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What’s happening to me now is nothing compared to how we bullied Amelia. I hurt my best friend and then abandoned her. No amount of self-loathing can compare to how she must have felt for all those years.What she had planned for us as Mia wouldn’t have even balanced the scales after all the crap we put her through.
“No, we haven’t, yet.” We lost track of her once she crossed over the downtown area. I’m having all the street cameras hacked to see what direction she went in.” Tom rubs both his palms down his face. His dark skin looks ashen and filled with exhaustion.
A sound has me turning in the direction of the kitchen entryway just as Isabella steps back into the room. She had the unfortunate task of calling Stella and letting her know what was happening here in Casbury.Fuck, Stella is going to kill all of us. Mia is already on thin ice with her, thanks to that stunt of promising herself to Diego.
“Grandmother is absolutely livid right now, and I fear for my reckless sister when she gets her hands on her,” Isabella smirks, and then the smile falls from her delicate face in the next instance. “She’s having helicopters search for her from the air. The Range has a tracker on it, but it doesn’t seem to be working properly, probably because Mia keeps using the damn thing as a battering ram.”
“Diego? Has he found anything yet?” Raegan inquires with hope in her voice.
Isabella shakes her head in the negative, “I haven’t heard from him in a while”. Diego was not pleased when Isabella managed to get him on the phone and told him of Mia and Theo’s escapades. Loud curse words in Spanish vibrated through the phone speaker before he hung up on us. I guess the threat of losing his precious Stratford princess for a forced wife must be dampening his miserable spirits.
The front door slamming has all of our attention and bodies moving toward the entryway. Isabella rushes forward and throws herself at her sister. Mia barely manages to get her arms around her sister’s petite frame before Raegan pushes past me, launching herself at her too. Theo moves out of the way of the girls embracing and towards my side. His mask hides any emotions and thoughts from being portrayed on his face.
Diego slips through the door, his large muscled arms crossed across his chest and an angry disapproving scowl across his miserable face. He takes in the scene of all three girls hugging it out, and the corner of his lip lifts in what, for him, must be amusement.God, I hate that fucker.
“Mia Stratford, have you lost your damn mind. Sweet baby Jesus, what were you thinking, girl?” Raegan pulls away from the joint embrace and pins Mia with an angry death stare.
Mia sighs deeply and then dislodges herself from Isabella’s octopus grip. She’s wrapped so tightly around Mia that it’s kind of hilarious; she looks like a spider monkey clinging to her.Ha-ha, yeah, hilarious asshole; get your amusement out of the poor sister that was terrified.I shake my head to clear my thoughts as Tom approaches Mia.
“Miss Mia, that was so incredibly reckless and irresponsible. If you had been captured, what then? Theo could have been recaptured by his father. You put both of you in danger with your childish behavior.” Fuck, Tom’s really laying into her. I want to come to her defense cause shit, she’s my girl, and no one gets to rip into her but us. But I can’t. He’s right; her actions could have had devastating consequences for both of them.
“I’m sorry. I was a reckless idiot. I realize that I shouldn’t have put Theo and myself in danger. I…I just couldn’t sit here any longer, not doing anything to find him.” She lowers her eyes to the ground, her shoulders slumping and a flush across her cheeks. Mia apologizing is something I haven’t experienced since she was Amelia. This version never stands down and never apologizes, she’s usually unbendable and relentless. Watching her behave with contrition has a tightness forming in my chest. It reminds me of the small, innocent girl I left behind all those years ago.
“No more Miss Mia, or I will have to advise your grandmother to take further actions for confinement.” Tom sighs and rubs his face. He looks exhausted, we all are.
A look of fury crosses Mia’s face at Tom’s threat. I don’t know if that was wise of the fucker to tell her that. I know she needs to understand the risks and consequences, but she’s just as likely to do something drastic just to spite him.
“Were you able to find anything?” Carter moves forward and wraps his arms around Mia, pushing a disgruntled Isabella to the side. He bends down and kisses Mia’s forehead, and I watch as all the tension leaves his body.
“Nothing,” Theo mutters and moves past us, heading for the kitchen area. I realize he’s gripping various pieces of clothing in his hands as he stalks to the kitchen island and dumps them there before moving to help himself to water and turning his back on all of us. I can still see his hands, though, and they are in tightly clenched fists.
“Who did that to you, Diego? Did you all run into trouble out there, or did Theo finally give you the beating you deserve?” Isabella’s voice trails from behind me, and I turn around to get a good look at Diego’s face. He’s sporting the beginning of a black eye and a couple of marks on his face that will be blooming bruises come the morning. Come to think of it on closer inspection, Theo has a few marks too.What the fuck?
Diego refuses to meet Isabella’s eyes, staring at Mia instead with anger radiating off him. A chuckle leaves Theo’s lips, and everyone’s attention turns to him. “Tell her fucker. Tell her that Mia got to you first!” Theo announces with a gleam of satisfaction on his face.
“Sure did, well at least the black eye; the other crap was him and Theo behaving like two out-of-control cavemen, hitting each other.” Mia moves into the room, her fingers laced with Carter’s, and takes a seat at the island, her eyes on the clothing that Theo dropped there. I recognize the shirts. They are all Mateo’s. So they went to Mateo’s house.Jesus, they could have been attacked. She really could have been taken. What the hell was she thinking?
“Good,” Isabella mutters and then moves to stand next to her sister, her arms wrapping tightly around her like she’s afraid that if she doesn’t hold onto Mia, she may disappear again. I know the feeling, every part of me wants to lock Mia away so that she can’t continue to put herself at risk.Now that you know who she is, aren’t you as much of a threat to her?The thought skates across my mind.
I hadn’t given it much thought to what will happen once Mia realizes that I know she’s Amelia. She came here for retribution, to punish us for our bullying all those years ago. She would have destroyed us without a single care had Carter not overdosed. When Carter almost died, that moment changed all the plays on the board for her and us. The other kings have no idea how lucky we are that she didn’t move forward with whatever her plans were. I have a feeling we would be currently surrounded by the rubble and ash of our kingdom if she had.
“Mia, you have to stop being so reckless. You ran over two of Manuel’s men with the Range, and we’re going to need another fortified gate. Grandmother is livid and has helicopters looking for you. I wouldn’t be surprised if she jumps on the Stratford jet and once again comes to Casbury.”
“Are…the men, okay?” Mia questions with concern lining her features. Maybe she didn’t realize she hurt anyone? Either way, this shit has got to stop. I have to keep her safe somehow, even if it’s from herself.
“They are fine, a few cuts and bruises, but it could have been so much worse, killer. You have to stop behaving recklessly.” She doesn’t bother acknowledging my words; honestly, I didn’t expect her to. Mia Stratford will continue to do what she wants. She’s a Manhattan princess, used to getting what she wants when she wants. Maybe my Amelia is truly gone after all.If she is, it would be your fault,my mind whispers to me.
Chapter 32
Mateo
“He who has overcome his fears will truly be free.” Aristotle
Daysgoby,andVincent and his lackeys don’t return to torture us further. A welcome relief from their last visit, where they forced June to fuck me while I lay tied down on the bed, and Francis forced his cock down her throat simultaneously. They couldn’t get my cock hard enough to slip inside of her, so the fuckers forced pills down my throat that I later realized must have been Viagra.
For what felt like endless hours, she rode my engorged throbbing cock, while the other two forced themselves into her other holes. When I finally could cum, the shame that filled me at feeling my semen spurting inside her was unbearable. Tears slipped down her face, and I watched as the last of her mind shattered.
We’re locked together in this putrid room, the air foul with the smell of human waste, sweat, and our desperation. The four walls feel like they’re closing in on us, hour by hour. We can’t tell what day it is or even what part of the day or night it is in this windowless locked death trap.
