Epilogue #2
I tried to breathe. But suddenly, I was back in that pit in Francine’s house, with the walls closing in on me, the air stale, no light or hope. “No.”
It was all I could whisper.
My father went on like I hadn’t even spoken. Like what I wanted didn’t even matter. It never had. This shouldn’t have been a surprise.
“You’ll leave now. Stand up and meet me in the parking lot. Everything has already been taken care of. Your things have all been packed and are already on their way back here.”
I jerked. “What? No.”
I was like a broken record, just repeating the same thing over and over. But nobody was coming to repair the scratch. I was about to be tossed in the garbage.
“You can’t make me.” I knew I sounded like a stubborn two-year-old, but I had no idea what else to say.
Violet kept shooting me little looks of worry in between watching the game, and I knew it was only a matter of time before Dax noticed too.
Dax.
I clutched his hand. He was everything that was good and sweet. Everything I wanted. When he talked about forever, in my heart, I was right there with him.
But my head knew that sort of future had never been possible. And now my father was on the other end of the line, reminding me of my place.
“Turn to your left, Nyah.”
My stomach sank, but I did as he said.
My father’s second-in-command sat barely ten seats away, in the row in front, staring up at me instead of at the game in front of him.
“Now to your right.”
I already knew who I’d see. My uncle raised one hand in greeting, like his presence there was no big deal.
And to most people it wasn’t. But to me, it might as well have been my death warrant.
“Look around you and you’ll see at least a dozen more of my men, princess.”
The hopelessness flooded in. Even with Whip and Levi just feet away, and knowing what they were capable of, I knew they were no match for my father and his men. If he’d brought them all, there would be no fighting back. Violet had her kids here. There were families all around us.
That wouldn’t matter to my father’s men. If they had to slaughter an entire arena to bring me home, that’s what they would do, and they wouldn’t lose a wink of sleep over it.
But I would.
I’d already felt the pain of losing a baby. I wouldn’t be the reason another mother lost hers.
“Say goodbye to your friends. Put on the show of your life, princess, because if they follow us, you will not like what happens.”
I found myself nodding, resigned, knowing there was nothing more I could do.
I’d left knowing this day would come.
I tried to memorize Dax’s features, the warmth of his skin, the kindness in his eyes. And I wished so much that my life could have been different.
He glanced over at me and did a double take when he noticed the expression on my face. “Hey, what’s wrong?”
“He’s dead if he follows you, Nyah. Thank him and your friends for leading me back to you, but know I only let them live because of that. They come for you again, I will not be as lenient.”
I didn’t push back. Didn’t argue. I knew his threats weren’t bluffs.
My father never bluffed.
“Just let me have ten minutes,” I whispered to him.
“I’m not an unreasonable man, Nyah.” He paused on the other end of the line. “Ten minutes. Not a second more.”
If my heart hadn’t just been ripped from my body in the most painful of ways, I might have laughed. But there was no humor in this situation.
I turned to Violet. “I have to go home.”
Violet’s eyebrows drew together sharply. “Your father—”
I forced myself to shake my head and to lie to the best friend I’d ever had. “No, it’s not that. My mother is ill. I need to go back and be there for her.”
Violet bit her lip. “Okay, but you’ll be back when she’s well, right?”
Lying to her was the hardest thing I’d ever done in my life. “Sure.”
She hugged me quickly, and I stood, pulling Dax to his feet with me.
“What’s going on?” he asked.
I knew my uncle and my father’s men would follow us, but I didn’t care.
I moved past him, and he followed me up the stairs, cheering hockey fans sitting either side of us.
The landing where the food and bathrooms were was much quieter, most people saving their snacking and restroom trips for between periods.
I wished that was why I was up here. Wished all we were doing was getting Dax a refill of his fries.
I tugged him to a stop, facing him, staring up at the eyes I’d so easily come to love. “I’m leaving.”
He didn’t hesitate. “You’re tired? I knew this was too much. Come on, let’s get you to the car.”
I shook my head. “No. I’m leaving town.”
He froze. “What do you mean? For the weekend?”
He already knew. I could see it in his eyes.
“No. I’m going home.”
“Your family—”
Again, I knew I had to lie. Because he would come for me if I didn’t. He would never stop coming if he thought I wasn’t there of my own free will. This man would burn the world down for me if I asked him to, and I knew it.
The only problem was, if he tried, he’d only be setting himself alight.
I couldn’t let him do that. I loved him more than that. More than he would ever love me.
His forehead pinched. “If this is about what I said…about forever… If I’m moving too fast…”
I squeezed his fingers. “It’s not about you. It’s about me. I’m broken, Dax. I don’t feel safe here.”
“We’ll go somewhere else!”
I shook my head. “I can’t. It hurts too much. I need to go home. My mom is sick. I need to be there with her.”
He pulled me into his arms, holding me tight, his desperation thick in the choke of his voice. “Okay, but she’ll get better, and you’ll come home.”
I couldn’t give him the false hope I’d given Violet. Violet’s heart wouldn’t break when I didn’t return.
But Dax’s had to. It was the only way he would ever be able to move on. I couldn’t string this out, just hoping he’d forget. “I’m not coming back. And I don’t want you to come with me.”
It was like every word was a hot dagger of pain right to his stomach. Each one drawing out blood and vital organs he needed to live. I could see it in his expression.
He shook his head. “Don’t do this.”
But I had to. Out of the corner of my eye, my uncle lurked, watching, making sure I was the good little princess my father had always expected me to be.
I pressed up on my toes and kissed Dax’s mouth. Then delivered the death blow. The one I was hoping I wouldn’t have to use, because it would hurt so much. “Every time I see you, all I think about is the baby I lost. I can’t Dax. I just can’t. Please let me go.”
And because that man would always give me whatever I wanted, he did.
He let go of my fingers, despite the agony written all over his face.
He let go of me, despite the fact I wanted to fall straight back into his arms and tell him it was all lies.
He let me go because it was what I’d asked him for, even though I knew I would regret it for the rest of my life.
I walked away before I couldn’t. My legs shook, my fingers trembled. My father’s men fell into step beside me as we rounded the corner, out of Dax’s sight.
That was when I finally let the tears fall silently down my cheeks. Mourning him. Mourning the baby we’d lost. Mourning the future we could have had together if I had been someone else.
I let my uncle lead me to a blacked-out car. He put me in the back seat.
I didn’t even acknowledge my father sitting on the other side, waiting for me with slicked-back hair and an expensive suit.
He didn’t try to touch me. Just nodded, like I was a good dog and he was pleased by my obedience.
It took me a long moment to even realize there was anyone else in the car.
But when I noticed the man sitting on the opposite-facing seats, my blood ran cold. “Why is he here?”
My father settled back in his seat, crossing his arms over his chest. “Your fiancé wanted to meet you in person.” He glanced over at the man. “See? She is just as I said. Worth every penny, is she not?”
The man’s dark gaze rolled over every inch of my body, my skin crawling beneath every sweep of his beady eyes. “Indeed, she is. For once, we agree on something.”
I shook my head at my father. “What are you doing? I’m not—”
His palm smacked across my face so hard blood spurted in my mouth.
I clapped my hand to my stinging cheek and stared at him in shock. He had never been a warm man, never loving or kind. But he’d never laid a finger on me.
Apparently, that reprieve was over. I was no longer something sacred.
I was just another one of the women he beat up on.
I stared at him with feral anger raging inside me. “This is who you’ve chosen for me? This is who you want me to marry? A fucking Guerra?”
The man sitting across the car smiled like a serpent, all teeth and hiss and venom.
My father was marrying me off to his enemy.
The End.