You Belong To Me

chapter twelve

Lailah's POV

My door violently shakes as Cade pounds on it from the other side. I jog to the door, opening it.

"What the hell? Are you trying to break off my hinges?"

"Never mind that." He walks into the room and I close the door. I lean against it as I watch him pace around in a circle.

"Cee, please calm down. You're making me nervous."

He stops pacing and turns around to look at me. "How can you even ask me to be calm after what you just told me? That's it, I'm going to Jack's."

"W-why?"

"I'm going to ask him to pull up anything that he can find on Devon."

He walks towards the door and I grab his arm, stopping him. "No, please! That'll just make him even more mad."

"Oh, my God! Lai, look at yourself! You're scared of him. Well, guess what? You won't have to be for much longer. I've got your back. You'll never have to be scared of anything as long as you're with me."

He opens the door and steps into the hall. I go over to my dresser and grab my key. I join Cade in the hall and lock the door.

We leave the building and get in his car. Cade drives past the speed limit and we're at his dorm within two minutes. We run upstairs until we're in front of Jack's door and he knocks on it.

"Oh, but you don't bang on his door."

"Bitter?" I glare at him as I hear the lock click. The door opens in front of us.

"Hi." Jack greets us.

"Hey, man. Can we come in?"

Jack extends his arm, moving out of the way as me and Cade enter his room.

"I need a favor. Can you pull up a student's file?"

"Um, sure. What's their name?"

"Devon."

"And his last name?"

Cade looks at me. "Burke."

"Mind me asking what he's done?"

"That's the thing. We don't know yet." Cade answered. "We were kind of hoping that you could tell us."

"Yeah, no problem. Just give me a sec." Jack sits in his chair and turns on his computer. He clicks a few buttons on the keyboard.

I play with my fingers, anxious.

"Got it."

"What'd you find?"

"I mean, other than he just moved here a few months ago, not much. He's a junior and has a B-average."

"Wait, no, that can't be everything. He told me that he moved here because of legal reasons."

"Let's see if I can find anything."

The heavier the silence, the more scared I was. Scared to know the truth.

I hear Jack suck in air between his teeth.

"What?" I asked.

"Are you sure that you want to hear this?" I shoot him a glare.

"Alright, just brace yourselves. He was arrested for aggravated assault. He put a former classmate of his in the hospital. Looks like he's still in the ICU. He's been in a coma for the last six months."

"What?!" I pace around the room. "No, no, no, no. What have I gotten myself into?"

"Take it easy, Lai. This..." He gestures towards my reaction. "Can't be good for the baby."