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“She needs to return to Manhattan. She’s vulnerable here, and so are we.” Theo’s dark blue eyes meet mine, and I see deep despair in his soul. He doesn’t want to let her go. She saved him in more ways than one. She was his lifeline in that dungeon. It was her that pulled him out of the deep dark hole he had made himself a prisoner of once he returned to us. It was Mia that was able to reach him through all that darkness. We would have lost him to himself if it wasn’t for her. How can he let her go? This will destroy what is left of his sanity; doesn’t he see that?
Fuck, Carter hasn’t done a single drug in weeks because she forbade him, and the fucker listened. I haven’t ever seen Carter obey anyone, the guy is the definition of disobedience, but with Mia, he chose complacency rather than fighting her. She not only controls us, she willingly owns our souls. Each of us put aside our tendencies to be alpha assholes to have even a small piece of her. The agreement to share her wasn’t ever made lightly.
Now, Theo wants us to push her away, to send her running back to Manhattan, halfway across the country and behind the high Stratford walls, without us. Fuck that. “We should all go with her then if she’s safer there. We should all leave.” I try to reason with him.
“We can’t. The deal she made with Stella for our protection ensures it. Stella…Stella made her agree to marry a man of her choosing to further the Stratfords’ power in exchange for protecting Carter and us.”
“She did what now?” Carter bellows loudly. I watch as the ass picks up the nearest side table and hurls it into a wall. The wood and glass shatters on impact and leaves a hole in the plasterboard. Fuck if we don’t get him to stop wrecking shit, Tom will be in here shortly to knock us all out.
“Stop fucker!” I yell, losing my patience quickly with both of them. This can’t be happening. I didn’t just get my best friend, my Amelia, back only to fucking lose her all over again. I know that if we let her go, we might never see her again. Now, this fucker is telling me that she bartered herself to save us, not once but twice. “Why would she do that? Why would she barter herself to her grandmother for four guys she hated?”
“I don’t know why she did it then. She could have gotten her revenge by letting mine and Carter’s dads take us, but she didn’t.” Theo sits heavily down on the arm of one of the theater-style recliners. “She saved us instead of fucking us over, and for that, I will always be grateful. Now we have to save her.”
“Be reasonable, man. We can’t let Mia go. None of us will survive that.” Carter leans his long body against the wall, his arms crossing against his chest.
“Is your need to have her more important than your need to see her protected and living a long life? WE CAN’T FUCKING PROTECT HER!” Theo yells. “We have no power, Carter. Our kings of Casbury power will not stop my father, will not stop Stella’s enemies.”
“I can’t let her go, Theo. Please don’t ask this of me. She keeps my darkness at bay.” Carter’s muscled body slides down the wall until he’s sitting on the floor, his legs outstretched in front of him, pain and fear clearly on his face.
“There has to be another way.” I pace back and forth, my mind filling with different options. Maybe we could leave Casbury with her, somewhere Vincent and Stella can’t find her. We could run, all of us. We have access to vast amounts of cash; we could disappear.Are you kidding me? You can’t hide from Stella Stratford, and what about Mateo? He’s in no condition to run. My thoughts are so loud in my head; it’s like a million bees are just buzzing incessantly in there.
What if one of us married her first? Then Stella wouldn’t be able to force her to marry anyone else. We’re all over eighteen; we could do it without parental knowledge and then leave for Manhattan.Stella would have it annulled an hour later. This is Stella, the dragon queen we are talking about.She hasn’t had Diego murdered yet because he hasn’t tried to push through the agreement, but the minute he does, it will be the last moment he breathes air.
“FUCK” I let my fist ram into the wall; pain ricochets up my knuckles and into my wrist, momentarily distracting me from the sharp pain in my heart at knowing there are no options where we keep her safe and also get to keep her with us. Theo is right; Vincent will keep trying until either he breathes his last breath or she breathes hers.
I just got her back. I was going to spend the rest of my godforsaken life making it up to her, for how I failed her in the past. Now, I will have not only to let her go but hurt her to make her leave. There is no way that Mia will go willingly and relinquish her hold on us. She’s always been stubborn, but now she’s impossible to move when she’s unwilling. I don’t see her giving up her power here in Casbury or her ownership of her four kings.
“How?” I cringe, already knowing that whatever we do will hurt her again after I promised myself that I would never hurt her again.I’m a fucking liar! All I do is hurt that girl. A Traitor.I once again betrayed the only girl I have ever loved.
“We have to make her believe that this is over. Now that Carter’s dad is dead and mine is on the run, that we don’t need nor do we want her anymore. We must make her believe that knowing she’s Amelia Hamilton is repulsive to us.” Theo breathes deeply, his nostrils flaring at each miserable word that leaves his lips.
“You want us to hurt and bully the girl we fucking love? The one who saved us? Are you insane?” Carter gasps, pulling himself back to his feet.
“It’s because we love her that we have to do it, Carter. She won’t go back to Manhattan unless we do. I would rather her safe and hating me than her in Vincent’s deranged clutches or dead.” I sigh, unclenching my fist and watching blood trickles down my fingers. My heart feels like my fist; broken, bruised, and bleeding.
“What about Mat?” Theo questions.
“Mateo is in no condition to deal with any more shit right now. He would agree, though. He loves her. He would want her safe.” I reply with a confidence I don’t feel. Will he forgive us when he finds out what we have done?
“So we are in agreement then?” Theo questions with a raised eyebrow.
“There has to be another way. I can’t hurt her like that again. She will never forgive us. She will never forgive me.” Carter wraps his arms tightly around himself like he’s trying to ward off all the evil we are about to do to the one person none of us want to hurt.
“There is no other way. We need to do this quickly. The longer it drags out, the more painful it will be for all of us and the longer she is in danger.” I watch as Theo’s hand trembles as he wipes his mouth.
“What the fuck have you done?” Bile rises up the back of my throat, and I have to restrain myself from throwing a punch to his face.
“I already started. I already hurt her tonight. I tried to force her to her knees. I degraded her by trying to force her to bend over for my cock, all the while calling her Amelia. I told her she was to blame for everything that has happened to Carter, Mateo, and me, that she was the catalyst for all this destruction. I heard her sobbing in the office when I walked away from her.”
Carter is a blur in front of me, grabbing Theo around the neck and slamming him into the nearest wall. Before I can even move, he has him in a headlock down on the ground and is punching him over and over. I have to stop him before he kills him, even though the desire to let him hurt him eats at me. He purposely harmed the girl I love, knowing it would drive her away from us.He did what was necessary to keep her safe.
I forcefully drag Carter away from Theo, whose face is now bleeding. Carter pants and struggles in my grip, trying to force me to release him so he can attack Theo again. Theo isn’t even trying to defend himself. I can see him shutting down again right in front of my eyes. He’s not defending himself because he has done something unforgivable. He hurt her already without us agreeing.He knew we would agree. There is no other way to get her to leave.The thought slips through my mind, and I know it’s correct.There is no other way.
“If you’re wrong, Theo, if there is any other way and we lose her. I will never forgive you, and you will lose me too.” Carter moves towards the door of the room.
“Where are you going?” I question with aggravation.
“To destroy the one person I love more than anything.” He doesn’t bother to look back, leaving the room with his head low and body rigid.
