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“I don’t know why they’re holding off, but we’ve got to deal with this. They’ve already brought Earl Valentine here. We need to know what they’re doing.” I had to get my friends to focus. This was the first time our dads could take from us. We’d always been on their sides, and tonight, once I realized the truth, it scared me.
I’d never felt fear before.
“They’re playing,” Vadik said, and I turned to look at him.
“What?” Gael asked.
“Think about it. They deal in rats and traitors all the time. This is a walk in the park for them. Bernard has become a challenge. One they want to play with.”
Gael shook his head. “No. They don’t do shit like that.”
River laughed. “Come on, it makes sense. Everyone else goes to the cops or tries to steal from them. Crane’s got balls. Not only is he making deals behind their backs, but now he’s organizing to have their sons killed. This is going to get ugly. We all know it is.”
“I don’t like this,” I said.
“Agreed,” Vadik said. “Because no matter which way you look at this, Emily’s going to die.”
I couldn’t stand this. I grabbed the vase nearest me and threw it across the room. I hated Bernard, but I’d hoped my suspicions were wrong. I’d hoped he’d just been a greedy bastard who had seen an opportunity to make some good money using his daughter. This went beyond that.
“What about Ashley and her mother?” River asked. “Will they be targets as well?”
“They’re still news to our dads,” I said.
Gael started to laugh. “Are you for fucking real right now?” He ran his fingers through his hair. “There’s no way they don’t know about her. Don’t you fucking see, they know everything. We’ve got to face the reality here, boys. Our woman, the girl we all fucking love, is going to die and we can’t do anything about it. None of us can.”
Silence met Gael’s words.
I didn’t want to accept it, but he was right.
There was no way we could save her. She was gone to us.
River shook his head. “No!” He threw the blade across the room. “I don’t. No, we’ve only just got her. I’m not going to let her go. I can’t … we’re not going to let her die. She hasn’t even fucking lived. She’s been trapped and we offered her a life, a chance.”
I agreed with River, but right now, I didn’t know how we were expected to win this.
“You could be wrong,” Vadik said.
“I’m not wrong. Do you think I’d bring this shit to you if I had any doubt? I swear to you, none of this is fake. It’s all fucking real.” I paced the length of the beach house.
“Then we need to get her out of here,” Gael said.
“We’d be the betrayers,” River said.
“Our dads can’t kill us. Think about it, we’re the ones who are set to inherit.”
“But they can have more sons,” I said, contradicting Gael’s theory.
“For fuck’s sake, I don’t give a shit what you guys are thinking right now. I’m not going to stand by and allow this to happen. I can’t.” Gael made for the door and I reached out, putting a hand on his arm, stopping him.
Gael could take me.
In fact, I didn’t have a fucking clue who was the strongest one out of us all. We were all evenly matched, always had been.
“Ger your hand off me.”
“No. I’m not going to let you do anything stupid and believe me, this is stupid.”
“I suggest you back away,” Gael said.
“Enough!” Vadik’s voice echoed around the room. “We are not going to be pulled apart by this. We’ve come too far.”
“There’s no way we can let this happen. I’m not letting some old bastard win her over and I’m not going to let her die. I can’t.”
“None of us are going to willingly let her die.” I was insulted that he’d believe I would let that happen. Far fucking from it.
“What exactly are we going to do then? Because from where it looks to me, that’s exactly what we’re doing.”
“Gael’s right. We can’t let her die,” River said.
“I’m not going to let her die.”
“We need to know what our dads are working on. We’ve got to start there.” River looked at me. “And you’ve got to be the one to do it.”
“Why me?” I didn’t like the way this was going.
“You’re the favorite,” Vadik said.
“That is such fucking bullshit. None of you know what you’re talking about.”
“It’s the truth,” River said. “You’re a direct connection to the woman they all loved. Not just one, but all. You have to consider the fact you’ve always been the favorite.”
This time, I laughed, but it was a forced sound. I pointed at my chest. “I killed her. She died giving birth to me.”
