Page 48 of This Life of Mine

I needed motion. Distance. Something to bleed the tension off before it turned reckless.

I also don’t tell her I was the one who sent the DoorDash driver to EJ’s house.

Fucking Wingstop was all it took to distract him from touching her any further.

The decision came the second Reese flagged her messages—harmless on the surface, flirty, familiar. Until EJ typed “you won’t see it coming.”

That was the moment my body went still.

Surprises are variables. Variables get people hurt.

That’s when I moved. Got into my gear and bugged his place.

Luckily, this fuck boy is far more interested in something like free food. Especially after he hit a blunt. Which EJ did hours before Lina showed up.

So I sent the wings. It worked.

The camera confirmed it—him opening the bag like it was Christmas morning, sauce already on his fingers before he sat.

They sat and talked over spicy wings. There was no urgency, no setup, no weapons or traps. Just greasy takeout and a man whose attention span was hijacked by sodium, weed, and free convenience.

That’s when I stopped watching.

Because even if the wings hadn’t done the trick—if she’d walked in while he was still thinking with his dick first—I wouldn’t have stayed. I would never watch that.

I would never want to sit there, hiding in the shadows, listening to her laugh with him, hearing sounds meant for someone else. Never let her voice become something I associate with another man’s pleasure. That would be my own kind of absolute fucking torture.

So I shut the video feed down the second I confirmed she was safe. Pulled on my hoodie and laced my shoes tighter than necessary.

I convinced myself I was being professional. That I’ve verified the threat level and disengaged like I’m supposed to.

I went for the run. I stopped tracking.

Then, I missed the alerts. That’s on me.

The weight of knowing I let my guard down because I couldn’t stand the idea of watching her choose someone else has me reeling.

Six weeks. That’s all it took. And it already appears to be too much.

She’s still standing. Still here. And something roots itself beneath my breastbone

I will not be that fucking stupid again.

Chapter sixteen

Alex

Iglance at Cole on the pavement, cuffs snapping closed as officers lift him. This time, no parents. No payoffs. No escape.

I step a little closer to Lina, keeping my voice low. “You okay?” I ask her.

She studies me for a moment, as if she senses there’s more I’m not saying.

There is.

This started as a job. Surveillance. Protection. Find the threat that surrounds her. Trace it back to the source so we can get paid.

Yet, over the past six weeks, witnessing her efforts, practice, and lifestyle, it transformed into something more.