14. Sever
14
SEVER
I stood staring down at my twin brothers in Roman’s bed later that evening. I’d paced forever it seemed, waiting for them to come home after Roe sent the message they’d found her. I drank and eventually fell asleep in my bed before my eyes snapped open and I got up to go to her.
I wanted to make sure she was safe. That she was OK. Roe and Ren were rough and violent, not that I wasn’t, but the two of them tended to get carried away. They didn’t know Arianna like I did. No one did. She was mine in the beginning, and I was grappling with the idea that my brothers were fucking her as I drown my sorrows in a bottle of scotch.
She lay between the pair, her braid perfect and Roe’s white t-shirt on her. Her head rested on Renzo’s chest, his arms around her, Roman cuddled up against her back.
I should have been happy she was safe and they hadn’t killed her and left her for the wolves to eat, but I was trembling with fury. With anger. With… jealousy.
She looked too comfortable with them. Too innocent between two hungry wolves.
They’d rip her to shreds.
If anyone was going to do that, it would fucking be me. She owed me for what she’d done to me.
My fury grew until I couldn’t contain it any longer.
I grabbed her by her leg and tugged hard. Her eyelids flew open and she cried out. Ren and Roe fumbled sleepily for her as they tried to get their wits about them.
I dragged her down the mattress, kicking and screaming until she was on the floor at my feet, a beautiful, sleepy mess.
“What the fuck are you doing?” Roe shouted out in a sleepy voice.
“Finally lost your damn mind?” Ren heaved his pillow at me before sitting up and rubbing his eyes.
I didn’t say a word. Instead, I grabbed Arianna by her arm and tugged her to the door. She struggled against me, breaking free and trying to rush back to my brothers. I was quick to grab her leg and bring her out to the hallway. Roe and Ren came barreling out of the room, Ren shoving me hard and breaking my hold on her.
“What the fuck are you doing?” he snapped at me, his blue-gray eyes flashing with anger.
“Taking her back to her fucking bed. She’s a fucking toy for us to use and abuse, not to play fucking house with.” I shoved him back, pissed off as Roe helped her to her feet, seeming to dote over her.
I had no idea what the fuck transpired in that woods, but it wasn’t going to fucking fly. We’d never kept women in our beds, especially the toys our father sent. Seeing it pissed me off beyond anything I’d ever felt before.
“Fuck you, Sever.” Ren snarled, shoving me again and getting into my face. “We won tonight. She’s ours to do with what we want?—”
I punched him in the face before he could finish his sentence.
In the background, Arianna screamed. I didn’t look at her though because I was too busy fighting with Ren, our fists flying at each other.
“What the fuck is going on?” Mass roared, shoving us apart so hard that I stumbled into the wall. I was quick to bounce back and wipe my bleeding lip and glare at Ren.
“Fucking ask these pricks. I walked in to find them all cozied up with her.” I jerked my thumb in the direction of Arianna.
Mass’s gray eyes traveled to where I’d pointed, a frown on his face. I dared to look to find Roe cuddling her against him, her face buried in his neck. He shot me the finger, causing me to snarl at him.
“We won tonight,” Ren said. “You know the rules. Whoever wins, gets to do what they want to the girl. That’s fucking us.” Ren shoved past me and went to Roe and took Arianna from him. I saw red as she melted against his chest. He shot me a smirk over her head that only made me shake with another wave of building fury.
Whatever the fuck they had with her was going to end real fucking quick.
I surged forward to take her away from him, but he jerked her away. Watching her cling to him and bury her face deeper into his chest had me seeing red.
“Take her to your room,” Mass snapped to the twins. They didn’t argue. They simply whisked her back inside and closed the door, leaving me in the hall with Mass, his hands on my chest as I made to go forward. I’d break down the door if I had to.
“Get your shit together.” Mass’s hand shot out and slapped me in the face before he gave me a shake. “Get it together!”
I blinked as I stared at him, the red fury fading away to a dull bubbling roar.
“Come with me.” Mass released me and gestured for me to follow him. I stared at the Roe’s bedroom door, grinding my teeth.
“Sever. Now.”
I forced myself away from the door and followed Mass down to the office. He closed the door and went to the bar before pouring us both a drink.
I slammed mine back, earning a grunt of disapproval from him. He refilled my glass while I glowered at the wall.
“Talk to me. What’s going on with you?” he asked.
I said nothing, opting to continue to stare at the wall, replaying the scene in my head with my girl in my brothers’ arms.
“Sever.” Mass snapped his fingers. “Answer me.”
“Nothing is wrong.” I took a small drink from glass of scotch, relishing in the burn as it snaked its way down my throat.
“Cut the shit. I know you. What’s your deal with the toy?”
I sighed, chewing my bottom lip for a moment before I spoke. I knew Mass well enough to know he wouldn’t relent until I told him. He’d fucking waterboard me to get me to speak. Deciding to skip all the niceties, I divulged.
“She’s mine,” I answered simply.
Mass sat back in his seat, his gray eyes on me. “Yours? I don’t believe she came with a tag that said For Severo .”
“She was all I had in high school. I was her first kiss. Her first friend. We were everything to one another,” I mumbled, hating the swell of feelings pushing into my chest.
Mass raised a dark brow at me. “So what happened?”
I swallowed hard and took another sip of my drink. “She left me.”
Mass studied me for a moment before speaking. “So where in all of this mess of emotion do you think she belongs to you? She left, so I’d think that would make her available to anyone.”
I sighed and scrubbed my hand down my face. “It’s just different. She was my first…” The words faltered on my lips, realization striking me.
Mass let out a soft huff of air. “Love,” he finished.
My hands shook at his words. I locked eyes with him. Where I expected to see the cold, harshness of our father, I only saw sadness.
“Sever, she’s a toy. Even if she survives?—”
“I’d die to protect her.” The words came easily. It’s how I knew they were true.
Mass closed his eyes for a moment before drawing in a deep breath. When he opened his eyes, that same sadness lingered.
“Even if she survives us, she won’t survive our old man. She has an expiration date with you. You know if he sees her survival, he will want her as his own. He values strength. He’d fill her with babies and keep her until he finished her off or she killed herself. You’ve seen his brutality. We’re just the opening performance.”
His words gutted me, and I looked away, my throat tight. He was right. I knew he was. While I wanted to think our father would relent and let one of us keep her for good, I knew he wouldn’t. He did value strength. Beauty. He’d rip her away from me and keep her as his own.
“Then let’s kill him,” I whispered.
Mass visibly stiffened in his seat as I dragged my gaze back to his.
“What did you just say?”
“I said, let’s fucking kill him,” I repeated, this time a little louder.
Mass slammed his hands on the arms of his chair.
“Go to bed, Sever,” he said tightly.
“Just fucking listen to me?—”
“Go to bed,” he whispered in that deadly voice he reserved for when he was struggling to not explode.
Irritated, I got up from my seat and went to the door. I paused at it and looked back to Mass.
“Get to know her, Mass. Then you’ll understand why I’m so fucked. Just wait. Roe and Ren will be too. Then you’ll see.” I left him there, feeling fucking lost.
But my feet dragged me right back to where she was sleeping with Roe and Ren. I stood outside their door, wishing I wasn’t who I was. Wishing I didn’t have all this shit in my head. Wishing I was… fuck, what? What could I be that was better for her? Who could I be so she’d want me like she clearly wanted my brothers?
I rested my hand on the cold wood, my heart in my throat, the familiar burn of anger choking me.
She’d love me. I’d make her.
She was going to die anyway. May as well make it worth it.