Ember Toretto-O'Connor is forbidden from street-racing and watching it. She sneaks out and watches anyway, sticking to the shadows and not talking to anyone to avoid people founding out who she is. She starts falling for one of the top racers in t...
Chapter Quote: "Time to unleash the beast." ~Furious Five ________________________________________
Chapter 30
Ember
I waited until Jackson had been patched up before pouncing on him for his attack on Jace. He must've seen it coming, though, because before I could even begin my tirade, he said, "I'm sorry for losing my head. I know we were acting, but some of the stuff he said still got under my skin because I know it's true. I'm sorry for punching him, and when I see him next, I'll apologize. I would never intentionally hurt any of you, especially you, directly or indirectly. And I know hurting Jace hurt you."
"You took my rant right out of my mouth," I said, taking a seat in the desk chair across from him. We were staying in a safe house until we got word from Nico that Lynch was on the move. I didn't like doing nothing while Jace was out there by himself, but I trusted him to take care of himself. "It was just acting, though. What Jace was saying was to make it believable."
"You don't believe there was some truth in his statements? Because without me, Lynch never would've found you. That's on me."
"No, the only one to blame is me. Jace tried to get me to stop going to the races, and you didn't realize who I was until it was too late. That's not your fault, nor is it his. Just mine. I want both of you to know that."
Jackson hung his head. "All I want to do is take care of you. I owe that to your family."
"What do you owe us?"
"I owe it your Brian and Jack. If they can't be here, I can."
"But why is that your responsibility?" I prodded. "You didn't know me up until a couple months ago. Why care about me so much?"
"You're all Jack ever thought about. You and Mia and Brian and Dom. His memory was always fuzzy, but no matter what Lynch did to him, he never forgot about you or your parents. Jack is a brother to me, so that makes you my sister, and I'll protect you until he's able to."
"Why hasn't he wanted to see me yet? Because I'm starting to think he doesn't want to meet me," I said, biting my lip.
"That's as far from the truth as possible. Jack wants nothing more than to meet you and Mia again, but he's not ready. He wants to get rid of Lynch first."
"Why?"
"He doesn't see the point in causing pain in case this gets him killed... and he's going to kick my ass to hell and back for saying this, but it's not entirely true that you haven't met him."
I froze. "What do you mean?"
"You've met him a couple times."
"For the love of God, please tell me it's not Klaus."
Jackson actually laughed. "Hell, no. He's too old anyway. No, Jack couldn't stay away entirely. He's met you and your family. None of you realized it, though. He didn't want you to. But he wanted to see you. In person."
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