21. Magnus
Magnus
“You’re not going.” Hayes crosses his arms tight over his chest like that will somehow convince June of changing her mind.
“You can’t stop me.” She folds her arms, too, and juts out her hip.
“Yeah, not happening,” Dominic adds.
I shrug when she glances my way. “Don’t look at me.”
“What the fuck. I’m not a prisoner.” June snatches Hayes’ phone off the counter and brings it to his face before he can comprehend what she’s doing. The thing unlocks with facial recognition and she pushes a few buttons while backing away.
“J, give me my phone.” Hayes steps toward her.
“No, Co.” With one more flick of a finger, she puts the device to her ear.
Hayes snatches it from her and disconnects the call. “Are you fucking crazy?” Immediately, the cell rings. Hayes sighs and pushes a button. “Sorry about that, Beckett, pocket dialed you. We’ll be there soon.” He hangs up and shoves it into his pocket, out of her reach.
June takes in a breath and exhales slowly. “Okay. I will give you guys two options. Either I go with you, or I wait until you’re gone and follow you, which seems risky, given the circumstances. The choice is yours. I won’t mind if you’d like to do things the hard way.”
I walk over and put my arm around her shoulder. “I’m voting on the easy way.”
“This isn’t a fucking democracy.” Dominic glares at me and if looks could kill, I’d be brutally dead.
“Maybe it should be.” June grips my waist and tugs me closer. “Two against two.”
“Listen,” I add. “I hate the dude as much as you do, but I get the vibe he’s not going to hurt her. I mean, he’s fucking obsessed with her.” I glance down at the sweet-faced vixen. “Can you blame him?”
“And you have what, like twelve hours or so with your truce?” June continues to stand her ground in front of two of the deadliest men I’ve ever met. “I won’t forgive you if you don’t let me go.”
Her last statement cuts like a knife despite it not being aimed at me. Something about being on her bad side is enough to make my heart ache. How the fuck Hayes deals with it on a daily basis is lost on me.
"God knows how you hold a grudge," Hayes mutters under his breath.
“Oh.” June tilts her head. “You’re going there?
Now? Okay. Let’s do this then.” She pushes his shoulder.
“Come on, tell me what you really think, Coen. Share with the whole group how you made a bunch of empty promises and left, like a fucking coward. You couldn't be bothered to call, to check-in, to be a man, and maybe just admit you moved the fuck on? You know, I should have known you’d betray me, that you’d leave me without a second fucking thought.
” June shakes her head. “You knew what that meant to me. To be abandoned. And you did it anyway. Did you ever fucking care about me at all?” Her voice lowers. “Was I a joke to you? A quest?”
I knew it was bad, but I didn’t realize how deep the wound was until I could feel the pain in each of June's words.
She prides herself on being shut off, not letting anyone in to see her for who she truly is.
She was damaged when she and Hayes got together, but he was the one person she decided to let in.
She trusted him and he did the unspeakable. The unforgivable.
“It’s not his fault.” Dominic runs his hand through his hair. “If you want to be mad at someone, take it out on me. Not him.”
“What are you talking about?” June asks the question in my own mind.
“Stay out of it, Dom,” Hayes barks. “This has nothing to do with you.”
“It has everything to do with me. She deserves the truth.”
“Someone better start talking.” June grips the edge of the counter.
Dominic looks directly at her. “It’s my fault. I’m the reason he never came back to you.”
June flits her attention from Dom to Hayes. “Co?”
For the first time ever, at least for my witnessing, tears well in Hayes’ bright blue eyes. “I thought I was protecting you, J.”
The excuse for leaving her behind, the most selfless of them all.
June thinks her first love abandoned her because he didn’t care, when in reality, he did it to save her from this dangerous life he would never escape.
He put her in the past so she would never be put in harm’s way.
It’s no wonder he’s been so fucking mad at us for carelessly bringing her into it.
Hayes keeps his gaze trained on June; his tone hushed. “I never stopped loving you. Not for a second.”
June wipes at a rogue tear that cascades down her cheek.
"I, um, think we should talk about this later.
" She sniffles and regains her composure.
"This has nothing to do with tonight. And if either one of you ever wants to be forgiven…
" She points to Hayes and Dominic. "You won't stand in my way anymore. "
“Okay.” Hayes nods, accepting that maybe, just maybe, he has a chance of getting back in her good graces.
Dominic drives his SUV while Hayes rides shotgun. June and I silently behind them.
I study her while she stares blankly out the window at the passing scenery.
I can’t quite tell what she’s thinking or feeling, a tornado of emotions and thoughts more than likely devastating her with each second.
I can only imagine the torment she’s going through at finding out something so haunting about her past and present, the two colliding and wreaking havoc on her life.
I don’t want to overstep, but my soul begs for hers to understand that I’m here if she needs me.
We haven’t known each other long, and yet there’s this undeniable connection we have, an invisible thread linking our fates to one another.
It’s cliché as fuck, I totally get that.
Still, I’m convinced our paths crossed for a reason, that we were meant to meet.
I’m equal parts powerful and vulnerable with her around, and if I’m not mistaken, I think she experiences that, too.
Not just with me, but with all three of us.
I never imagined someone like June would find me.
I had accepted my fate of meaningless one-night stands and surface-level conversation.
I never saw her coming, and somehow the first time I laid my eyes on her, it was like the heavens opened and quite literally dropped an angel into my life.
A beautifully broken one.
She is no damsel in distress. No. June is a walking enigma of beauty and strength and a dark femininity that only she could exude.
She’s been hardened by her past. She’s guarded.
She’s smart. She’s dangerous. She took everything that ever hurt her and molded herself into the most badass woman I've ever known.
She strolls head-on into danger not because she's a fool, but because she can overcome anything this world throws at her.
She will absolutely be our saving grace, or our demise. Definitely one or the other.
Does she realize that the three men in this vehicle would literally do anything in their power for her? Give her anything she could ever wish for. Satisfy her every desire and still never shy away from wanting to do more for her to prove how much she means to them?
“We’re here.” Dominic glances at us in the rear-view mirror.
June grips the handle, tugging at it harder when it doesn’t budge. “What the fuck, let me out.”
Hayes turns to face us. “June. I ask that you put aside our differences for the next hour or so.” His voice is calm and calculated, like he’s talking his way through detonating a live bomb.
“Our number one priority is all of us getting out of here unharmed, and we can’t do that when you jump out of the car while it’s still moving. ”
She exhales and leans back into the seat. “Fine. What’s the plan?”
Hayes continues. “I’m going to get out first, assess the surroundings. Then, and only then, when I have assured it is safe, you may come.”
“And you expect me to trust you that you’ll come back?”
Ouch. That burn even stung me.
“He will.” Dominic cuts the engine and looks at Hayes. “Now, go.”
“You’re one to talk,” June mouths off.
Dominic doesn’t bother taking the bait, he knows better than to add any fuel to this raging fire.
Dom backs down to no one, but this calculated risk is more than he’d like to bargain with right now.
I don’t exactly blame him. The idea of June flying off the handle and doing something to get herself hurt or potentially decide she’s had enough and leave us for good is what keeps me walking on eggshells.
She can be mad at them, but if I lose her too, will she have no reason left to stay?
It's obvious she's not here for the money, or the financial security we provide.
June is resourceful, and if I hadn't stepped in when I did, there's no doubt in my mind she would have found some other way to survive with the little she had.
She has no shortage of male suitors, either.
Any man on the west coast does a double-take when she walks by.
Perhaps it's the safety we provide…the security.
But that couldn't be, because June somehow outmaneuvered one of our kind and managed to escape with her life. Which only reinforces the fact that she can handle shit most people can’t.
Further proving that maybe, just maybe, she could survive this deadly world we live in.
June needs no one.
But what if it’s that after all. What if June wants us?
Despite her past with Hayes, and her present anger with Dominic, deep down, she has feelings for them, for me, for us.
Would she be here if she didn’t?
Hayes knocks on the window, snapping me out of my heavy train of thought.
June immediately grabs the handle, but I reach out and stop her.
“Hey,” I say in my softest, most gentle voice ever.
“Don’t try to stop me.”
I shake my head. “I’m not trying to. I just wanted to tell you, at any point, if you want to leave, let me know. I’m here for you.”
The one thing she’s never had from an outside source. Stability. Someone who would actually be there, no matter what.
“Oh.” She blinks at me a few times. “Thanks.”