His Trouble Maker

Chapter 177

Chapter 177

JESSICA

“Where. Were. You.”

“Out.”

That was it?

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Three goddamn hours of pacing grooves into the floor, chewing my nails down to nothing while every clock tick

scraped my nerves raw, and that’s all he gives me?

Grayson didn’t pause. The bastard stalked pastinto the bedroom like he'd crawled out of spit, jacket still

reeking of smoke and sin. My chest burned. | should've launched a lamp at his head. Instead, | followed, pulse

hammering like it wanted to stranglefrom the inside.

“Grayson!”

“Baby, I'm tired.”

Baby. Oh, fuck him. My fists curled at my sides, nails biting into skin. | stepped into the doorway, spine rigid. If he

thought he could breeze in with one word and vanish into our sheets, he had another thing coming.

“Don’t you dare ‘baby’ me.”

| wanted to claw the word out of his throat, even as straitorous part ofcatalogued the sweat at his

temple, the heat rolling off him, the loose tie, the way his shoulders carried danger-and something else,

something magnetic. My stomach twisted. My thighs pressed tight. Rage and want clawed at each other inside

me.

He dragged a hand down his face like he was swatting an itch he couldn't shake. “I don’t want to do this

tonight.”

“Too fucking bad,” | snapped, shoving at his chest. He didn’t budge. Never did.

Instead, his palm caught my wrist, scorching skin. He tilted his head, eyes cuttinglike he could flayopen

with one look.

“Careful,” he warned.

“Careful?” | barked a laugh. “You disappear for hours smelling like hell and tellto be careful?”

He leaned into me, pressingback, chest crushing mine, grip sliding to my waist. My ribs cinched under him.

My breath hitched.

“Where were you?”

“Out,” he muttered, a twitch of a smirk.

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Chapter 177

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| slammed my palm against his chest-not to push, but just to feel him buckle. He didn’t. He leaned into it.

pinningtighter, like he liked my fight.

“Don’t play games with me, Grayson.”

“Out where?” | tipped my chin, jaw locked, daring him. “Out with who?”

His gaze flicked to my mouth, lingering like a curse. “Does it matter?”

“If you're fucking someone else-"

A low, dangerous laugh vibrated against my knuckles. “If | were fucking someone else, you'd know. You'd smell

her on me.”

That's true.

“You're lying,” | said, throat bare in defiance that tasted too much like surrender. “Say where. Say who. Or I'll

He growled, guttural, bone-deep, and the next second, | was pinned so hard the drywall cracked behind me.

“Grayson-"

My gasp died in his mouth, swallowed whole. | shoved at his chest with both hands, but all it did was make him

grind closer.

“You want to know where | was?” he rasped, teeth grazing my jaw, lips relentless. “I fucked up, baby. So bad.”

His nose buried in my neck like he could crawl inside and stay there.

My nails clawed his shirt. Fury shook me. “Fucked up how?”

“I lost control.” His hand slid higher on my thigh, forcing it open, groundingagainst the wall with sheer

weight. “Out there-blood, teeth, rage-I let the wolf win. | nearly-" His voice cracked, then hardened. “I nearly

didn’t cback to you.”

Grayson lost control?

“What the hell are you saying?” | snapped, eyes wide, nails clawing at his shoulders. “You nearly... didn't come

back? You're telling me-what? That you let yourself get lost out there?”

His eyes flicked to mine, black, dangerous, raw. “I-I couldn't stop it. The wolf... he cout, and I... | almost

didn’t make it back to you.”

Rage, fear, disbelief-and something traitorous-twisted low in my chest. “You're insane,” | hissed, shoving at him.

Hands barely budged him.

“I'do,” he growled, forehead pressing to mine, teeth brushing mine in warning. “I've never lost control of my

wolf.”

He's tellinghe almost... didn’t make it back. Almost lost himself. Almost... lost me.

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Chapter 177

“How... what...?” | whispered, mind spinning.

Slowly, he guidedback to our bed. | sank onto it, trying to catch my thoughts. “Did something else happen?

Before... losing control?”

“Yes.”

“What?”

“I've visited Logan, Jess.”

My chest seized. | leapt to the edge of the bed, eyes wide. Grayson’s hands shot to my waist, holdingin

place.

“I went to see him. Check if he'd gone too far. Make sure he wouldn't hurt you.”

“Check on him?” My voice caught between fury and disbelief. “Grayson... you don’t check. You go in... you-

what? Kill him? What did you do?”

His gaze pinned me. “Do you really think ofas a monster, Jessica?”

Of course not.

My jaw fell. “Logan... wants you to kill him?”

“Yes.”

“No!” My chest burned, a wild knot twisting low. “You... you're tellingthat Logan... asked you to-"

“Yes.”

“You will not kill him.”

“I won't,” he rasped, jaw tight, gaze dark. “But you have to keep your options here.”

“Options?” | snapped, shoving at his chest. “You think | want options? You go out there, blood on your hands, and

I'm supposed to... what? Praise you?”

His hands caught mine mid-shove, iron locking my wrists. “I didn’t go to hurt him, Jess. | went to see him. Make

sure he wouldn't-"

nust be

“You see him?” My voice cracked. “Grayson, he wants you to die. Do you understand? He-he wants you to die,

and you're standing there deciding if-” | gasped, fingers clawing his shoulders. “Please... th another way.”

There must be another way. | cannot lose Logan. No. | cannot lose someone else again.

Grayson'’s jaw tightened, and for a long, terrifying second, he just stared at me. “I won't,” he said again, voice

low, rough, almost breaking. “I won't kill him, Jess. Never. Not for Logan, not for anyone. | swear it.”

| searched his eyes, needing to see the truth, needing him to be the man | knew-the one who could fight the

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Chapter 177

wolf and still cback to me. “Then... what do we do?” My voice was small, almost trembling.

His gaze softened just a fraction. His thumbs brushed over my wrists, easing the tension in my muscles. “We

survive it. Together.”

“Together?” | echoed, incredulous, the word catching in my throat. “Grayson... people die out there. You

“I'll fight to make sure it’s not him,” he cut in, teeth grazing my jaw in a warning that wasn’t meant to hurt. “And

I'll cback to you. Always.”

n. | wanted to believe him. I had to.

“You have to promise me,” | whispered, leaning into the weight of him, needing sanchor. “Promiseyou

won't lose yourself again.”

His lips brushed mine in a ghost of a kiss, a promise more than anything else. “I won't. The wolf may roar, Jess,

but I always chome.”

I let my forehead press to his, the world outside our bedroom shrieking with danger, yet here, in this moment,

we found a fragile, feral kind of calm.

AD

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Chapter 178