PHOENIX

9| THEY WERE SOMETHING FAR WORSE

"We are not doing this s**t again, Sue," Jackson said, his patience wearing dangerously thin as he stared at his sister. It felt like they had been having the same argument over and over again, and no matter how many times he explained himself, she refused to understand. "I told you already. I have to keep both you and Ethan safe, and I can't do that if you keep running around trying to fish for information. Roy and his family aren't amateur thugs. These people know exactly what they're doing, and they're far more dangerous than you seem to realise."

"And I told you that I'm no longer a baby, Jackson," Sue shot back without missing a beat, refusing to be intimidated by the frustration written all over his face. "I know exactly what I'm doing, and if you keep trying to force me to stand down, then you're going to force me to cut ties with you. That family needs to be punished for what they did, and I'm not going to stand by pretending none of it happened while you carry the burden all by yourself."

"And I told you that I was going to be the one to do it, you stupid, stubborn woman," Jackson snapped, throwing his hands into the air in exasperation before letting them fall back to his sides. "Why can't you just listen to me for once? Why does every conversation with you have to turn into an argument?"

"Why should I listen to you," Sue fired back just as quickly, "when you refuse to listen to a single thing I'm saying? You keep telling me what I should and shouldn't do, but you never stop to consider that maybe I have a point too."

Jackson closed his eyes for a brief moment, rubbing a hand over his face as he struggled to contain the frustration threatening to overwhelm him. How am I supposed to make her understand? He wasn't trying to control her. He wasn't trying to treat her like a child. Everything he was doing, every decision he had made since returning home, had been for one purpose alone, to make sure the only family he had left survived what was coming.

"Sue," he said more quietly this time, forcing himself to speak calmly despite the storm raging inside him, "I am your brother, and all I want is to keep you safe. I know you believe you have everything figured out, and I know you think you're ready for this, but Roy is a very dangerous man. You can't involve yourself with his family and honestly expect to walk away from it unscathed. These aren't people who forgive mistakes. They destroy anyone who gets in their way, and I refuse to let that happen to you."

Sue's eyes burned with defiance as she held his gaze without flinching. "And what about Ethan?" she asked, her voice firm enough to stop Jackson in his tracks. "Do you honestly think he's going to be safe if you decide to go head-to-head with the Roys? They're not just going to sit back and watch you destroy everything they've built. They're going to fight back, Jackson, and when they do, they won't come after only you. They'll come after everyone you care about." She paused for only a heartbeat before delivering the words that struck him harder than anything else she had said. "Including him."

Jackson had gone to the bar with a simple plan. He had wanted nothing more than a quiet drink to clear his head after everything that had happened with Melissa. If fortune happened to smile on him, he might even have found a woman willing to spend the night with him and help distract him from thoughts that refused to leave his mind. Instead, the last person he had expected to find sitting inside Dirty Tom's Bar was his own sister. To make matters worse, he never even got the chance to find out whether Emily would have accepted his invitation because his stubborn sister had managed to ruin that before it could even begin.

Sue had been sitting with a man Jackson recognised immediately. Unlike her, he had spent the past several years gathering information on Roy and everyone connected to him, so he knew exactly who the man was and, more importantly, how dangerous he could be. Watching them talk had already been enough to make him uneasy, but the moment Sue leaned forward and kissed him, Jackson had genuinely thought his heart had stopped beating. His first instinct had been to storm over there and drag her away before things went any further, only to realise moments later that the kiss hadn't been romantic at all. It had been payment. Payment for whatever information she had been trying to get from the man. The realisation hadn't calmed him in the slightest. If anything, it had made him even angrier because it proved just how far Sue was willing to go in pursuit of revenge.

Looking back, Jackson knew he had allowed his temper to get the better of him. He had completely forgotten that the man didn't know he and Sue were siblings and wasn't supposed to know. Charging over there the way he had could easily have exposed them both if Sue hadn't reacted quickly enough. Thankfully, she had been smart. Calling him her jealous boyfriend had been enough to satisfy the man's curiosity and prevent him from asking questions neither of them could afford to answer.

Jackson understood exactly why Sue was doing it. He knew she wanted revenge just as badly as he did. She wanted justice for her parents, for everyone whose lives had been destroyed by that fire and for every innocent person who had suffered because of the Roy family. He didn't blame her for any of that. What he couldn't accept was the danger she was willingly placing herself in. Every risk she took wasn't just a risk to her own life; it was a risk to Ethan's future as well. Jackson had promised himself that nothing would happen to either of them, and he had no intention of breaking that promise.

"I know what I'm getting myself into, Jackson, and you can't convince me to change my mind," Sue said stubbornly.

Jackson let out a long, exhausted sigh before lowering himself onto the couch. He was simply too tired to remain standing. They had been arguing about the same thing for nearly two hours, ever since he had dragged her out of Dirty Tom's Bar. She had shouted at him the entire walk from the bar to her car, continued shouting while he drove her back to the apartment and hadn't stopped even after they got inside. The only thing that had finally silenced her was Jackson quietly reminding her that Ethan was asleep in the next room. Even then, she had merely lowered her voice. Her anger hadn't disappeared. If anything, it had only continued to grow.

Sue folded her arms across her chest and fixed him with a glare that could have melted steel. Her eyes still burned with the same anger they had carried ever since they left the bar. "You don't get to control me, Jackson," she said firmly. "I'm an adult. I have my own mind."

"I know that," Jackson replied, his voice noticeably calmer than hers, though the exhaustion in it was impossible to hide. "I've never said you don't. But you still don't understand how dangerous this really is. You think you do because you've spent years preparing yourself, but you don't. This isn't some game where the worst thing that can happen is losing. These people will kill you without thinking twice, Sue. That's who they are."

"And what exactly do you think I've been doing all these years?" she demanded, refusing to back down. "Sitting around waiting for you to come back and save the day? I've been preparing too, Jackson. I've trained. I've learned. I know exactly what I'm doing."

Jackson slowly rubbed his temples, the dull headache that had been threatening him for the past hour becoming more persistent with every passing minute. He wasn't arguing because he doubted her abilities. That had never been the issue. "It's not about whether you're prepared," he said quietly, looking directly at her. "It's about the risks. Preparation doesn't make you bulletproof, Sue. It doesn't guarantee you'll come home. If something happens to you because I allowed you to get involved, I'll never forgive myself." His voice softened even further as Ethan came to mind. "And Ethan..." He paused, swallowing the lump that had formed in his throat before continuing. "He's just a kid. More than anything else in this world, he needs his sister alive."

Sue's expression softened ever so slightly at the mention of Ethan. For just a brief moment, Jackson thought he had finally gotten through to her. The anger in her eyes faded, replaced by something much gentler, but it lasted only a heartbeat before the determination returned with full force. "Ethan will be fine," she said confidently. "I'll make sure of it. But I can't just sit back and do nothing, Jackson. The Roys need to pay for what they did. To Mom and Dad. To you. To all of us."

"I'm not saying they don't deserve it," Jackson replied, his voice much quieter than it had been earlier. After nearly two hours of arguing, shouting no longer seemed to accomplish anything. "Believe me, if anyone wants to see them suffer, it's me. But there's a way to do this without putting you and Ethan directly in the line of fire. That's all I'm asking for, Sue. Let me handle it. Please."

Sue slowly walked over and sat down on the couch opposite him, refusing to let the conversation end there. She leaned forward slightly, her eyes locking onto his with an intensity that made it impossible for him to look away. "And what if you get yourself killed?" she asked after a long pause. "What then, Jackson? Do you honestly think that will make anything better? Do you think Ethan and I will somehow be safer because you sacrificed yourself? What exactly is your plan if you don't come back?"

For the first time that night, Jackson found himself without an answer.

The words caught him completely off guard because they struck at the one possibility he had spent years refusing to think about. He had planned every step of his revenge with meticulous care, but never once had he allowed himself to imagine a future where he failed to survive it. The thought of leaving Sue and Ethan alone in this world was almost unbearable. If he died before finishing what he had started, the Roys would almost certainly come after the only family he had left. That thought alone was enough to make his stomach tighten. Even so, as frightening as that possibility was, it still wasn't enough to make him change his mind. He couldn't allow Sue to throw herself into the same fire that had already claimed her parents. Losing one sibling was a possibility he dreaded. Choosing to risk both was something he would never forgive himself for.

"We need a plan," Sue said after another long silence settled between them. Her voice had become noticeably calmer, but her determination hadn't weakened in the slightest. "A real plan. Not you running around trying to take them down all by yourself while the rest of us sit here waiting to hear whether you're alive or dead. We need to be smart about this, Jackson."

"I need a plan," Jackson corrected immediately, his tone leaving no room for argument. "Not we. I've already told you, Sue. I am not putting your life at risk."

He held her gaze, hoping she would finally understand, but the stubborn look on her face told him she had no intention of backing down. Jackson felt another wave of frustration settle over him. He honestly didn't know what else he could say or do to make his sister understand that there wasn't going to be a partnership between them. He wasn't refusing her help because he doubted her intelligence or her abilities. He was refusing because he loved her. Every instinct he had screamed at him to keep her as far away from Roy and his family as possible, even if she ended up hating him for it.

What worried him even more was the confidence with which Sue spoke about the Roys. It was painfully obvious that she still didn't fully grasp the kind of people they were dealing with. To her, they were dangerous criminals who had murdered her parents and deserved to be brought down. To Jackson, they were something far worse. He had seen what they were capable of with his own eyes. He had survived it only by sheer luck, and even that miracle had come at an unbearable cost. Sue still underestimated them, and convincing her otherwise was proving to be an even bigger battle than convincing her to stay out of his plans altogether.