the closet door open and grabbed the bag. The room door was going to be my biggest hurdle. It made a lot of noise. I put my whole hand over the deadbolt, and it squeaked a little as I turned it.

After that was unlocked, I reached for the door handle and a shadow loomed over me from behind before two hands laid themselves flat on the door on either side of me. The tattoos on the arms told me who it was.

“Are you hungry?” he asked.

I turned to face him. My gaze dropped to his bare chest.He’s been working out.His muscles were definitely more defined. He was only in his black boxer briefs, so there was a lot of…muscle on display.

Catching myself staring, I forced my eyes up to his. He had a stupid smirk on his face.