Jenalyn: Crossing Lines (#4) [Complete]

Chapter 38: Hayden

Sunday, 11:57 P.M. EST

“Okay, so here’s the thing,” Dane says after making a couple of calls in the other room. He walks over to where I sit frozen on the bed, the remainder of his brick still in his hands. “I’m not going to be able to sell this to its respective buyer now, thanks to your fluke and Sierra’s buffoonery.”

He pauses, but not long enough to allow me to say anything in response. 

“I figured I better make it fucking worth it, right? Because that’s a lot of money I lost because of you,” he continues after a few moments. “So here’s what we’re going to do.”

He holds the brick up to my face, allowing me to scope out the amount left after I let Sierra raid his stash. Once I check it out, he pulls it away with a sigh.

“We’re going to make this your goal,” he says matter-of-factly. “If your little bastard can make it through the rest of this bad boy? I’ll leave it alone. How about that?”

My heart feels like it freezes in my chest. I don’t understand why this is getting turned around on me when she’s the one that stole from him!

Dane reads my mind, clearing his throat before he speaks again. He lights another blunt. “And don’t worry, we’re going to take care of Sierra too,” he says. “That’s going to be the fun part.”

I have so many questions and concerns, but I can’t bring myself to say a thing. There is no way McKaiden would make it through what's left of that brick! Even if she did, it wouldn’t be as a healthy baby girl! 

How the hell am I supposed to get out of this?!

Dane hands me the blunt, and I take it without hesitation. Part of me knows it’s because I have to, and part of me feels like I need it to ease some anxiety beating through my body. 

Moments pass in silence, but I can feel his eyes burning into me the entire time. “You have nothing to say about this?” he asks as I hand the blunt back to him. He scoffs, hitting it once before going on. “I thought I would have heard your mouth by now! Who would have thought beating your ass would actually work?”

Words find their way to my mouth despite my scrambled mind. “Sierra tricked me!” I say, my tone similar to that of a favorite child tattling on their sibling. “Why am I being punished?! I’m not the bitch who-” 

Dane chuckles, cutting me off as she shoves the blunt back in my face. “See, I knew it was coming!” he exclaims with a know-it-all eye roll. “You can never keep your fucking mouth shut! I count on that sometimes, you know? So tell me, why does she deserve to get punished more than you?”

I’ve been trying to be a better person after what I did to Ren in the hospital. I can’t have stuff like that weighing down on my conscious! But why should I protect Sierra when she purposely tricked me and put me into a position where I’d take a beating for her? 

“She told me you didn’t want me out of that room!” I respond after a few moments. “You said that wasn’t the case yourself! She stole from you, and tried to use me as a distraction! And you’re letting her!”

Dane’s brows furrow, but he wears a look of perplexity. “Okay,” he says, his tone unimpressed. He takes the blunt back from me. “So what you’re telling me is you were under the assumption that you weren’t allowed to leave the room? And in yet another attempt to defy me, allowed some bitch to steal my shit, and did it anyway?  I’m still on Sierra’s side here; She was smart, and you were dumb.”

I shake my head, growing more panicked. I should have known that’s how he would take my explanation, but I guess I was relying on the fact that I’m me. She’s just some whore he plucked off the streets! He’s supposed to be mad at her!

“That’s not how it is!” I cry, trying to find a way to explain it better. Thinking on it now though, I can only see it his way… I was dumb. " I was just- … She was-… well, I knew-” 

I can’t form any sentences; my mind is too frazzled to make any connections anymore. Dane saves me the trouble of having to when he interrupts me wearing an amused smile. 

“It’s fine, Jenalyn. You two can hash it out in a little bit when I have her delivered back to me,” he says with an unsettling tone in his voice. “We’re going to have us a session of Creekside Court!”