Jay-Jay's POV
The kiss was still replaying in my head when the next bomb dropped.
Honestly, my life needed a warning label at this point đ.
I had barely managed to calm myself down after Kiefer and I stood there in that heavy silence, both of us pretending our hearts weren't doing the cha-cha in our chests, when Angelo called me inside.
The second I walked back into the room, I felt it.
That weird, serious atmosphere again.
Angelo was standing by the window with his hands behind his back, and Serina was seated like she owned the place, calm and elegant as ever. Kiefer was there too, but he stayed near the side, quiet in a way that made me nervous. He wouldn't even look at me properly, which was not helping my confusion at all.
I folded my arms and looked between the three of them. "Okay, what now?"
Angelo exhaled slowly. "Sit down, Jay."
"No," I said immediately. "Not until someone tells me why everyone keeps acting like this is a business meeting and not my actual life."
Serina's expression softened just a little, but only a little. "Jay, we need to talk about where you'll be staying."
I blinked. "What do you mean, where I'll be staying?"
Angelo answered before anyone else could. "You'll be moving to a condo."
The room went quiet.
I stared at him. "A condo."
"Yes."
"With who?"
Silence.
I looked at Kiefer. Then at Serina. Then back at Angelo. "No. No, don't do that thing where you all look at each other like I'm supposed to magically guess the answer."
Serina folded her hands neatly on her lap. "With Kiefer."
I actually laughed, once, in total disbelief. "You're joking."
"No," Angelo said.
My head snapped toward him. "You want me to move in with him?"
"Not move in," Serina corrected smoothly. "Stay with him. Temporarily."
"Temporarily," I repeated, deadpan. "That's supposed to make it better?"
Kiefer finally spoke, his voice low. "Jayâ"
I pointed at him. "Don't 'Jay' me right now."
He shut his mouth immediately, which was honestly the smartest thing he'd done all day.
I turned back to Angelo, anger creeping up my throat again. "Why? Why would I need to stay with Kiefer?"
Angelo's jaw tightened. "Because it's safer."
"Safer from what?" I demanded.
Nobody answered right away, and that was somehow the worst answer of all.
My chest tightened. "Are you serious right now? You tell me I'm engaged, then you tell me I'm moving out, and now you expect me to just say yes like this is some normal family decision?"
"It isn't normal," Serina said. "But it is necessary."
I stared at her. "Necessary for who?"
Her face didn't change. "For everyone involved."
I laughed, but there was no humor in it. "That's not an answer."
Kiefer took a breath, like he was trying to keep himself calm. "Jay, just listen for a second."
"No," I said. "I've listened enough. I listened when you all decided my engagement for me. I listened when Angelo said it was for my safety. I listened when nobody bothered to ask how I felt about any of this."
Angelo's eyes hardened, but his voice stayed controlled. "You don't understand the danger."
"Then explain it to me!"
The silence that followed made my skin go cold.
Kiefer looked at Angelo first, then at Serina, like he was checking whether either of them would say it.
Nobody did.
That was when I realized they weren't going to tell me everything.
Not yet.
Maybe not ever.
My voice came out smaller than I wanted. "You're really moving me into his condo."
"Yes," Angelo said.
"Why his condo?"
Serina answered this time, almost as if she had rehearsed it. "Because Kiefer will be with you. He can protect you. And because it's easier to keep you safe if you're not alone."
I almost wanted to scream. "I'm not some fragile thing that needs locking away."
"No one said that," Kiefer said quietly.
"Then stop treating me like I am."
That one landed harder than I meant it to.
Kiefer's face shifted, just slightly. Like he wanted to say something but couldn't.
Angelo stepped in before the silence got too big. "Jay, this is not punishment. It's protection."
"It feels like both."
"Jay."
"Don't 'Jay' me again!"
I pushed a hand through my hair and turned away from them because if I kept looking at their faces, I was going to start crying or yelling or doing both at the same time. And I absolutely refused to break down in front of Serina Watson like some dramatic scene from a soap opera.
When I turned back, Angelo was still watching me like he was trying to gauge whether I'd explode.
I probably would.
"How long?" I asked.
Serina answered first. "For now."
I narrowed my eyes. "That means nothing."
"It means until we know the threat is gone," Angelo said.
"Threat," I repeated quietly.
He didn't deny it.
My stomach twisted.
So this wasn't just a weird housing arrangement.
This wasn't just about the engagement.
There was something bigger.
Something dangerous.
And once again, I was the last person to find out.
Kiefer moved closer, careful and slow, like he was approaching someone holding a knife. "Jay, I know you don't like this."
"That's an understatement."
"I know," he said. "But you'll be safer with me."
I looked up at him sharply. "You expect me to believe that after everything?"
He took that hit without flinching. "No. I expect you to hate it."
That made me stop.
He wasn't trying to argue me into liking it.
He wasn't pretending this was okay.
He was just telling me the truth.
And somehow that made me more confused.
Angelo glanced at the clock, then back at me. "You'll have a few hours to pack what you need."
"Few hours?" I echoed. "You're saying this like I'm being sent on vacation."
Serina's tone remained polite. "The movers will be there later."
My eyes nearly flew out of my head. "THE MOVERS?"
Kiefer muttered, almost under his breath, "Yeah, that part was unnecessary."
I looked at him in shock. "You think?"
For the first time all day, a tiny bit of his usual attitude came back. Just a flicker. "I didn't plan that part."
"Of course you didn't," I said.
Angelo crossed his arms. "Jay, this discussion is over."
I stared at him like he'd completely lost his mind. "No, it's not."
"Yes, it is."
"Angelo."
"Jay."
I threw my hands in the air. "You are literally impossible!"
He didn't even blink. "And yet you're still listening."
Ugh. I hated that he was right.
I looked at Serina, hoping for even a little sympathy. She gave me a composed, almost gentle smile that somehow made the whole thing more official and more terrifying at the same time.
I looked at Kiefer one last time.
He looked exhausted.
Not smug. Not playful. Not teasing.
Just tired.
And maybe guilty.
That was the worst part.
Because if I were being honest with myself, some tiny part of me already knew I'd probably agree.
Not because I wanted to.
Not because I trusted the situation.
But because everyone in the room looked so certain that this was what had to happen.
And because Kiefer, for all his attitude, looked like he would actually make sure nothing happened to me.
I hated how much that mattered.
I took a long breath through my nose, forcing my voice to stay steady. "Fine."
Angelo's shoulders loosened a fraction.
Serina nodded once, as if she had expected that answer all along.
Kiefer looked at me, surprise flickering across his face before he covered it. "You're agreeing?"
"No," I said bitterly. "I'm surviving."
That nearly made him smile, but it vanished too quickly.
I lifted my chin. "But don't think this means I'm happy about it."
Nobody answered that.
Good.
Because I wasn't done being angry.
Not even close.
I walked toward the door, then paused long enough to look back at all of them.
"If I'm moving in there," I said, voice sharp, "then I want rules."
Angelo raised a brow. "What kind of rules?"
I pointed at Kiefer. "First rule: he does not get to act weird around me."
Kiefer let out a quiet laugh under his breath, and I immediately glared at him.
"Second," I continued, "if anyone is going to keep secrets, I get to be the one with attitude."
Serina's lips twitched.
"Third," I said, "if I'm doing this, nobody gets to pretend this is normal."
Angelo gave me a long look. Then, surprisingly, he nodded.
Kiefer looked at me with something softer in his eyes now.
"Fine," he said. "Deal."
I hated that my heart reacted to that.
I hated all of this.
And yet, as I turned and headed out to start packing, I could already feel my life shifting under my feet.
Moving in with Kiefer.
In a condo.
As his fiancé.
Even saying it in my head made me want to scream into a pillow.
But I had agreed.
And now there was no turning back.