Page 101 of Property of Fang
“Nice try,” I sass, moving to emulate his position on an adjacent stretch of counter space. “You’re sneaky. But not in that way.”
“And just what wayamI sneaky, Jenna?”
I swallow, itching to touch my face and distribute the heat in my cheeks, but reluctant for him to see how easily affected I am. “In your intentions. You know, if you’d just said from the startthat you were playing nice to get info from me, I might have told you anyway without all the games.”
He smirks. “No, you wouldn’t.”
I grin, ducking my chin. “No. I wouldn’t have.”
Silence falls between us, yet for once, it’s almost comfortable. Expected.
He breaks the ceasefire first. “What comes next for you?”
I look up. “How do you mean?”
“I mean exactly what I said.” Fang sets the fidget down on the counter—an empty protein bar wrapper. “What do you do after all of this is settled? When your old man’s sorted, when the debt’s gone, what comes next for you?”
I glance around the room—anywhere but at his face. “I don’t know. I guess it depends on the options given to me by the actions of others.” He tilts his head a little, so I explain. “I could make plans, Nibbles. Easy. But what’s the point when I don’t know if I’m going to end up behind bars or six feet under? I’d merely be giving myself false hope.”
“Some hope is better than none.”
I stare at the floorboards, afraid of what I’ll find if I look at his face.
“You aren’t the first person to find themselves in a shitty situation, you know.”
My neck bristles, muscles tense.How dare he start this victim mentality shit again?Fang holds up a hand, stalling my bubbling rage.
“But it’s the first timeyou’vefound yourself in it. Am I right?”
I nod. “Didn’t exactly graduate with the intent to follow in my father’s footsteps. No.” His curt reaction earlier flits through my mind. “If the only reason you’re getting me to call him is that you think it’ll make getting him here easier, then I think you guys need a new plan.” I swallow, steeling my jaw before adding, “Because he doesn’t give a shit what I say.”
I catch a glimpse of the pity in Fang’s eyes and look back to the floor. Fuck him and his changeable moods toward me. One minute he’s cool and detached, and then he’s offering me his bed. Then he’s calling me difficult and stubborn, bullying me into a meltdown before talking me through it like a trusted friend. I can’t get a gauge on what the guy actually wants, and I think that’s what puts me on edge with him.
Why am I still drawn to his orbit when all he promises is turbulence?
Where the fuck does this ingrained need to self-destruct come from?
“Give him one more call, Jenna,” Fang urges. “And this time, don’t hold any punches. Your aim isn’t to please. It’s to get him to fucking do what you want.”
“And how the helldoI do that, exactly?”
He smirks. “By calling his bluff. Tell the asshole you’ll take everything you’ve learned about the Devil’s Breed and his involvement to the cops if he doesn’t play ball.”
I frown. “I’m no rat, Nibbles.”
He shrugs. “He doesn’t know that.”
THIRTY-FOUR
FANG
Fuck her vulnerability.I tuck my thumbs into the armholes of my cut to save from reaching for her. She puts on a brave face, but she hides some deep fucking childhood wounds below. Abandonment issues. Trust. Fear of rejection and of not being enough.
Yeah, I resonate with all of that. It’s why I mask with my fucking stupid behavior.
She appears to roll the idea of lying to her father around in her mind, gaze distant while she stares at the floor.
“You think he’d be worried enough to give in?” Fuck knows I don’t want to be the one tasked with getting him here.
