Two Can Play (Celeste and Dominic) novel Chapter 478

A long moment of silence stretched between us, and I watched a thought form behind her eyes before she spoke it. "Why can't we just run away from here?"

"Run away?"

"Maya and Jasmine are safe now. Sparrow is searching for Big Bryan, which means Big Bryan is running from him. We could go somewhere else, change our identities, change our lives, and live for ourselves, just the two of us. We could be free, Scarlett. Really free."

I shook my head slowly, because the hope in her voice hurt, and I hated the answer I had to give. "No, Tasha. We can't. We had a deal, remember? You were there. You saw the contract Sparrow prepared, the one for his wife. He wanted me to take it, but I handed it over to you, for the sake of your protection. You read it that day, didn't you?"

"Yes, I read it."

"You signed it, too, didn't you?"

"Yes." She nodded, her eyes dropping.

"So if we go against what we signed, Sparrow will have every reason to come after us. And how long do you think we could hide from a man like him? Do you want us to spend our lives looking over our shoulders? If Sparrow gets rid of Big Bryan completely, and we walk away eventually, we can live freely, without ever running again.

But if we make Sparrow our enemy, he will hunt us to the ends of the earth. It would be trading one enemy for another, and I will not do that to you, Tasha. I will not trade your safety for any comfort."

Her shoulders sagged, but she nodded. "So we just have to live out this one year."

I sat alone in the quiet, and the weight that had been crushing my chest since I found her bleeding finally lifted enough for me to breathe again. I had been so afraid.

All evening I had turned the fear over and over, certain that if Tasha had feelings for Sparrow, I would have to find a way to make it work. I had told myself I would do everything in my power to make Sparrow fall in love with her, if that was what she needed to be happy. Surely, if he fell in love with her, he wouldn't hurt her or be cruel towards her.

But she did not love him. It had all been a misunderstanding, a frightened girl reaching for anything that would make her feel useful. And that, I could fix.

Sparrow was a crazy man, but I would simply have to put up with him for a year. My mind, however, would not stop circling back to his hand, to the knuckles I had watched split open against my wall, to the blood running down his fingers while he smiled that strange, tired, self-mocking smile.

If he did not bandage it, it was going to hurt like the devil by morning. I did not want to care. I told myself I did not want to care, but the image would not leave me alone, and eventually I sighed, picked up the balm he had brought for my neck, grabbed the first aid kit from the bathroom, and walked down the hall to his door.