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“You really want to do this?” I can hear the bite of my own words. Bishop stands to his full height, King is on his feet and ready to jump in between us if it comes down to that. I see Knight out of the corner of my eye move toward me ready to fight on my behalf, I want to snort at the audacity of his move but don’t.
“You really want to stand up against me and question how I run things?” he replies, the both of us stare at each other, daring the other to make the first move in what we both know will further divide me from the rest of them.
“Neither of you need to do this.” Bishop and I both ignore Gage and his attempt to ease the situation, we’re past the point of no return now.
“You want the truth brother?” I don’t bother responding verbally, I just cock a brow egging him on. “You’re angry at all of us and blame us all because of what happened to you!” Bishop’s composure has slipped, he’s yelling now and I fucking love it. It brings me great satisfaction to know I’ve finally forced him to let his inner thoughts out. “We all fucking tried to find you!”
I smile darkly. I hear King mutter anoh shitbeneath his breath as I let loose months of pent up hatred. “Was that before or after you were fucking your wife every night, hmm?” I look to King next. “What about you,brother? Did you pull your head out of Ally’s pussy long enough to even notice I was gone?” An angry storm is brewing in King’s green eyes but unlike Bishop’s dark brown eyes his hold no malice. Next, I turn to my twin, my other fucking half. He has the good sense to keep his mouth closed and stand tall so we are eye level. “And you, my fucking equal, left me to rot!” My own temper has broken free of its confines and I’m shaking with anger. “None of you cared enough to stop your own fucking lives to worry about me, the only one who cared enough was fucking Gage!”
“I searched for you, every fucking day, you bastard. There was never a second of each day that I didn’t think of you.” Knight’s words may hold truth to them but they mean nothing to me.
“Aww, poor you.” His eyes narrow to angry slits. “That must have been so hard foryou, worrying every day that you got to sleep in your own bed, shove your cock inside Koby each night while Ivan shoved his in my fucking ass every fucking day!” I scream so fucking loud, everyone in the room gasps. Knight stumbles back a step with a horrified look on his face.
“Rook––” I spin back toward Bishop and pin him with a look that has him clamping his mouth closed. Satisfied that I shut him down I turn to face Gage, he stiffens but says nothing as he waits for me to unleash my fury on him.
“You know when Vlad handed Anya over to Ivan I was there.” The look of surprise that colors his features tells me Anya left that part out. “Your girl got a front row seat to the action, she saw what I was willing to do just so he wouldn’t torture me anymore.” I grip the hem of my shirt and yank it over my head, I hear their sharp intakes of breath as they take in the scars that litter my body. My skin used to be smooth and something to admire but now, it is littered with cigarette burns, slashes from blades, bullet wounds and so many other things. “Take a good look at me, brothers. This could have been any one of you lucky sons of bitches,” I taunt. Because I’m a sadistic mother fucker I turn to Clare. I’ll admit I’m shocked to find her gaze on mine and not the scars that mark my body. “Still think I’m pretty,Pyro?” My old pet name for her rolls off my tongue with ease and has her breath hitching at hearing it. “You still want to kiss me now?” I don’t give her a chance to answer. “Would you let a monster like me beneath your sheets again?”
“Rook, that’s enough!” King tries to cut in but Clare answers the same time as he speaks.
“Yes.” That one word stumps me.
“Why?” I bite out, her features soften as she reaches out to touch me. I tense and she drops her hand back to her side.
“You have scars that tell a story but they aren’t how your story will end, Rook.”
“You don’t know shit!” I grit out through clenched teeth.
“You may be right but I also know that you’re full of shit.” I hear Gage and King mutter beneath their breath but I ignore them as I focus on the girl that ruined me before Ivan could have. Clare has no idea that she held more power over me then Ivan ever did in the eight months I was with him. She is the only person who was able to simultaneously destroy me both mentally and emotionally. “Your trying to push everyone away because you feel like you deserve to be shrouded in the darkness you allow yourself to live in. Don’t let your demons win, Rook, because you’re better than that.”
This woman has no fucking idea what she is saying. I don’t choose this! I’m stuck in this rut because of that Russian cunt. He starved me, tore chunks of hair from my head, beat me daily, raped me and forced me to do things I never would have dreamed of doing. It’s a struggle every fucking day for me to get my ass out of bed and train. I’m trying to gain back the muscle I lost from being chained like amutt. A shudder rolls through at the thought of that word, my nameDvornyaga(mutt)is what he used to call me.
“You don’t know shit about me. Don’t fucking stand here and think you have any right to speak to me after what you did!” She recoils at the anger in my tone, good. Clare is a nuisance that I thought I had got rid of years ago but like all cockroaches, she came crawling back.
Clare
One week later…
Luka left early this morning to catch his flight to Russia with Gage and Anya. He is going to be traveling a lot since Bishop has declared he needs to be home with Kiara and their son––Royal. Rook’s sister’s little girl––Channel is stunning as well. Kiara and Carlina have been texting me and checking in which is odd considering we barely know each other but, both these girls are amazing and so kind. Koby and Anya aren’t mean or anything but I can tell they are on edge when I am around just waiting for Rook to finally snap. Allison, I have learnt is the mothering type. She texts me but not as much as the other two because she is studying to be a nurse and homeschooling her daughter.
Ally is the one who actually helped me get my job at the local animal shelter. I freaking love working there! Luka and I had a chat about me needing to get my own place, honestly it was like getting sucker punched but I also know that he needs his space back. Having his little sister live with him isn’t ideal for picking up the ladies. My problem though, I cannot afford to live in the city. I don’t even make enough to cover a month’s worth of rent. I don’t know what’s up with Luka but he isn’t the same as he once was. I know he’s still angry with me because I won’t tell him how I know Rook or why there is so much bad blood between us. Truth is, I can’t tell him the reason why Rook and I can’t stomach being in the same room together when I can’t even tell Rook the truth.
A loud knock on the door pulls me from my thoughts, not knowing who the heck it could be ,I decide to peek through the peephole and gasp. I quickly undo the chain and unlock the door before opening it, there he stands looking effortlessly gorgeous. Black jeans, a white tee and a varsity jacket that’s opened. His hair is spiked and his face is clean shaven which tells me in the time since I last saw him something has changed. His eyes don’t seem to spit fire at me either.
“You gonna invite me in?” His voice is like a balm to my battered soul but I also can’t allow him to lull me into a false sense of hope. He has so many anger issues to work through and I refuse to be his punching bag, I’ve been through enough.
“You gonna yell at me if I do?” He rolls his eyes and shoves his hands in his pockets as he rocks back on his heels. I blow out an exasperated breath and step aside allowing him entry. He makes sure to keep enough space between our bodies as he enters, it’s physical contact that is a trigger for him. I close the door and follow after him. Judging from how he knows where to go and doesn’t bother to look around, he’s been here before. He drops into one of Luka’s white leather single chairs in the living room, eyeing me. Too wired to sit, I perch on the arm of the sofa and try not to fidget.
“Are you staying or you planning on leaving again?” A whoosh of air escapes me at his blatant jab, maybe I need to just come clean and hope that we can move past… this hatred. Well, hatred on his part. I don’t hate Rook, how could you hate someone you’re still in love with?
“If you’re asking if I plan on staying in New York? Then yes, I don’t plan on going back to Oklahoma,” I answer honestly. He purses his lips and runs his gaze over me causing me to grow warm under the pressure of his stare.
“Not gonna miss your friends orboyfriend?” I narrow my eyes and shake my head.
“If you’ve just come here to throw more insults around and accuse me of being a whore, you can just leave,” I snap.
“So that’s a no to the boyfriend then.” His sarcastic tone just pisses me off.
“No, there is no boyfriend. The only person that has even come close to wearing that title currently sits across from me glaring daggers my way. Happy now?” If I wasn’t paying such close attention I would have missed his eyes widening slightly at my declaration before he quickly masks his features. “Why are you here when you have made it clear you hate me and I’m not welcome around you?”
