Page 6 of Tangled Like Us

Until I break it.

“What I said—I can never take back,” I tell my brother.

He cocks his head slightly. “Everyone knows the straight shot to Farrow is to go after his boyfriend.”

I glare at the horizon. “And I’m the shitbag who took it, Banks.”

He looks right at me, but I’m not turning my head. My narrowed eyes are in a vice that I can’t loosen, and I don’t like glaring at my brother.

That one moment has haunted me for months. I personally attacked Farrow, caused friction in SFO, and I disrespected Maximoff. A guy who’s only shown a high-level of respect for every bodyguard.

Maximoff also just so happens to be Xander Hale’s older brother. Xander is a kid that Banks and I spent over five years protecting together. And what Xander means to me—means tous…there are no words that can even encapsulate how much I feel for that kid.

I swallow a jagged rock in my raw throat. Hurting these families is gut-wrenching. And it contradicts my whole purpose.

I should’ve been fired.

I did try to quit.

Just as I started signing the termination papers, Akara grabbed the pen out of my fucking hand and Banks locked me in a room until I promised I’d stay on. The main reason why I’m still here is… Jane.

I didn’t want to give up on her. I didn’t want to quit on her.

I care too much about her well-being and safety, and she needs real stability. Placing her in the hands of a new bodyguard felt like ripping the rug from underneath her feet.

I couldn’t do it.

And I know, well and fucking good, that dwelling on the past isn’t going to help Jane.

“What happened,happened,” Banks whispers, still staring at me. “But we’ve all got to push forward together.”

I nod a few times, taking a deeper breath. “Watch the sea. I’m not the objective.” We’ve had issues with paparazzi boating to shore this summer.

He fixes his earpiece. “You’re such a fucking gabbadost’.”You’re such a fucking hardhead.His Philly lilt overpowers the Italian-American word.

I almost smile. After another quiet moment, I tell him, “I’m snapped to.”

His lips slowly rise. “Right on, right on.”

I instinctively pin my sights on my client.

Jane looks up from her spot near the fire, and her blue eyes crash against my brown.

My chest lifts, but I hardly fucking budge.

She tears our gazes apart and checks over her shoulder like the lights to the neighboring town are suddenly of interest.

Goddammit.

Banks scans the bonfires and then briefly glances at Jane. “She’s still not talking to you?”

Affirmative.“I’m fixing it,” I say stiffly.

A beat passes.

“Like now,” Banks says. “You gotta stop tormenting yourself and just go.”

“She’s with her family, Banks.” I raise the volume on my radio, but comms chatter has been nearly silent tonight. Everyone is in the same space. Not much happening.