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And with one action, Santiago wants to cross that friendship just like that because I fell in love?
“From now on, we aren’t friends, Florian. We’re enemies. She was not good enough for you to claim her?” A humorless chuckle escapes him. “That’s fine. She’s not yours, and that baby will be ours. You stay away from my sister and my family.”
“You can decide whatever you want about our friendship. You don’t even have to understand my perspective, or how this lie was never about you or me but about protecting Jimena from all this and Death.” A muscle in his cheek twitches. “But she’s mine, Santiago. You can’t keep me away from my family. You have no such right. My woman and the baby she’s carrying belong to me. And if war is what you want, a war is going to be what you get.”
“Don’t test me, Florian.”
“Sans killing me, there is nothing you can do to stop me.”
He takes out a gun from the back of his pants, removes the safety, and points it at me. “I guess the solution is simple, then?”
We have never pointed a gun at one another. Not jokingly or during training, not to play a game or fool our enemies.
Never.
“Put the gun down, Santiago. You don’t want to do something you’ll regret.”
“There is only one thing I regret, and that’s trusting you.”
I step forward and lift my chin. “Then shoot.” I refuse to take out my own gun. He’s hurting, and let him fucking hurt since it’s my fault, but I won’t point a gun at him.
Octavius has no such qualms, though, as he stands next to me and aims his gun at Santiago, and instantly, Remi takes out his gun and points it at Octavius, leaving me no choice but to do the same and put his life on the line.
After all, we will always protect our best friends.
“What is it going to be, Santiago?” If anyone fires a bullet…three others will follow. “Either we all die now, or we all live. It’s your choice.”
He can bullshit us all he wants about not giving a fuck. However, we all know it’s a lie.
He cares too much, and that’s why what we’ve done hurts him so much that he’s lashing out.
One second passes.
Two.
Three.
A shot echoes through the space, birds flying up in the air, our hold on our guns so tight it takes us all a second to realize none of us fired.
That’s when we all look at the entrance and see Uncle Lucian holding a gun up high, firing some more bullets. Judging by the energy emitting from him, he’s furious, and everyone else gets out as well. All the women seem terrified while my father watches us all grimly.
In all the chaos, I forgot about my godfather, and I shouldn’t have.
Uncle Lucian throws his gun away and orders, “All of you, come here. Now.” We step back, quickly hiding our guns because we know better than to show such disrespect in front of our parents. “Now!” he roars, and we march toward them, although our hostility can probably be seen from miles away. We stop several steps away, and I hold his anger- and disappointment-filled stare. That requires all my strength because I’m ashamed of letting him down, but I’m not ashamed of my feelings for his daughter.
Never in my life have I wanted to hurt my godfather but the heart wants what it wants, or so they say. My maddening possessive obsession with Jimena has nothing to do with my heart and everything to do with my wicked nature needing to smear her in my darkness so she won’t have a way out.
She might be an angel, but she’s my angel, which means she is subjected to permanent hell, just like me. Although she shouldn’t be afraid because I won’t allow all the monstrous creatures to hurt her.
“I’m going to ask you three questions, Florian.” I tense, and I feel Octavius sliding closer to me. Regret washes over me because whatever mess awaits me will affect him as well. “Is it true? Jimena is pregnant with your baby?” His tone stays cold and even, but it doesn’t fool me.
He’s barely holding back from snapping my neck and the control he is known for is probably the only thing keeping him sane at the moment.
Despite what Jimena might believe, her family loves and adores her. She’s their princess, and they never picked Santiago over her. She was just too young to see that their traumas needed time to heal.
“Yes.”
“Have you two been in a secret relationship all this time?”
