Burning Bridges

Chapter 28

I thought I would never hear that voice again. It couldn't be true because he left me. Wait, no I left him-

"Violet," he said softly so that only both of us heard it. I refused it to be him, but his fingers delicately guiding my chin up to look at him confirmed my nightmares. Or was it a dream? I just stared openly at him. He hasn't changed a bit. Still bloody and bruised on the face. But his hair was messier.

"It's going to be okay," Jaden continued, as I looked between him and Mr. Jones. Or what was left of him. Blood spewed everywhere as his back looked distorted. A chiropractor couldn't fix that. "We won't let him hurt you again. He's gone now."

I started bawling instantly. Because that was one of the first sentences that he had ever said to me. It made everything feel even more real. Like this wasn't just one of the corrupt wishes that I have had in my head. His arms were on me instantly, allowing me to absorb his body heat. Despite the decaying fire around us, I felt cold until he wrapped his body around me.

The tears just kept coming, choking the back of my throat. He continued to calm me down with his breathy words and light gestures, but I couldn't stop crying like a fucking baby.

I can't remember the last time that I had truly cried. Tears were never my outlet. Anger was. But I had no more adrenaline in me, only a pure sadness. That it was all over now. And Jaden was comforting me. I didn't deserve it, which made me sob even harder into his arms, onto the dry asphalt, merely meters away from my latest kill.

I refused to look at him anymore because I was resisting the urge to spit on his deceased body. I would for sure go to hell because of that. I couldn't tell if the tears were from sadness or relief anymore.

All I knew was that I was tired. So fucking tired. I slumped even harder into Jaden's warm body on the ground, only focusing on him now. Purely him. "Is it over?" I barely managed to utter at him.

He looked down at me with such an intensity that I was so sure I would have doubled over if I wasn't already sitting down. "Yes, it is, Violet. You're safe now."

I managed to put a smile on my face. "I like when you call me by my real name. Hardly anyone knows it."

"Is it because I'm special, Violet?" He emphasized the last word. His grin melted me from the inside out.

"Of course you are. You came back for me."

"Because I promised that I would be there for you, no?"

I nodded gratefully. "And I promised that I would save you. I'm sorry for leaving you earlier today, but I had to protect you. I knew that your gang would come back for you, and this was a battle that I had to fight on my own-"

"Go out with me," Jaden babbled so quickly that I wasn't sure if I had heard him correctly. He tried again, noticing the confused look on my face. "Will you, Ms. Violet Santiago, do the honors of going on a date with me?" He was so fucking cute when he wanted to be.

"Well, Mr. Jaden Soren. I will go on a date with you under one condition. If you promise to never break my heart." Even though that phrase was so overused, I didn't care because I had Jaden back.

"That depends, did you start this fire?" He gestured to the buildings around us. I completely forgot where we were.

I grinned evilly in response. "Then yes because I don't want to end up like fried chicken."

"That's disgusting," I chuckled while pulling him in closer. I shut my eyes, wrapping my arms around him to pull him into a kiss. Hearing him scream in response, I opened my eyes instantly, just in time to see a bullet lodge into his back. And the man that I thought was dead with the same very glock pointed at me.