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“No, I said we have been gaining some. So yes, it’s true we have men. But they’re not loyal to him—yet. They respect him. There’s a difference. No man, especially Coy, will follow us in this. That leaves Romeo and me fighting your family. Not only that, but Romeo will fight for you. He will protect you. Making it a suicide mission for him.”
“Maybe you need to have more confidence in your brother.”
“Maybe you need to stop being selfish. If you like him even a little.”
“I love him.”
“Then let him go.”
“I don’t understand what you want me to do. I’m stuck here. I was calling my sister. I could have asked her to come get me. You stopped that.” He runs a hand through his hair. I can’t help but notice the specks of blood on them.
“You need him to think you don’t love him. You need to betray his trust and choose your family.” My stomach bottoms out and starts to hurt. The ache is deep, like rocks keep being added to the pile. “You and I need to be ready for them. We both need to protect him. He’s about to get the promotion he deserves. He’s getting Captain. No one gets it this young. He’s on track for taking over one day.”
“He can’t do that with me?”
He levels me with a look. “We both know your father will never allow one of you to ever be with one of us. Our fathers’ hate for one another went deeper than most know. Romeo’s only way to avenge our family name is to rise from the ashes. He can’t do that if he’s dead.”
My hands run down my arms, which suddenly have goose bumps.
“Romeo can’t prove himself if he’s choosing the enemy’s daughter, Gia.”
“I’m not the enemy,” I whisper.
“Maybe. But it doesn’t look that way to anyone else.”
I look toward the kitchen window and its vast darkness. Slowly, that darkness seeps into me. I can’t smile. My eyes fight against the wetness that wants to invade.
“He’ll never forgive me.”
“Would you rather a dead man’s forgiveness?”
I swallow the lump that threatens to choke me.
“What if I make my family see?”
“Your brother and Coy have made a secret pact with each other. It will make both of them stronger once their fathers are no longer running the show.”
Nausea worms its way into me.
“Gia, you’re a girl who needs her family. You will never be completely happy if you have to cut them out of your life.”
I hate that every word he says makes sense. It tastes bitter, thinking about it. Romeo will never forgive me.
I know my brother and father. They won’t hesitate to kill either of them. My eyes go back to Max’s. They hold a new sincerity to them. Max would go to war with Romeo in a heartbeat. He would be prepared to die on any hill Romeo deemed worthy. He knows that hill is me unless I do something about it.
“I’m saying this as your friend,” he says solemnly, a sad frown creasing his face.
I believe he has no ulterior motive other than wanting to protect his brother. “They say you’re the vicious one with no soul.”
He laughs, breaking some of the tension surrounding us. “That’s why I have to steal other’s. I’m constantly looking for a new one.”
“I’ll do what you’re asking,” I concede. My heart stutters at my words. My legs and hands feel numb. My heart is no longer pounding. It’s like it stopped, knowing the extra work is pointless. That no matter how hard it works, in the end, I will break Romeo. The act itself will undoubtedly break me.
Even with Alfonso, I never felt broken. I never felt betrayed. I was more upset over the fact that my preplanned life was not going how everyone told me it would. That seems like a lifetime ago. Now, I feel foolish for never realizing what he and I had was never romantic. It was love. Like how I love my sisters and brother. If it was more, I would have never cared more about my image and trying to figure out how to get the life I planned in one way. Alfonso was replaceable.
I walk back to the bedroom. I stand there, watching Romeo sleep. My heart can’t replace him. It wants me to fight. The old me would have fought out of selfishness, wanting to keep him. He looks peaceful sleeping. I’m doing this for us. Maybe one day he will see it that way. Fat chance. Because he will never know of the sacrifice I’m about to make.
I slip into bed. I hold him close. His scent washes over me, lulling my mind as I fight for sleep to take over.
Gia eases myhand off her smooth skin and rolls away from me. I wake up the instant she moves. What is she up to? I keep my eyes closed, listening to each of her movements.
Her voice is barely audible, but there’s no denying she’s asking someone about Alfonso. I wish I shot him. I’m trying to prove to her I love her. Each of my actions is to show her she can trust me. She responds better when I force her to see things my way.
My fingers crunch the bedsheet that I want to tie her up with. I’m a second away from tossing her back into bed when I hear the gun and know my brother is near.
Emotionally drained, I allow him to deal with her. They have a friendship I don’t understand. If I get up now, I may regret the decisions I make.
