Chapter 24 #2
“He's not going to stop, Bella. You think if we walk out of here, he'll just let this go?” His voice dropped lower, harder.
“He sabotaged my mine. He's been bleeding Koolaroo dry for months, maybe years. He knows this mine produced diamonds that could’ve saved Koolaroo, and yet he sabotaged that.
He's a ruthless bastard, and he only cares about himself. He'll never stop hurting people.”
“Then I'll do it.” Cold resolve settled in my chest. “I've already... I'm already—”
“No.” The word cut through the air like a blade. “You're not taking another life because of my family's bullshit.”
“But you plan to?” I pulled my hand from his, anger flaring hot in my chest. “You think I can live with that? With you becoming—”
“What? Like you?” His eyes flashed. “That's what you were going to say, wasn't it?”
The accusation hung between us, sharp and painful.
His brow lowered. “You're not a killer, Bella. You defended yourself. There's a difference.”
“And you killing Frank would be different, how?”
“Because he's an evil prick, and he needs to be stopped.” His expression turned dark and bitter.
“He's been systematically destroying me, my brothers, and my sister all our lives.
Now he's destroying Koolaroo, the place we've all worked so hard to keep alive.
He's ruined every relationship I've tried to build.
He's poisoned everything. This ends with me.”
The finality in his voice made my chest ache. This wasn't just about protecting me. This was about Declan finally standing up to the man who'd controlled and diminished him his entire life.
I wanted to argue more, wanted to find the words that would change his mind. But looking into his eyes, I saw the same determination I'd felt when I'd driven that knife into Vincenzo's stomach.
Some decisions couldn't be unmade. Some lines, once crossed, redrew the entire map of who you were.
“We could just leave,” I whispered, even though I knew what he'd say. “When we get out of here. We could take off and never look back.”
“And let him win?” Declan's hand found mine again, his thumb brushing carefully over my bandaged knuckles. “Let him keep destroying our lives? My mother couldn't stop him. My brothers won't. If I don't—”
He didn't finish. He didn't need to.
The silence between us felt heavy with inevitability.
I searched his face for doubt, for hesitation, for any sign that he might reconsider, but all I saw was cold resolve.
Yet underneath that, he actually looked relieved, like he'd been waiting his whole life for permission to stop obeying his father.
Maybe we were both broken. Maybe that's why we suited each other so well.
I should've felt horrified. Should've been scrambling for alternatives and ways to save him from this choice. Instead, an unexpected calm settled over me.
Even knowing the darkest parts of me that I'd tried to hide, Declan was choosing to accept what I'd done and stand beside me.
I wanted to make a profound statement that would capture the magnitude of what he was offering, but my thoughts tangled together, too raw and complicated for words.
Instead, I reached out with my bandaged hand and touched his face.
His eyes softened. He turned his head slightly, pressing his lips to my palm through the gauze, and the tenderness of it made my throat tighten.
“Thank you,” I whispered.
His mouth quirked in a tender smile. “I'd do anything—”
The comms case beside the maintenance bench gave a sharp click.
We both snapped our gazes toward the sound.
The indicator light, which had been blinking red for what felt like hours, now glowed solid green.
“It's ready.” Declan was on his feet before I could blink. He crossed to the bench in three long strides and grabbed the handset, the coiled cord pulling taut as he jabbed the transmit button.
I rushed to his side. My heart hammered against my ribs as the radio hissed with static.
He angled the handset between us so I could hear, and that small gesture of including me in the conversation made my heart swell even more.
“Come on,” he muttered under his breath. “Come on.”
More static. A pop. A whine of feedback.
“Hello?” The female voice was faint and tinny, and echoed to us as if bouncing down a tunnel.
Declan's body seemed to crumble with relief. “Cassidy.” His voice came out rough and thick with emotion he was barely holding back. “It's Declan.”
Silence stretched across the line. One heartbeat. Two. Three.
“Declan!” Her scream nearly blew out the speaker. “Oh God. Oh God, you're… you're okay.” Cassidy’s voice fractured, breaking apart on a sob. “Where are you? We thought you were dead.”
The raw terror in those words showed how much she loved him.
Declan's hand tightened around the handset until his knuckles went bone-white. “Bella and I are trapped and need help.”
“Bella?” Cassidy's voice pitched higher. “We found blood in the kitchen. The gate's destroyed and there are tire tracks everywhere. Mitch is losing his mind, Kayden's been out with a rifle searching for you, and we found two dead cows… and I swear to God I thought—”
A choked sound cut through the static; half-laugh, half-sob, all hysteria. “He's alive! Mitch! Kayden! Get in here. Declan's alive!” She screamed away from the handset, her voice distant but piercing.
The explosion of emotion that followed was muffled but unmistakable chaos, born out of overwhelming relief. Shouting, cursing, the crash of something hitting the floor.
My vision blurred, and I blinked hard, trying to hold back my emotions, but the tears came anyway.
This was what family sounded like when they thought they'd lost someone. Frantic. Fierce. Unfiltered.
Aunt Madonna would have reacted like that, too, when I'd vanished, leaving a bloody trail and Vincenzo's dead body in the kitchen. The thought hit me like a punch. She loved me like the daughter she'd never had, and I'd put her through hell without a word of explanation.
One more person I'd hurt. One more thing I had to make right.
Declan watched me, his eyes softer than they'd been moments ago when we'd been discussing murder. He reached up and gently brushed a tear from my cheek with his free hand. “We'll be okay, Bella. I promise.”
“Okay, we're all here.” Cassidy's breathless voice crackled back through the speaker. Muffled shouts filled the background, and a door slammed.
“Jesus, bro, where the hell are you?” a male voice barked down the line.
“Hey, Mitch. It's good to hear your voice.” Declan's expression softened more. “We're trapped in the diamond mine.”
“What the hell are you doing down there?” Kayden’s angry voice boomed through the speaker.
“Long story, Kayden. Bella and I are stuck at the bottom of the main shaft. Someone cut the lift cable.”
“Shit.” Cassidy's voice pitched higher. “Are you hurt? Is Bella okay? Who cut the cable?”
“Was it the bastards who shot the cows?” Kayden demanded.
“Yeah, Declan, what the fuck's going on?” Mitch added. “Does this have something to do with Frank?”
Declan's gaze flicked to me, and his expression shifted to protective, almost possessive, like he wanted to shield me from their questions.
“I'll tell you everything later,” he said firmly. “Right now, Bella needs medical treatment. She's burned her hands, and she's been through hell. I need you to get a rope down to us ASAP.”
“Okay. We're on it.” Cassidy sucked in a breath. “Glad you're okay, buddy. But I can't wait to hear this story.”
“How do we get you out of there?” Kayden asked.
“You know the main shaft access?” Declan stayed amazingly calm.
“Yes.”
“We're in the lift chamber at the bottom. You'll need to lower a rope down the main shaft and secure it to a winch at the top. Bring a harness.”
“Where the hell’s the harness?” Cassidy's voice went sharp with panic. “Someone tell me it was put back properly!”
“Cass,” Mitch said flatly. “Calm down.”
“Right. Okay. I'll get the supplies ready.” Her voice was steadier now, focused. “Hey, Dec, don't tell them anything until I can hear, too.”
Declan's lips twitched with a hint of a smile. “I won't.”
“And you better tell us everything, or I will personally throw you back down that stupid mine,” Cassidy added.
A tiny laugh slipped out of me before I could stop it. It came out wobbly and cracked, like my body had forgotten how.
Declan looked at me, and the warmth in his eyes almost undid me completely.
“Quit worrying, Cass,” Declan said. “Just hurry up and get us out of here.”
“Okay. We're coming. See you in a minute, Dec. Love you, bro.”
“Love you, too, Cass.”
“And Bella. I'm glad you're okay, too.”
“Thank you.” My voice sounded hollow. They loved Declan so fiercely and so completely. They were going to hate me once they knew about the danger I'd put him in.
“Okay, Dec, walk us through what to do.” Mitch was back on the line, all business.
As Declan explained how to reach us and how much rope they'd need, the lights flickered and dimmed.
“Mitch, bring flashlights. The generators are about to die.”
“Generators?” Kayden snapped. “They're still running?”
Declan mouthed shit at me. “Yeah. Surprised the hell out of me, too.”
He glanced around the shaft as if mentally cataloging what else we'd need. As he rattled off instructions and his brothers fired back questions, I realized the impossibility of what was coming next. We couldn't explain what happened without mentioning Rocco and Pike.
Declan pulled the handset closer and scowled at it. The battery indicator showed one bar. “Listen, we don't have much power left. The genny's running low.”
Static hissed down the line, a low crackling hum that made my skin prickle.
He spoke faster, giving them landmarks, measurements, and warnings about the unstable ground near the shaft entrance. His brothers kept interrupting with questions, clarifications, and confirmations.
Declan lowered the handset. “Shit. Battery's gone.” He jiggled the cable, tried the transmit button again, then shook his head. “I hope they got all that.”
He pressed the handset back into the case, then removed the bag of uncut diamonds and slipped them into his jeans pocket. “This is all the evidence we need.”
I nodded because my throat wouldn't work. Because my mind was spiraling through everything that would come next.
The blood in the kitchen. The shattered gate. The tire tracks. The dead cows. Every question they'd asked would need an answer. Every question would lead to Rocco and Pike.
Declan moved to the crumpled lift and peered up the shaft like he expected the rope to come tumbling down any second.
A strange ache settled in my chest; part grief, part longing.
I'd come here to destroy his family.
However, they were the most loving family I'd ever known.
Declan and his siblings would die for each other.
My mother had been wrong. The Bransons weren't the ones I needed to stay away from.
They were everything I'd ever wanted. Love, loyalty, and belonging, all tangled together in a fierce and unbreakable bond.
Except for Frank.
Declan was right. Frank needed to be stopped.
And I don't care what Declan said.
If he’s going after Frank, then we’re doing it together.