Xavier
I lungeat Atreus with the knife to catch him off guard, and he leans sideways to cover his face, but Sunny steps in my path to block me.
She grabs my wrist. “No.”
“He hurt you,” I growl.
“And we made him pay,” she says.
“Xavier, stop, you know this isn’t what she wants,” Orion says.
His words run through me like lightning.
He’s right. She’d never approve.
The knife instantly clatters onto the floor.
But what can I do to fix this?
A cop is in her room, ready to detain her. If anyone frees him, it’s over.
“It’s not going to stop,” I say, swallowing what’s left of my pride. “He’s never going to quit until he has you in his claws.”
She stares at me, and I can’t look away either, so I take the opportunity to tell her what I need to say.
“Sunny. Please.” I grab her face. “Let me end his life, and it’ll all go away.”
She places her hand over mine. “No.”
My teeth grind together. “Why?”
But I already know the answer, deep down.
She likes him.
“I need him.”
She glances at Atreus over her shoulder with a type of longing that I recognize in the mirror, and it’s like a gut punch to me. “Okay, what then? He can’t stay here forever. Someone will find him, and when they do, he’ll take you to jail.”
Her nostrils flare. “Then so be it.”
I shake my head. “No. I won’t let him.”
“Then kill me and get it over with,” Atreus barks.
“Shut your ungrateful fucking mouth,” I snap at him.
“You cannot keep me here, and you know that,” Atreus reasons. “My men will look for me, and they’ll eventually find this place.”
He jerks the chains again like he got some of that spitfire back, and I don’t like it one bit.
Maybe we should’ve gone rougher on him.
Sunny grabs my chin, forcing me to look at her instead. “Do not hurt him. Do you understand? Enough blood has been shed.”
Reluctantly, I nod.
“But you are right. He can’t stay here.”
