Chapter 113: Separation Or What?

Draven’s pov

"What else do you want to hear, Draven? I said I love you." Jade repeated it to me again.

I didn’t want to believe her. She was a good person, but I didn’t think she was capable of love ... not after everything that had happened between us.

I walked out of the bathroom in anger. On my way out, I realised what I had done to her. She was a lady, and I had lifted her and pinned her to the wall like she was nothing. Shame burned somewhere underneath the anger.

Before I left her presence, I stopped.

"I’m sorry for doing that to you, Jade. It was never my intention."

"What about my love for you?" she asked again.

"That’s a topic for another time." I still left.

I shied away from that conversation on purpose. I didn’t want anyone holding me down ... not that night. That night was still long, and I intended to enjoy every part of it.

I drank. I had fun with a lot of ladies. And all the while I kept one eye on every corner of the room because I had to be safe. Old habits didn’t die in a place like this.

But I didn’t have sex that night, even though I would have loved to. Something was restraining me, something I didn’t want to name. I tried to convince myself it was anything else, but I already knew the truth. My love for Jade couldn’t let me face another woman, undress her, and fuck her. I wasn’t a rogue, as much as I wished I was.

I looked across the room at her. She was looking at me too.

Somewhere in the back of my mind, I told myself she didn’t mean that confession from the heart. She was just jealous ... she didn’t want me rocking other ladies, and this was her way of pulling me back. But it didn’t matter what I told myself. I still loved her. And I couldn’t hide it, not even from me.

When it was close to morning, Jade came to find me. She leaned in close because of the music.

"I’m sorry too, Draven," she said quietly in my ear.

I didn’t want to forgive her ... not that fast ... so I gave her a look that said later. She pulled back and read it without a word.

Then the building shook.

A grenade blew the door wide open. Shouting erupted from every direction. Tear gas flooded the room and the crowd collapsed into chaos ... people scrambling, colliding, falling over each other in the smoke and the noise. I pressed low and moved fast.

I couldn’t understand how whoever they were had managed to penetrate this place again.

"Draven!" Jade’s voice cut through the chaos. She was right beside me.

A wave of relief hit me. At least I could protect her.

"Come out willingly." The voice that followed froze me in place. "Because whether you come out or not, you’re going to die tonight."

Rex.

This was insane. If they could track us down here again, it meant we were never truly safe ... not anywhere.

"Draven and Jade," Rex called out again, louder this time. "Come out. Either way, you’re both dead tonight."

We were all crouched behind the bar counter. You couldn’t see anyone from where Rex stood ... only hear voices and the slow creak of the room settling after the blast. Rex must have come with his people. I told Jade to stay down and held her close to me.

Lucas wasn’t near us, but I was sure he was hiding too.

"Jade ... nice work you did at that park, killing Carlos." Rex’s voice moved through the room like he owned it. "But now you’ve created more enemies for yourself and for your clan by killing the leader of the Glock wolves. They can’t track you here, but I can. The real protection you need is with me. Come out."

"I belong to a different clan," Jade shouted from beneath the counter. "So get the fuck out of here."

I grabbed her and covered her mouth. I hadn’t even realised she had opened it.

"You belong to me, Jade. I raised you. I can wipe out your so-called family right now, so it’s better you come out if you truly love them. Gia is dead too. I’ve incurred a lot of losses. Come out, and there won’t be a problem."

Silence.

Then I saw Dorian crawl under one of the tables on the far side of the room. He grabbed one of the strippers by the arm and dragged her across the floor toward Rex, her screams swallowed halfway by the music still bleeding from the speakers.

Lucas stood up.

"Please ... don’t hurt anyone. We didn’t touch any of yours. Please, put the gun down." His voice was steady even though his hands weren’t.

That was when I understood. There was a gun pressed to her head.

The pain hit me hard even from a distance.

"You think I’m a joker?" Rex said. "Even jokers commit crimes ... and I’m no joker. I do exactly what I say."

Jade tensed beside me, already preparing to stand. I pulled her back down.

"At the count of three ... if Jade doesn’t come out, I pull the trigger. One..."

I stood up.

"Rex." My voice came out steadier than I felt. "Put the gun down. You can’t be doing all of this just because of Jade."

The moment I was visible, Mia raised a gun and pointed it directly at me.

Dorian, Dante, Rafael, Viktor ... they were all there. Every single one of them, guns aimed at everyone in the room.

They had come prepared. We hadn’t.

They’d caught us completely off guard. Any other night and we would have had something ready, but not tonight. It was becoming clear to me that they had eyes we didn’t know about. They could see and know everything.

What the fuck.

"Oh ... this is the boyfriend." Rex smiled the way people smile when they already know how a story ends. "Draven. You’re a fool, man. You really want to die for a lady? The last time I saw that happen, the lady ended up married to someone else." He cocked his gun and pointed it at my chest while Viktor pressed his back to the stripper’s head. "You betraying little bitch. Tell your girlfriend to come out, or I kill you right now."

My heart was slamming against my ribs. I was panting on the inside, but I kept my face still.

I couldn’t bring Jade out and put her in the fire. I just couldn’t.

"Don’t worry, Draven. I know you like fucking," Rex said. "You’ll find another pussy. Now bring her out."

He shot the stripper in the leg.

She screamed. I felt it from across the room.

"The next one goes in the head," he said.

Jade stood up.

I spun around, stunned.

She didn’t look broken. Her eyes held tears, but her jaw was set, her shoulders straight. She wasn’t sobbing. She was just ... decided.

"What do you want, Rex?" she said. "You’ve promised to make my life a living hell. So what is it? What do you actually want?"

"I want you back where you belong," he said. "With the Mafia wolves. With your family."

I watched Jade and Lucas exchange a look.

No. She couldn’t possibly be thinking about it.

"That’s not possible," I said.

"I wasn’t talking to you, Draven." Rex didn’t even glance at me. "You can go wherever the hell you want. It’s Jade I want. We belong together."

Jade folded her arms slowly. "One condition. You leave my family alone. You leave Draven alone."

"I promise," Rex said without hesitating.

I looked at her. She was serious. I had thought ... hoped ... she was buying time. She wasn’t. She had already made up her mind.

I grabbed her arm as she stepped out from behind the counter. "Jade. What the hell do you think you’re doing?"

She wrapped her hands over mine, gently, the way you hold something you’re about to let go of.

"Now you’ll believe me when I say I love you," she said.

She kissed me. Full on the lips, slow and deep, like she was memorising it. Then she pulled back just enough to breathe against my ear.

"Don’t look for me."

She walked to Rex. She didn’t look back.

"Family," she said, her voice quieter now but still clear. "I love you all. We’ll see each other again some other time."

One by one, guns came down. They formed a wall around her and walked her out through the broken door.

The room went silent.

I stood there, Lucas somewhere to my left, and for a few seconds neither of us moved. The music had stopped. The smoke had thinned. Everything was still.

Had I really just lost the love of my life?