Chapter 34

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Chapter 34


My mind went blank. "What?"

The sadness in Nathan's eyes was starting to diminish, becoming quickly replaced with something more determined. A sense of purpose. A distraction. "Run away with me, Jess. If I play my cards correctly, we can leave tonight."

My tongue refused to work properly. "But..." How could I possibly decline something such a request? What he was demanding was so ridiculous, so utterly insane, and yet – I replayed my earlier words and fought the urge to strangle myself.

I promised I'd do anything for him. He wasn't being unreasonable, so much as he was holding me accountable to my own words.

You've made your bed. Now lie in it.

After a heavy beat of silence, I heaved a great sigh. My next words were painful to get out. "Nate..." I bit my lip. "You know that's impossible. I can't."

"What do you mean you can't?" he cried, suddenly jumping from his sitting position and kneeling so he was at level with me. His sweaty fingers desperately gripped by palms.

"Please, Jess. I'm going to have to do this, with or without you. And you said you'd do anything." He lowered his voice, gently running his lips along mine. "You want to help me, right? Then this is the only way." I let out an unsteady breath.

His kisses continued, growing more and more convincing. "I love you, Jess. And you love me too, don't you?"

"Of course I do. You know I do," I croaked, before clearing my throat and attempting to put a tiny bit of distance between us. Nathan couldn't know the effect he had on me. It was far too much power for him to have. And yet, the idea of running away from all our responsibilities was utterly ludicrous – especially considering the situation we were both currently under.

I spoke with slightly more conviction this time. "We can't just run away, Nate. That—" I shook my head, "—that would be stupid."

He let out a short, humorless laugh. "Stupid? There is nothing stupid about what I'm planning."

I hesitated. His eyes were now frantic and pleading, boring into my soul and almost willing me to join this new reckless cause.

"What exactly are you planning on doing?" I asked tentatively. On the surface, it seemed as if this newfangled plan had been the result of needing to take decisive action – of setting the course towards righting his father's wrongs. But perhaps the idea of running away had occurred to him long before Vera's story and before his father's surprise appearance.

I remembered when I'd last seen that look in his eyes. That spark of excitement and possibility – brewing as he'd held his brand new passport up to the light.

"You've been thinking about this for a while, haven't you?" I asked him.

Dry amusement washed over his face, but only very briefly. "Angel, you never cease to amaze me. Sometimes I think you know me better than I know myself – of course I have. I've hardly slept because of it." His demeanor then became deadly serious. I almost retreated out of fear. "You could almost time Alfred's monthly visits to a stopwatch. That fucker is up to something. Whatever he's doing in Sin City can't be good – and I only have to prove that he's up to something despicable in order to have him locked up for good. That's all it would take to bring him down."

"So... you want to follow your father to Vegas?" I simplified, processing his words.

Without warning, Nathan stood up, pacing around his recently cleaned room like an angry, adolescent tiger.

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