Chapter 20 Yara #3
I looked up at Rhett, hoping to see something on his face.
Remorse, maybe even fear, but nothing was there.
He took one last look at Xavier, before he rushed behind me, placing me in front of him as a shield.
The sound of that same blade he used before sliced through the air, and the familiar feeling of the blade pressed against my neck.
"Don't move!" Rhett’s voice thundered around us as my eyes widened, feeling the blade pressing harder against my neck. "One move and she dies."
My eyes found Xavier's within seconds, but it wasn't indifference I saw there.
It wasn't the cold fury he came with, but the first glimpse of the man I saw in his room when he took care of me, when he held me, when he loved me.
Maybe he did care about me. Maybe he didn't want things to get this bad, but they did.
"Put your gun down," Rhett instructed and William started laughing, stepping to the side. "Put. It. Down!" The maniac behind me screamed, and before I could even open my mouth, Xavier dropped the gun, letting it fall with a thud, and lifted his arms up.
"You don't have to do this," Xavier said as calmly as possible, but I could see the storm behind his eyes. I could see the fear etched in fine lines on his face. "She doesn't have anything to do with this."
"Oh, but she does," Rhett said. "She's the only person you ever wanted, isn't she? She's the one thing that could hurt you, and I think after all these years, being in your shadow, dying because everyone loved you while they avoided me, it is time for a little bit of payback."
"Rhett." The warning was obvious in Xavier's voice. "Don't do this, seriously. You can let her go and we can talk about this."
"Xavier," I whispered, terrified to move, but I wanted him to look at me. I just wanted him to look at me one last time and if I had to die tonight, then I would die with one last glimpse into his eyes. "Please," I whimpered, and that did it.
He broke, right in front of me, his wild eyes burning into mine, and I knew I wasn't imagining the connection we had. I knew I wasn't imagining the soft touches, the way he loved me from a distance.
I loved him in silence. He hated me out loud, or at least he tried to. All those vicious words, all those vicious deeds, they were a cover for what he truly felt. Perhaps out of fear, perhaps because I was supposed to be just another casualty of this war he was in with his father, but he tried.
And now he couldn't lie anymore.
"Yara." He swallowed audibly. "I'm sorry, little lamb."
My mother's laughter broke the moment. "How sweet," she giggled. "How fucking pathetic. Falling for your stepsister, and you have the audacity to tell us we did something wrong."
But her words didn't matter. None of them mattered anymore.
If I had to die so that he would get closure for his mother, then I would.
I would go to war for this man, even if he couldn't tell me the truth before all this happened.
I would've helped him. I would've done everything I could to take these people down, but he didn't trust me enough to tell me.
He didn't trust me with his biggest secret, and no matter what happens tonight, I knew my love for him would have to stay where it always was—in silence.
"You thought you could win this game," William said, bending down and taking his gun. "You thought you could win against me, boy!" His roar should've shaken me, but I was getting numb. Tired.
I just wanted to disappear for a little while and wake up in some other life.
"You thought you were so smart, but you weren't," William kept talking, but the more he talked the more Xavier started moving his head to his right, my left, as if he was... He was indicating something.
My eyes widened as the grin appeared on his face. "I already won, father." He chuckled, this time looking at William. "And you'll see why." His eyes found mine again, and I understood he didn't come alone. "To the left, Yara!"
He ducked down just as I moved my head to the left, feeling the shallow cut from the blade on my neck as I moved, but it wasn't my blood that washed over me as the sound of a gunshot broke through the night. It wasn't my blood covering my dress—it was Rhett’s.
"Hands in the air!" Someone shouted, but I could barely hear anything else from the buzzing in my ears. I could barely focus on anything until Xavier appeared in front of me, his lips moving but none of the words reached my ears.
Those frantic dark eyes had no trace of ice he carried earlier.
His touch was as warm as the sun shining in this town, but I could barely feel it.
My eyes looked over his shoulder, focusing on the SWAT Team occupying the room, putting cuffs on my mother and William, but I didn't understand what was going on.
Xavier went behind me, untying my arms, and only then did I realize he had untied my legs as well.
My eyes dragged over my legs, over the blood covering them, over the cuts and bruises that were visible even underneath the crimson and with the strength I didn't know I possessed, I got up before Xavier could stand up and I ran.
I ran through the doors and through the men in uniforms. I ran to the forest opposite of the house we were in.
I ran from the man I loved.
I ran from the man who used me as a pawn, because that's all I was to him—that's what I was to all of them.
Just another pawn, and he was just another devil.