Chapter 62
Visha
The ringing in my head dulls as I raise it at the commotion.
The door bursts open, and the devil walks in with the embodiment of kindness by his side. I blink through the daze, and we make eye contact.
Aoi stalks toward me, but Jason pulls him back. “Not so fast.”
“You said I could see him,” he snaps. “Let me go. I want to talk to him.”
“How can I trust that you won’t do anything stupid?”
Aoi tilts his head in confusion. “What could I possibly do? I promised to stay with you as long as you let me see him. I won’t go back on my word, and you know that. Let me check on him, that’s all I’m asking.”
“Indeed, I said you could see him,” he says, clenching around his wrist, and Aoi winces. “No one said anything about getting close to him.”
“But-”
“No buts, my dear.”
I part my lips and drag myself to a sitting position. “Aoi? Are you okay?”
“Visha…” He watches me, hesitating between obeying the demon holding him back and rushing to my side. “I’m sorry.”
“What for? You did nothing wrong. It’s all his fault,” I grunt, nodding once in Jason’s direction. “Did he hurt you?”
“Enough with the chitchat. You saw him now let’s go.”
Aoi grabs Jason’s biceps and turns his back to me. “Wait. He’s hurt. You did that to him? That was you, right? Why?”
“You ask why?” he scoffs and tips Aoi’s chin up. “Because he dared to touch what’s mine. You let him fuck you and now you ask me why I ‘hurt’ him? I should have broken his legs for it, but I held back. You should be grateful.”
“Grateful?” he mutters, stepping back and huffing harshly. “You son of a bitch. You should’ve just taken me before he and I met again. You didn’t have to hurt him! I was enough!”
“You’re right. I should have made you mine years ago but I wanted to give you a choice.” He slides an arm around Aoi’s waist and pulls him close. “It’s too late for regrets, don’t you think?”
That fucker is toying with him again. Aoi may be a resilient person, but he has been under Jason’s thumb for too long. I doubt he knows how to get away from his shackles.
“I don’t care about him,” he says, hands drifting higher before settling around Jason’s neck. “As you once said, he’s just a kid I played house with.”
“What are you playing at?”
Aoi presses his forehead against Jason’s. “Wanting him was a mistake. You were right.”
Jason glances between me and the divinity he’s soiling with his hands. “You want me to believe you forgave me this fast?”
“I didn’t say I forgave you,” he counters. “But I admit you were right about us, I just needed time to see it. You’re my only family, J. I still resent you and I might never fully forgive you, but my love for you outweighs your mistakes.”
Jason’s hand flexes over Aoi’s waist and tugs him closer to him. Their torsos touch and Aoi smiles.
He fucking smiles.
What the fuck is he doing? How can he try to seduce this bastard in front of me as if I were a maggot crawling on the floor? If he’s pretending, he’s doing one hell of a fucking job because he barely spares me a glance and when he does, his eyes are cold.
As cold as the night we met.
“Get your fucking hands off him,” I grit out.
If I weren’t chained to this goddamn floor, I would have already busted his arrogant face to a pulp.
Jason smirks and covers one of Aoi’s hands with his own, then violently spins him around. He lets out a surprised gasp that’s quickly swallowed up by Jason’s lips. His mouth is on Aoi’s for a long minute, kissing and biting it until he pulls away, satisfied.
“As you can see, Lacroix,” he muses, like the cocky bastard he is, and presses his lips against Aoi’s neck, “he chose me.”
Those dark blue eyes watch me as Jason’s mouth tastes his neck and his lashes flutter shut, relishing the moment.
What the actual fuck. I can’t believe it. Aoi would never willingly choose that son of a bitch over me. I know he hates me but there’s no way he’d still choose him.
“Aoi! What the fuck are you doing? He’s forcing you, isn’t he? Why would you go along with his bullshit?” My fists clench against the metal restraints.
Jason stops his enjoyment of Aoi’s soft skin and glances down at me. “Looks like it’s game over for you, but before we end this whole affair,” he looks at Aoi still in his arms, “prove your faith.”
Aoi scoffs. “Thanks for the trust.”
“Can you blame me? I know you far too well, and I know how much you care for this brat.”
“I’m going to make this clear once and for all.
I loved Visha, that’s true. He was like family to me and then I had the shit luck of falling in love with him,” he says, and Jason’s grip on him tightens viciously.
“But he betrayed me and lied to me. His actions were enough to dissipate the fleeting feelings I once felt for him.”
Jason eyes him suspiciously, unconvinced.
I hate this. I don’t believe he actually means a single word. He told me he loved me. I know he’s angry that I deceived him, but he loves me. That much still has to be real.
I want to smash that blonde cunt’s face into the concrete and rip off his hands for daring to taint my Aoi’s body.
Jason pulls out a gun and points it at me.
Aoi’s eyes widen. “What are you doing?”
“I’m asking for proof and you’re going to deliver.” He throws Aoi the gun and he catches it.
His emotions dance like waves in his eyes, this time he can’t hide anything behind that act. He glances at the weapon in his palms and swallows.
“Go on. Shoot him.”
Aoi glares at him in disbelief and anger. He shoves him off and grabs his collar. “I want you. Only. Fucking. You. I don’t want to shoot anyone. Not because it’s him, but because I don’t want to ever hurt anyone. You know me.”
Jason gently pushes Aoi’s hands away from his collar and arrogantly laughs. “I’ll clean everything up later. Don’t worry, my dear. There won’t be any legal repercussions.” He offers Aoi a cocky wink, but we see the cruelty hiding underneath. “Shoot him.”
Aoi looks down at the gun in his hands then at me.
No, there’s no way he’d do that.
Aoi strides toward me, his back turned to Jason. He presses the gun against my forehead, his finger on the trigger.
From the way he stands, only I can see his face and it’s heartbreaking. His lips quiver and his eyes are glossy from the tears building up in them.
He still loves me.
He loves me and that’s enough. Dying by his hands is a blessing, one I would gladly take if that’s what he truly desires. But I know it isn’t. It will haunt him, destroy him, and extinguish the flame in his heart.
His hands are steady and so is his voice when he says, “You were everything.”
“Aoi, don’t do this.”
“I’m sorry.”
He abruptly spins around to face Jason, the weapon now pointing to his own temple. “It’s not loaded, is it?”
Jason’s eyes brim with mischief. “The only way to know is to pull the trigger, my dear.”
“Aoi, put that fucking gun down!” I order but he doesn’t turn around, nor does he make a sound. He simply shakes his head. “Please, I’m begging you. Put it down.”
I want to cry. I want to break down and scream. I want to believe he’d never hurt himself, but I know better.
He’s done it before, and this time my life is on the line.
“I’ll do anything you want, just put the gun down, please! Shoot me instead. Please, don’t do this!” I pull on the shackles ignoring the pain of the steel hitting against my wrist bones. “Jason, for fuck’s sake, stop him! I’ll do anything you want, I swear just, please stop him.”
“I’m sorry,” Aoi whispers.
I scramble against the concrete floor as my worst nightmare takes shape before my helpless eyes. “Aoi, no!”
The devil stares back at me, remorseless as my soulmate’s finger presses on the trigger.
My heart freezes, drops, and shatters all at once.