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Dragging my hands through my short hair and then down my haggard face, I fight the urge to go in there and try to help him. His pain-filled shouts can be heard out in the hallway, probably throughout the whole house. I tried to wake him and restrain him from hurting himself the first night, but it only worsened things. He’s like a scared animal backed into a corner. He fought me until we were both bleeding and retreated further into himself.
We had to remove everything but the bed from the room the following day. He destroyed everything in his fear and rage, hurting himself further in the process. He hasn’t left that room in the whole five days since we brought him here.
At first, he refused to leave the hospital; then, he refused to come to Mia’s with us. We didn’t give him a choice though, his house was burnt to the ground by Diego and Manuel’s men, and Vincent still hasn’t been found yet. The fear that he will harm or kill himself is a real possibility. It’s too risky to leave Theo alone. He needs to remain wherever we are so that we can keep an eye on him.
Soft steps make their way to me; I don’t bother to look up, I just spread my legs wider so she can fit in between them on the floor with me. It’s been the same thing every night. She comes to keep me company while we both listen to Theo’s anguished screams, unable to help him and feeling useless.
“He sounds worse tonight somehow,” she whispers, leaning into my embrace.
“I know.”
“How much longer can he go on like this?” Her soft voice inquires, lacing her fingers through mine.
Footsteps sound from both directions of the hallway, and I look up to watch Carter and Mateo coming from the right and Diego, Isabella, Raegan, and Raven from the left. We’re a full house now. Everyone is staying here, plus all of Stella’s guards and Diego’s men. We even had to bring in temporary trailers to accommodate everyone who’s now stationed here twenty-four-seven. It’s more a military base or prison, as Carter describes it, than a home.
Thank fuck Stella left to go back to Manhattan four days ago. I couldn’t imagine her allowing this to continue nightly. She probably would have had Theo carted back to the hospital or a mental ward. I’m unsure if that wouldn’t be the best thing for him right now.
Theo won’t leave the room for any reason and snarls at us like a caged wolf if we come too close to him. He scarcely eats, as evidenced by the barely touched food trays we bring and take away. He hasn’t showered since before he left the hospital and spends his day in the same t-shirt and sweats we dressed him in so he could leave the hospital.
I stare into Carter’s eyes, his face grim and his hands clenched. I know he’s feeling restless and useless at his inability to calm Theo down, to bring him out of this constant state of fear. He’s not the only one; Mateo and I have no idea what to do either. We’re watching our brother and best friend completely self-destruct and deteriorate before us daily.
“Maybe we should ask the doctor to sedate him?” Diego throws out, sliding down the opposite wall, lines of exhaustion across his face.
My anger flares up immediately, and the desire to punch him in his scarred face almost overwhelms me. The fucker refuses to leave, stating that he has a vested interest in protecting his future wife. I’ll murder him before he ever gets the chance to marry my Mia.
The memory of when Mateo sucker-punched him earlier and laid him on his ass pops into my head. Just the thought fills me with happiness and sick glee. Mateo is calm until he’s not, and I think he had just about enough of his cousin earlier this evening.
Diego had uttered something about an ass he wanted to take a bite out of under his breath at the counter, sitting next to Mateo and me while watching Mia and Isabella at the stove. Next thing we know, he’s been launched off the stool he was sitting in and was on his ass rubbing his jaw. Mateo shook with a violent fury above him. The thing is, I’m almost positive it wasn’t Mia’s ass he was looking at; it was Isabella’s. It didn’t stop me from letting a massive satisfied smile cross my lips, though.
“He might be right,” Raven remarks, running his hand through his almost white blonde hair. The ass looks like the perfect “All American” boy next door; if the boy next door was a rich multimillionaire spawn with a massive chip on his broad shoulder.
Another fucker that just won’t leave. Mia’s ex-boyfriend refused to head back with Stella to Manhattan, therefore ridding us of his antagonizing presence. Nope, he’s staying put to “help” Mia and Isabella. I have never wanted to kill two different guys, that I barely know, at the same damn time. My patience and self-restraint are being tested daily with these two in the house, plus what’s going on with Theo.
“Shut up, Raven; no one asked for your opinion,” Raegan mumbles and then slides down the wall on my other side with Isabella at her side, both girls look exhausted, wearing pajamas and sporting bed heads.
Raegan and Raven stare at each other, neither one wanting to be the first to look away. I’ve caught him staring at her the last couple of days. He always seems to be in the room when she is too. His eyes watch her like a hunter, and she’s his tasty prey.
Honestly, I might even enjoy watching the shitstorm that will happen when Mia figures out that Diego is after Isabella and Raven’s attracted to our little Raegan. She might murder both of them and have Tom dispose of the bodies. I’d help, too, if it got those two fuckers out of here.
“NO!” A scream tears across the hallway silencing all of us. Then a large crash against the wall echoes in the hallway.
“Fuck!” Carter shouts and starts heading toward Theo’s bedroom door. Mateo is on his heels and trying to restrain him.
“Carter, let him be; you’ll make it worse,” Mateo utters with sadness.
“No, Carter’s right. This shit can’t continue like this. He’s hurting himself. The therapist Stella sent said we needed to give him space but that we needed to step in if he was self-harming. He’s trapped himself in those nightmares. We need to get him out of that room and back to the living world, where the constant thoughts and memories aren’t overwhelming him.” Mia pulls from my embrace and stands before Carter, grasping his hand before he reaches Theo’s door.
“Tomorrow then, or I guess it’s already tomorrow. Later this morning, we will force him out of the room and into a space we are all in with him. He’s going to put up a fight, though, and I’m not convinced this is the right way to approach this shit, but I also can’t take hearing him hurting himself anymore.” I shake my head, my hands clenching at my sides.
I turn from one to the other of my fellow captives, and each one nods back at me. When I reach Mia’s eyes, they are glassy with unshed tears. This is breaking her, watching from a distance as Theo self-destructs and is terrorized by the memories of what they did to him back at the Saint-Lambert mansion, what they did to him so that we could get away to safety. She’s blaming herself for his pain. My formidable, powerful queen is showing her soft side, and I don’t know if I’m enjoying it or being shattered by it.
“Mia, come to bed.” Standing up, I reach my hand out to her. For a moment, she hesitates, refusing to meet my gaze and take my outstretched hand. Then a shudder skates across her body, and she takes a deep breath, putting her hand in mine. I pull her towards me, wrapping my arms around her body and down the hall to my room.
Mia’s been sleeping in her room with Isabella and Raegan since we all returned from the hospital. There’s been no opportunity to be alone with each other with everything that’s going on. It doesn’t help that this house is filled with people. Which I know is setting her off. My girl likes her personal space, and right now, she feels invaded.
I open the door to my room, and we both walk inside, not bothering to turn on the lights. I’m not looking for anything other than the opportunity to hold her tight in my arms and to feel her warm body against mine. I need her strength; mine is seriously being tested right now.
Fuck, I hope there are no new notes in there. I don’t need Mia freaking the fuck out. Someone has been leaving the word “Traitor” written all over my room and my stuff. Tonight when I came into the room, both pillowcases had “Traitor” written in black sharpie across them. I ripped them off and threw them into the garbage bin. I don’t know who’s doing it, but it’s setting me further on edge.Maybe it’s Mia; perhaps she thinks you’re a traitor for leaving Theo behind…my mind questions.
