Chapter 39
CHAPTER
THIRTY-NINE
SLOAN
They said all good things need to eventually come to an end, yet I never imagined I’d wake up the following morning with a gun aimed at my head.
“What the fu?—”
Xavier raised his cell phone in the air on speaker, cutting Luke off, he stated, “Yeah, Dad. We got them.”
I gasped like he just shot me in the heart, and Luke looked ready to kill. Standing in front of my face were my two brothers betraying me for the first time ever.
“Thanks, boys,” Dad celebrated through the phone. “Sloan…” he hummed in an eerie voice. “Did you really think your brothers would betray me for you? Come on, baby… you’re smarter than that.”
“Fuck you!” I seethed, grabbing the lamp and chucking it at both of my brothers. “How could you do this to me?”
It shattered on the wall behind them, and I could see it in their eyes that they didn’t want to do this. Luke wasn’t just radiating heat; he was exploding from the inside out.
“What do you have on them?” I questioned in a biting voice.
“Sloan… sweetheart,” my father harassed. “Your brothers know what’s good for them if they don’t bring the two of you to me. Now,” he accentuated the last word.
“I can’t believe this,” I voiced, my heart breaking.
My mind couldn’t think anymore. There was nothing else I could contemplate, rationalize, understand, or even begin to explain.
My body shuddered.
My hands were shaking.
I found it hard to see.
To breathe.
All I could do was feel.
Everything sort of tunneled out for me. I was there, but I wasn’t. In the exact same way, I’d pretend I was somewhere else entirely when I was with men I had to be with.
I know enough about trauma to know that it works in mysterious ways.
My mind shut down to protect itself as they continued their phone call, which ended in Luke spewing, “I’m not packin’, motherfuckers. Are you that big of pussies that you can’t take me like a man? You gotta use your guns to do your biddin’?”
“Well, then…” Xavier greeted. “We haven’t been properly introduced. I’m the man who’s going to kill you.”
“Naw…” Luke glared at him. “That’s your daddy’s job or else you would have killed me already in my sleep.”
“I would have.” Xavier firmly nodded to him. “But I figured the least I could do was let you fuck my sister.” He paused for effect. “You’re welcome.”
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. I was in this alternate universe, and a huge part of me thought I was having a nightmare I needed to wake myself up from.
“I don’t understand…” I coaxed, trying to contain my emotions that were getting the best of me. “You would never… this is… what the fuck is going on?”
“What’s going on,” Nav repeated, still aiming his gun at my forehead while X aimed his at Luke’s.
“This is the only way to get this son of a bitch”—Nav gestured to Luke—“out of your life. What did you think we were going to do? Let you be with an enemy? You saw what we did to your first boyfriend. Why would you think this piece of shit would be any different?”
“What about me?” I objected. “Why are you making me go back to him? You know?—”
“Either your dad’s whore or his…” Nav countered. “I’m going to go with dad.”
My hand actually shot to my heart as Luke’s hand was around Navarro’s throat, slamming him into the nearest wall before he could complete his sentence.
Nav simply laughed his ass off as drywall crumbled to their feet.
“You don’t ever speak to her like that.” Luke got close to his face, gritting out, “Do you understand me?”
Navarro smiled. There was a gleam in his eyes that lit up his entire face. He was enjoying this.
“Oh my God…” I pleaded, feeling at a loss. “Just fucking kill me because it would hurt far less than what you’re doing to me.” My eyes laced with fresh tears. “How can you say that to me?”
Not missing a beat, X pulled out another gun and placed it on Luke’s back. “We can’t change who you are, Sloan, but you’ve always been daddy’s little girl, and that’s just the way it is. At least you’re safer with him.”
“Safer?” I cried out, feeling my world crashing down on me.
Luke let go of Nav and faced X instead. Now Nav’s gun was now over Luke’s heart.
Through a deadly expression, Luke asked, “Why did you let me leave with her if you were just gonna hand us over to your father?”
Nav immediately let out, “We needed to know what Sloan shared with you. I knew she’d bring you here. It’s really quite simple. Oh, by the way,” he snidely stated to him, “Thanks for letting me know about the evidence she had.”
“No!” I screamed bloody murder. “What did you do to Eric?”
Nav smiled. “Don’t worry about it. He’ll live to see another day.”
“He doesn’t know anything,” I confessed. “He was just holding the files for me,” I spoke the truth. “Please…”
They ignored me.
Like I wasn’t their sister.
Their blood.
Like I was nothing more than our father’s property and that hurt most of all.
“Let’s just cut the dramatics,” X clipped. “I don’t want to keep Dad waiting any longer than we already have. You know he has no patience. Now get dressed, and let’s go.”
I did as I was told.
When in reality, I wanted to run.
LUKE
The next thing I knew, their guns were simultaneously on my forehead, and I welcomed the refreshing feel of the cold metal against my heated flesh.
With that, X pistol-whipped me, but I caught myself on the wall. Using the momentum from my fall, I used my fist to coldcock him in the jaw with so much power that it knocked him into the door. A loud crack let us know his weight almost broke it.
Glaring up at me through the slit of his eyes, X spit blood in my face, spewing, “We could do this all night.”
Wiping my cheek with the back of my hand, I tried to govern my breathing, but my blood was boiling. Fuming with rage, I internally prayed, though it was useless.
I was eternally doomed for the sins I created.
Before I knew it, we were in their private jet. Except this time, we were tied to the leather seats, sitting in front of each other.
Sloan looked so defeated.
Exhausted.
Broken.
Lost.
Her head hung low, staring aimlessly out the window. My heart tightened to the point of pain from seeing her so lifeless when she was always so lively and strong.
Not eyeing me, she profusely apologized, “I’m so fucking sorry, Luke.”
I took a deep, reassuring breath. “It’s not your fault.”
“I never in my wildest nightmares thought it would go down like this. What did I do to deserve this?” Tears streamed down her face as her lips trembled. “Why is it so hard for someone to love me?”
I didn’t hesitate in speaking with conviction…“I fuckin’ love you.”