14. Sacrifices Are Not-To-Be Decided By Revenge-Filled Men

"Oh my God," I breathed out, placing the picture back onto the bookshelf so I could press my shaking hands flat against the tops of my thighs; knowing that I had been so close into the hands of Ricardo had me unable to shake the terrifying knowledge that I was danger.

"What?" Jace urged, his fingers wrapping around the tops of my arms before he shook my body lightly, demanding my attention. The icy look on his face narrowed into mine and he stepped closer, repeating what he had spoken. "What?"

"I-" My eyes flickered down to the picture. The image of Noah I had in my mind didn't reflect the image Jace had painted of the Nixon family. Noah was sweet, kind, and unselfish - not cruel and heartless.

Cameron and Jared stared back at me expectantly, their gazes slightly confused yet curious as they tried to piece together what I had seen. It was clear that they had studied the image thousands of times, yet had never picked up on something that would elicit the reaction I had. Jace gently squeezed my arms once more, drawing me back to reality once more.

"Tell me," He demanded and I could see the suspicion in his eyes, the mistrust as he gazed at me. My heart throbbed when I realized that the look of hesitancy was aimed towards me.

"That - who is this?" I cleared my throat, pointing to Noah's somber face printed onto the sheet. My finger shook and I quickly formed my hand into a fist, not wanting to show Jace how terrified I was for his answer.

Jace regarded the face printed onto the paper. His lips pressed into a hard line, his expression cool before turning to meet my gaze. "That's Ricardo's son, Noah."

I choked on my spit, Jace confirming what I had already known. Ignoring the knot beginning to grow largely in my throat, I forced out "No - are you serious?"

"Do you know him?" At Jace's words, a strange emotion that I couldn't read crossed over his face. His form was instantly more tense, the look in his eyes more aware. I forced myself not to shrink back at the intimidating look on his face.

"Yes - sort of." I shook my head, feeling like I couldn't catch my breath. Noah was so young to be involved in something like this. He had seemed too sweet, too earnest.

"What do you mean?" Jared boomed, a viscous look taking over his face. "How?"

I shrunk back, not liking how I suddenly felt like the enemy. I pulled my arms from Jace's, taking a step away as I watched the three of them cautiously. The slightly crazed look in Jared's eyes had me realizing that he wasn't exactly sane in that moment.

"Sit down, Jared." Jace replied in a hard tone, his tone filled with strength and anger. "Cameron - make him sit down."

Jared didn't resist, stumbling as he was forced into the chair.

"I know him from that night I escaped." Jace's expression remained slightly puzzled though still hazy with the ferocity I had put there, as I spoke. "He picked me up and he drove me to the gas station. He offered to help me." I felt the need to defend Noah, not liking the dangerous looks that had appeared on their faces.

"I told you." Jace growled out. "You were right in their hands that night! He was that close to the house?" Jace swore loudly, moving to pace furiously across the room.

"He isn't a bad guy." I hesitated, not comfortable with the tension that was beginning to increase rapidly in the room. "He's not."

"You don't know that. After all you've learned these past few days you say that?" Jace retorted, crossing his thick arms into an intimidating stance. "It's an act." His vicious glare twisted his attractive face into an ugly sneer. He had stomped over to me, leaning over me as if he meant to intimidate. "I'm not allowing you to risk my people with stupid decisions such as the one you're making right now. He's not a good guy, Savannah, open your eyes and see that."

"You don't know that either!" I straightened, feeling my temper rise drastically. Anger burned through my veins as I marched towards him to stab a finger at his chest. "Have you met him?"

His stance didn't falter. He remained towered over me, his stormy eyes glaring down at me, though I could see I found the chink in his armor.

"Ha! You haven't! So you don't know that!"

Cameron stepped in our direction and I fell back, realizing that Jared and him were still in the room.

"He comes from a bad family, Savannah." Jace continued, his voice strangely calm, though I could see the deadly storm brewing in his eyes. His jaw was clenched tightly and the ferocity in his eyes was steadily growing. "He isn't a good guy. It's impossible."

I pressed my lips together stubbornly. I was determined to not listen to what he was saying. I had met Noah - I had talked to him and I knew that there was no way he could be a bad guy. The way he been quick to help out a stranger and the way he gushed about that girl proved my point.

"This is a good thing." Cameron finally spoke up, his tone hesitant as he glanced my way. He turned to Jace, an almost eager look building on his face. "If this wasn't a setup, then Savannah might have Noah's trust." His tone was cautious and I stared at him in confusion.

"Why does that matter?" I spoke slowly, suspicion and dread curling its way through my gut. I could tell that I wasn't going to like the next words that Cameron was going to spit out. I stumbled a few steps back as the weariness of the men standing in front of me began to return.

"We'd have a way in." Cameron finally spoke, turning his body away from me. "If we set up for Savannah to continually coincidentally meet with him and gain his trust fully, we can potentially kidnap him and end this for all. We can have Stel back." His voice had taken on a determined edge, his stance stiff.

"No!" I cried out, glaring at Jace's look of contemplation on his face. I resisted the tears that were beginning to rise in my eyes. "That isn't happening. I'm not helping you kidnap an innocent kid."

"He's not innocent." Jared snarled, his form rising fiercely. The look of fire in his eyes had my own widening. "My baby sister was taken and he knows that."

"How do you know he does?" I desperately tried to defend Noah. I knew in my gut he was different. He had shown me compassion that night, not hatred.

"You'll do it," Jace confirmed, his eyes flickering from Jared to me. He frowned when they traced over the details of my face, his stance rigid. "You'll make Noah trust you. And then you'll bring him to a place where we can take him, send Ricardo Nixon a ransom, and get Stel back. We can end this." His unblinking gaze stared back into my own and I resisted the shiver that threatened to snake its way up my spine.

I shook my head, my heart beating sporadically. I was disgusted by what the plan they were devising. "I'm not doing that. That's wrong - you'll scar him. This'll only bring more fighting and not peace! You can't decide that for me." I pushed past the hysteria beginning to brew in my gut, planting a hand to my forehead, which was beginning to pound threateningly. "That's not right."

"Oh, but you will." Jace insisted, stalking towards his desk. A muscle twitched in his jaw when he turned to glance at me once more. His voice was thick with an unknown emotion as he stared me down with cold, unemotional eyes. "Cameron, send out a notice to those in Seattle to start tracking the boy." Jace turned back to his computer, not sparing me another look as Cameron quickly followed the demands that Jace had ordered him to do.

"You can't demand that. That's wrong. I won't do it." I pushed, propelling myself forward to slam my hands flat against the top of his desk. His head tilted slowly up, one of his eyebrows cocking.

"And what makes you think that I won't make you do it?" The edges of his lips turned up into a cruel smile. He leisurely leaned back in his chair, cupping his chin in one of his large, calloused hands.

My voice was thick with emotion as I spoke. "Because you can't make me. I refuse." Tearing my gaze away from his stormy one, I straightened as I attempted to regain some of my dignity.

"It doesn't work that way, Kitten." Jace chucked demurely, nonchalantly picking up the paperwork on his desk. "That boy is the only hope at this point. Everyone has to make sacrifices, Savannah, and this is yours."

______________________________________________

I was pissed-off, hungry, and I had to pee.

And I was five-minutes away from hell.

"We're almost there." Jace informed me. I could feel his gaze briefly move to stare into the side of my face, though I refused to look at him; whatever we had gained in the last week had been lost with the words he had spoken in his office yesterday.

"Okay," I muttered, crossing my arms more tightly around my body. I knew I was more stuck than ever and I had no doubts that Jace would somehow force me into his little-plan to get revenge. His words had been on replay in my mind ever since he had demurely spoken them to me.

"They believe that we are actually in a relationship, so put some effort into it." Jace flatly insisted, his hands tightening their grip on the steering wheel. For once, he had decided to drive his own car.

"Okay," I repeated, determined not to look his way. My fingers lightly tapped against my elbow as I watched the scenery whiz by.

"I know you're unhappy with-" Jace began, though I was quick to interrupt his statement with some words of my own.

"Okay."

He let out a breath of air, turning to shoot me an annoyed look. The muscle in his jaw was twitching. "Can you only say one word at a time?"

"Shut up." I retorted, resisting my urge to roll my eyes.

"I know you're unhappy with my decision," Jace began again, his eyes trained unseeingly on the road before him. "Though, you have to understand where I'm coming from. This is the in we have needed for years. We can gain from this."

"Okay." I stated simply.

Inside, I was boiling mad. My hands twisted into two fists which I dug into my sides. To say I was unhappy was an understatement. Jace expected me to do something that went against all my morals and to someone innocent. Yes, to say I was unhappy was the understatement of the century.

"Can we just move past this for now? We're staying with my parents for three days and I don't want them to think that we're fighting." Jace pushed, a dangerous look making its way onto his face and I knew I didn't really have a choice in the decision, so I just nodded.

Jace had made the whirlwind decision to leave sooner than I had initially expected. The fact was clear that he was reluctant to go for reasons I couldn't or wouldn't understand.

My hands tapped onto the leather of my seat. I was mentally preparing myself for the abuse that would surely attack my mind. Spending a weekend with a bunch of people who manufacture illegal weapons would surely do some damage to my mentality. I was still more-than just a little sensitive to the other world that Jace lived in, though the feeling was being numbed as I was forced to continue living in it.

The road he was driving down was bare. There was a white fence that was clearly meant for decorative purposes lining each side of the paved road. Trees were strategically numbered just before it, giving the drive an angelic feel as we drove towards the menacing house that was coming into view. To anyone else, the property would be a paradise, though I knew I was entering into my own version of hell.

"My parents just live here now, though Ashley and Brad are visiting as well." He explained, his eyes flickering to me briefly as he drove us steadily towards the looming house. "There are just some guards who linger around for extra protection, though not many know that my father and mother live here. It could be dangerous if they did."

I stored that information in my brain, knowing that focusing on each of the little facts he continued to give me would be far too overwhelming.

The house surely was grand, though I was beginning to realize everything in Jace's live was. The driveway circled around a garden with a large fountain in the middle. Stacked gray-stone lined the walls of the house, only furthering it's amazing exterior. My eyes flickered over the massive windows, all adorned with black shutters and the huge garage with countless-doors. With the amazing landscape and the lavish exterior of the house, I knew I was more out of my element that ever.

The sun was beginning to set, twinkling off the windows and casting a beautiful light on the already beautiful-house.

As Jace pulled around the circular driveway, I pressed my clammy hands onto my legging-covered thighs. To say I felt under-dressed, would be an understatement. I doubted the words cotton and comfortable would be in the vocabulary of the Kingston's. Heck, Jace was still wearing his sexy suit. I regretted not putting on something a little nicer.

But, why? I chided myself harshly. These were technically the people holding me here. If it wasn't for the illegal and terrible things they continued to do each day, I wouldn't be in this seat staring up at this massive house with an equally-large lump in my throat.

Jace turned off the engine, shoving the keys into his pocket as he exited the car. He was quick to walk around the vehicle, gripping the door-handle of my side and opening it so I could slide out myself. Mumbling a 'thank-you', I turned to his already walking form.

"What about our bags?" I called reluctantly to his backside, turning briefly to the trunk of his car.

"Someone will get them," He waved his hand as if it didn't matter, his other fist politely connecting with the door.

"Fine, then." I forced out, moving until I was half-covered behind his stiff form. I didn't want to be here and I feared whatever was on that other side of the door.

"Jace!" The word was out of the woman's mouth as soon as the door was wrenched open. "Oh, Jace! I've missed you so much!"

The delicate wrinkles etched onto the lady's face had me guessing that she was at least some kind of motherly figure to him and I moved a step back.

"Hello, Mother." Jace spoke, detaching himself from his mother's clinging form.

"Oh, I missed my baby boy." She cooed. "Marc! Get your ass down here to see your son! You haven't visited in months." She scolded him. "We barely hear from you!"

"This is Savannah." Jace ignored his mother's words, instead stepping aside to reveal me. "This is my mother, Alice, Savannah."

"Oh," The woman's whole demeanor changed and I almost got my whip-lash from the different expression that had appeared on her face. She had straightened, pressing her hands over her blouse to straighten the ruffled material that laid there, her eyes distastefully skimming over my appearance. "Oh. Hello." She finally managed to utter and I saw her swallow thickly.

"Mrs. Kingston, your son is a kidnapper."

The reaction I received wasn't the one I had been expecting.

Mrs. Kingston finally managed to tame the amused expression that had spread quickly over her cheeks. "I wasn't aware that you knew of that, but yes, he does have to resort to taking people against their will sometimes. It comes with the job."

I gaped at the woman, turning to Jace's still-annoyed face. "You support this? He practically kidnapped me!" I shoved a finger to her son who still had his arms crossed.

By now, three others had joined us by the door.

"What's the commotion?" A blonde, petite, beautiful girl asked, leaning against the door-frame.

"Jace apparently kidnapped this girl here and he claims they're dating." Mrs. Kingston informed the girl back.

"We aren't dating!" I protested loudly, shooting a glare at Jace. "Tell them! I'm here against my will. You shouldn't support this!" I had thought that they would at least scold him, though I could see the domineering beliefs Jace had ran in the family.

Jace stood straight, moving to stand right behind me. His hands gripped my waist tightly and he leaned down so his mouth hovered by my ear. "So, that kiss we shared didn't mean anything?" I could practically hear the smirk on his lips and I squirmed uncomfortably. Clearly he had meant to say that loud enough so his whole family could hear his words.

"Jace, what's the meaning of all this?" A deep voice demanded, who I assumed to be Jace's father. He skirted around the blonde and his wife, pausing in front of his son, who was a few inches taller than he.

Jace's hands tightened against my skin. The reaction sparked my curiosity and I attempted to turn to see the expression on his face, which was masked of course. "Meet Marc, Savannah."

"How much does she know?" Marc forced out, his eyes surprisingly furious as he studied me. "Your whores shouldn't know such much, Jace."

"She isn't a whore, Father." Jace was so tense, I inwardly feared he would combust. "Ricardo had his men attack her after Cameron and some of the guys grew acquainted with her. She's proved she's loyal."

I bit my tongue, knowing very well that I hadn't done anything for him to trust me. Heck, I had done just the opposite.

"Why haven't I heard of this?" Marc's eyes were narrowed at his son.

"You don't need to know everything." Jace rolled his eyes, letting his hands release my waist.

"You don't tell me enough." The man shot back and it was clear where Jace had received his look of ferocity whenever he was mad enough.

Jace didn't reply and I gently set my hand on his wrist, not understanding why I felt the need to.

"Jace just got home, Marc. Let's not discuss this right now. We can all have a discussion about the things we missed later. For now, let's go have Marlene prepare some food for all of us before we go to bed."

Marc looked like he was about to protest what his wife was declaring, though she shot him a solid look. "I mean it."

A look of shock had to be on my face when Marc actually conceded, stepping back with a look of annoyance on his face.

"You can call me Alice." The smile Mrs. Kingston flashed me was stiff. "Let's get you inside. I'm sure you are both exhausted from the traveling you both have been doing these past few days. We can start with some tea. Ashley, dear? Would you mind telling Marlene to prepare some things for us?"

The blonde nodded obediently, quickly skirting into the house and disappearing.

Peeking up at Jace's cold expression, I felt myself shrink back at the displeasure in it. He was still glaring furiously at his father, who had turned and was walking back into the house without another look.

"I'll tell Leon to bring your bags in." Alice nodded, turning on her heel as well.