Chapter 73
Nash
Ileaned against the wall in the entrance hall, arms crossed as I glared at Myles, who was still smirking and laughing at me. He’d at least been smart enough to shut up after the first ten minutes, or he would be knocked out by now.
“So, they’re on their way down,” Theo asked.
I nodded. “That’s what the text said.”
The elevator hadn’t moved yet.
“She said they were coming down and that her mother wants to meet all of us.”
“Nothing else?” Theo lifted an eyebrow.
“No, want to see the text,” I asked, annoyed.
“I still can’t believe that’s how her mother found out that the two of you are married,” Liam said.
“Ah, don’t forget she just learned about all of you as well,” I said.
“Shite,” Myles added.
“Shit is right. I thought Edmundo was scary, but Yuliana is a whole other level,” I said, and Liam smirked. “Don’t fucking smirk at me. She didn’t almost pull a knife on you and offered to slit your throat.”
“I just hope they find a way to make up. It would be sad if they didn’t,” Blake said, his voice soft as he scribbled in his notepad.
The mechanical hum of the elevator started up, and I straightened. I couldn’t help but worry about what state they would be in when the doors opened. The text from Ren didn’t sound urgent, but I still prepared myself for the worst.
Instead, they stepped out smiling and chatting. All the other guys gathered around as Ren introduced them, but I hung back.
My father had a way of turning people, making them do things they never would’ve thought possible. With the way things were when I left the room, I really didn’t want a repeat of what happened.
Yuliana smiled and shook their hands. Myles, being Myles, pulled her into a hug, rocking a very shocked Yuliana from side to side. Only he could get away with that.
Ren truly got her beauty from her mother.
Standing next to one another, Yuliana seemed more like an older sister.
My mouth curved up as Ren laughed at something Theo said, and her mother put an arm around her shoulders.
Yuliana spoke to Blake and then hugged him.
From the expression on his face, it must have been about Ella.
Everyone looked…happy.
Princess caught my eye, and I winked. I’d killed my mother and would’ve killed my father, so I wasn’t exactly the best one to advise on this topic. But the way I saw it, if Ren and Yuliana couldn’t find happiness again, then there was never any hope for the rest of us.
Stepping back, I turned to walk away and give them their space.
I understood that the anger was transferred, and normally I wouldn’t give two flying fucks, but this was Ren’s mother.
She would come around on her feelings toward me in her time.
Pushing myself on them and this moment seemed like a Lawrence thing to do, and I never wanted to be him.
“Nash.”
Shit. I froze and cringed.
I would’ve preferred to face an entire firing squad than Yuliana. I slowly turned around. There was nothing worse than staring into the eyes of those my father hurt. They all wore the same expression. They all expected me to be the same, but this one…was the hardest.
All eyes were on me. My guys looked caught between wanting to jump in and protect me and staying the hell out of it. I didn’t blame them. I felt just as confused. Liam cocked his brow. It was subtle, but I knew what he wanted to know, and I shook my head no.
Yuliana’s face was no longer sweet like it had been with them, her voice serious, but at least she didn’t look murderous. And bonus, she wasn’t reaching for her knife.
“Are you leaving?”
I hooked a thumb toward the cafeteria. “Just giving you all some space. I thought I might round up some coffees.”
She walked toward me, and I counted the strides it would take to make it to Dean Henry’s office before the knife sank into my back. I’d probably still live.
I stood quietly and aimed for passive as she looked me over.
“Other than your eyes, you don’t really look like your father.”
I snorted. “That’s the sweetest compliment you could ever give me.”
The corner of her lip twitched.
“But you certainly have his arrogance.”
I nodded. “In spades. I guess I wasn’t lucky enough to get rid of all the family traits, but I didn’t end up with his degenerate side, so I’ve accepted that I can be an inconsiderate asshole sometimes. But your daughter keeps me in line…most of the time anyway.”
“Well, what’s life if we can’t be an asshole now and then?” She cleared her throat. “Nash, I want to apologize for my behavior upstairs.”
“No apology needed. I wanted to kill my father my whole life, so I get it. He really could rub people the wrong way,” I said, knowing it was an understatement. But if I started listing all the ways my father was a fucking piece of shit, I’d be here for the next year.
“No, that’s not fair. I was feeling emotional about something that had nothing to do with you. Something I’m not sure I’ll never be fully over, but that is not on you,” she said, her features softening.
“My father has done irreparable damage to more people than I can count. You are not the first to judge me because of him, and I’m sure you won’t be the last. I have a sinking feeling that his stench will follow me for a long time. Bright side, he’s dead, so he can’t hurt anyone else.”
Yuliana’s mouth curved up at the corner.
“Ren says that you’re nothing like him. I can see that now.
I was out of line and shocked that Ren was married.
Especially, since one of the people I was trying to protect her from was your father.
To find out about the two of you…let’s just say it took me a moment. I may have overreacted, just a little.”
“Just a little,” I said and smirked. “I get it.”
I looked at Ren, who even now made my heart warm with her unwavering kindness.
“I know exactly how lucky I am, though. You don’t need to worry about me taking our relationship for granted.”
I offered a little smile, and she opened her arms for a hug. I hesitated but accepted the gesture.
“You seem scared,” she said.
“You’re kinda terrifying,” I admitted.
Yulianna chuckled. “Then just remember that if you ever hurt my daughter, and that includes breaking her heart, I’m far more ruthless than Eddie,” she whispered, and a shiver raced down my spine. I believed her.
“I won’t. I swear,” I said as she pulled back.
Yuliana opened her mouth to say something else when a loud crash made us both jump. We turned, and there in the middle of the foyer stood Sabastian, the ceramic plate smashed into pieces at his feet.
He stepped over the shards, shock written all over his face.
“Mom?”
The word cracked out of him like it hurt. He blinked and then shook his head.
“No…no, you’re not.”
“Oh shit Sabastian,” Ren said, joining us.
“Sabastian? Oh,” Yuliana said as she recognized him.
Ren stepped forward.
“Sabastian, I’m so sorry. I should’ve thought to tell you about my mum being…well, alive. I just found out and have been in shock myself.”
He hadn’t heard a single word Ren said. From one heartbeat to the next, his face shifted from dumbfounded to enraged. His gaze sharpened as something menacing glinted behind his eyes. My stomach tightened, and my fists balled. I cracked my neck, ready for the fight.
“No,” he snarled, stepping forward. “No, you don’t get to be here. This is not fair.”
Ren lifted her hands like she was trying to ward him off as he took another step.
Sabastian laughed, but the sound was hollow.
“This is bold. Just walking in like you haven’t destroyed everyone’s lives with your selfish actions.”
“Sabastian,” Ren said carefully.
He didn’t look at her.
“You don’t get to pretend,” he went on, voice rising. “You don’t get to stand there like you’re some saint rising from the dead after what you did to me.”
Yuliana didn’t move. She didn’t even flinch. She looked…confused, but steady. Like she’d been bracing for this moment but hadn’t expected it to look like this.
“Sabastian, I’m not sure what you’re talking about. I’m not pretending anything,” she said quietly. “And I didn’t even know you were here,” she said.
That did it.
He surged forward, and we all moved at once. I jumped in front of Ren, who was going to beat my ass for it later. While the rest of the guys lined up in front of the three of us, forming a human wall.
“I think you need to calm down,” Liam growled, his voice threatening.
Sabastian slammed a hand into his own chest, his eyes never leaving Yuliana. It was like they were having a conversation, but only he understood.
“You left me. You took her…” Sabastian pointed. “Ren.”
He said her name with so much poison that the hair stood on the back of my neck.
“You took her with you, and you tried to leave me alone.” His voice broke, then hardened again. “I was just a kid, and you left me there.”
Ren tried again. “Sabastian, please—”
“No.”
He finally looked at her, eyes blazing.
“Don’t. You don’t get to stand there and defend her when she chose you and threw me away. She shot my father and my mother and ran away, almost leaving me an orphan.”
“That’s a really stripped down and simplistic version of what happened,” Yuliana said, the pain cutting into her words. “I never—”
“You murdered my mother. I didn’t even get to know her as my mother, and you stole her from me,” he shouted, drawing everyone’s attention.
We just couldn’t seem to stop having family dirty laundry sessions in the middle of the school lately.
“You let me think you were my mother, then killed mine and left me there to find her dead in a pool of blood,” he roared.
Yuliana gave nothing away as she stood there. Ren looked shocked.
The foyer was dead silent, waiting to see what would happen next.
Yuliana closed her eyes for half a second. When she opened them, they were glassy but unyielding.
“You don’t understand the whole story, and I didn’t know you were there,” Yuliana said.
“But you don’t deny shooting her.”
“No, I can’t deny that,” Yuliana said.
“So, it’s okay, because you didn’t know I was around?”
Sabastian was vibrating with rage. I could feel it flowing off of him.
“No, of course not. I never meant for you to see that. There are a lot of things that your father wouldn’t have told you about Alina or our time in that house,” Yuliana said. “She tried to kill me twice.”
“That’s a lie,” Sabastian roared. “You were jealous of their love. You hated her. You hated me. That’s why you had an affair and had her.” He pointed at Ren once more and I was going to break all his fingers if he did it again.
“Sabastian, that’s not true, I—”
“It took the guards hours to find me. Hours! I was just a kid.”
Ren made a sound as if her heart was breaking in real time. She tried to step around me, but there was no telling what he was going to do next. I grabbed her hand and tugged her back as blazing hot anger filled his eyes.
I shook my head a Ren, as I tried to convey the danger with my eyes.
“You think that was intentional,” Yuliana asked, voice shaking now. “You think I set out to hurt you? An innocent child, out of jealousy? What lies has Christov been filling your head with?”
“I trust my father over anything you have to say to me. Did you even think of taking me with you,” Sabastian asked, and Yuliana looked shaken by the question.
She slowly shook her head. “Sabastian—you’re making it sound simple, but it’s not,” Yuliana tried to reason with him.
“Enough of this,” I snapped, leaving Ren with her mother and stepping through my guys.
I got in his face, the two of us staring into each other’s eyes.
“Back. The. Hell. Up. And go cool off.”
“Get out of my way, Collier,” he growled, bumping his chest into mine.
I held off on taking him down, but if he hit me, that was it.
“No,” I said flatly. “You want to have a discussion, then fine, but not here, not like this.”
“You don’t know anything,” he spat. “You don’t know what she did to us. To me.”
“You’re right,” I shot back. “I don’t, I wasn’t there, but you were also a kid.
And this story you’ve been fed reeks of bullshit.
You know your father is a liar, a murderer, and was in bed with my father long before you were born.
That should tell you everything you need to know.
Think Sabastian, use your fucking head rather than letting him turn you into his marionette as he pulls your strings. ”
That landed.
He turned his head and looked at Yuliana, chest heaving. For a second, I saw it—the confusion. The fracture. The kid who didn’t know which memory to trust, or who to trust. He had gone from simply dangerous to a complete wild card, and I couldn’t allow for another one of those to be on the board.
“Sabastian, I’m sorry. I never thought to take you with me, and I’m sorry that it never crossed my mind.
I have made many choices that I regret, and now I realize that this is one of them,” she said.
“And I will live with the damage those choices caused for the rest of my life. But I did not abandon you out of cruelty. And I did not kill your mother out of jealousy.”
“You honestly expect me to believe that?”
“No,” she said softly. “I expect you to think for yourself. You were always intelligent, so what does logic tell you? If you want to know the whole story, then I will sit with you, but Nash is right, not like this.”
He shook his head, backing away like the ground was giving out beneath him.
“No. I don’t want to hear what you have to say. Just stay the fuck away from me.”
“Sabastian,” Dean Henry said, his voice turning all of our heads. “I want to see you in my office right now,” he ordered.
Sabastian glared at Yuliana and then turned on Ren. It was obvious he blamed them both. On some level, whatever Christov had told him had made him question everything and everyone in his life.
“Mum, I’ll walk you out,” Ren said as Sabastian disappeared inside the office.
“Myles,” I said, and he nodded, jogging after them while I turned to the others. “It’s time. We need to do this before Sabastian does something stupid,” I said, and they nodded. “Liam, set it for Saturday, and I’ll do the rest.”
“I still think—” Theo started.
“No, I don’t want to hear it again. We are not involving Ren. She will try to stop us, and we can’t allow that.”
The plan was in motion, and now it was time to do my part. I’d been willing to wait a little bit to see if Sabastian came around, but he was becoming more unstable with each passing day.
Delaying until something terrible happened had gotten us nowhere in the past. They said to grow, you must evolve. Well, this was me fucking evolving.