“On the contrary, mom and I are the only things that they can use against him. We’ve been targeted for years.”
My eyes bug out of my head. “What? Are you lying? You’ve never told me that before.”
Nic shrugs his shoulders. “It never came up.”
I stare at him as though he’s just taken a trip to the other side of the universe. My hand slaps hard across his glorious chest and he does his best to catch it before I can do it again. “Are you insane? Like seriously, are you? How can that just never come up?”
“Chill out,” he says as the others start looking our way. “It’s not a big deal. Mom has been a target ever since she got together with dad back in the day. She knew it was a part of getting involved with the head of the Black Widows and they both knew the risk of bringing a kid into the world. It’s just the way things are around here and it's going to be the same when I have to take over for him. Fuck, babe. I thought you would have realized that by now.”
“I just never really thought about it in that way. Your parents are divorced so I figured she was safe and you, well, no one is stupid enough to go after you.”
“He divorced her thinking the same thing but it didn’t exactly work out that way, and as for me, I can handle myself. If they want to come at me, then let them.”
My hand smacks out again. “Don’t say that, asshole. I can’t live in a world where you don’t exist.”
His eyes meet mine as he moves in a little closer. “Yet here you are forcing me to do the same.”
Something breaks within me and I struggle to work out if it’s my heart or my spirit. “That’s not fair,” I murmur, pulling my hands back from him. “It’s not like I’m choosing to be away from you guys. This is just the way it has to be. Mom and I have no other choice unless we’d prefer to be on the streets. You know what would happen to us here. Two unprotected women, we wouldn’t be safe.”
“I could look after you. I told you I would. You’d have my protection and the protection of the Widows. You know the guys would never let anything happen to you.” He grabs my hands and forces my eyes to remain on his stormy ones. “You’re safer here than you are with those rich pricks. This is your home, O. Come home to me.”
“Nic,” I sigh, trying to pull my hands free. “Mom and I need to do this. We need to learn to stand on our own two feet without dad, and besides, mom is thriving in Bellevue Springs. She feels valued and important. What she does fills the void and gives her something to think about apart from missing dad. She’s been hurting so much, but there … she’s happy. I won’t take that away from her just so I can be close to my friends.”
“Friends?” he scoffs, offended. “No friends, only family.”
“You know what I meant, Nic.”
“Yeah,” he says, pulling back and averting his eyes and crushing me in the process. “I can understand your confusion. It really does feel like just friends lately.”
My glare hits him hard and fast. “You want to start on that shit?” I demand. “You’re the one who made me feel like just a friend first. Hell, you made me feel like a lot less than that, or have you forgotten the reason why we’re not together anymore?”
“Don’t bring that old shit up,” he demands, stepping into me and grabbing my chin.
I tear my chin free. “Then quit trying to use a bullshit guilt trip on me to bring me home. I made my decision. I’m living in Bellevue Springs until I graduate and then starting a life for myself. I’m breaking free of this town and building something that I can be proud of. Why can’t you get on board with that? There was once a time where you would have jumped at an opportunity for me to get out of here.”
He shrugs his shoulders, leaning back against the sink just as he was when I first arrived. “I’m a selfish bastard, and that was a long time ago, way before I fell in love with you.”
“You’re not in love with me, Nic. You just want to be because it’s the