“Please… please don’t do this to me. I’m begging you. I’ll never forgive you.” I pound on his chest now, and he rips my wrists away. His blue eyes bore holes into mine.
“In case you forgot, Sutton sent you here to be with me. I’m your brother and I’m in charge.” He shoves me back onto the cot. With pillow stuffing plastered on his face, Zeus barks a warning. Keegan’s men drag him out of the room while trying to avoid his sharp teeth.
Cole jumps in Keegan’s face. “Who left her?”
“Here we go again,” Bruno says.
Several of Keegan’s men inch their hands toward their holsters, sensing the rising tension.
“If you really care about me like you claim, then you’ll let him stay.” I stand up and slap Keegan across the face before Cole can pull me away. The sound bounces off the walls like a thunderclap. Keegan’s eyes turn murderous. My emotions overwhelm me. Why can’t I just make my own choices without someone dictating them to me? It reminds me of how my stepfather treated me. Always picking out my clothes, telling me whom I couldn’t associate with, or forcing me into the darkness of the closet. I can’t breathe remembering his obsessive need for control.
Keegan’s voice pulls me back. “Get the hell out of here before I kill someone,” Keegan commands. “It’s better she loses you now—when she has me.” He extends his arm from across his chest and points toward the hall.
I step in front of Keegan, but he pushes me aside and restrains me against the wall as his men force Cole out of the room. “No, Keegan. No! I swear to God, I’ll—”
“You’ll do nothing,” he threatens in a low voice. His hands lock around my wrists and squeeze until they go numb.
“Lexi, I’ll be back. I promise!” Cole shouts. The men drag him through the doorway.
“Damn it! Keegan! Let me go!” I lunge forward, trying to break free from Keegan’s grip, but he’s like steel and I can’t move.
“I can’t, Lexi. I’m sorry.”
Cole’s gone and I hear him yelling the entire way down the hall before silence settles. My heart shatters into a million little pieces. I want to beat in Keegan’s face.
“It’s better for you this way. You’ll see,” Keegan says. “At least Bruno will be with him.” He pats me on the shoulder but lacks pity. I feel dead inside and I’m afraid if I look at Keegan I’ll strangle him.
I stand up, brush the dirt off my pants and lock eyes with Keegan. “The only reason I’m standing here is because I want to fight. That’s it. Nothing more. Nothing less. You can’t and won’t control me, Keegan. I’m not a little girl anymore and I’m capable of making my own decisions.”
“Are you done now?”
"Are you serious?" I let out a cackle laced with a mixture of delusion and fury, then lower my voice. "Keegan, I haven't even started yet." Stepping forward I press my fingers into the flesh beneath his clavicles. "Listen up. Cole and I are in love. So you can either suck it up and get over it, or you can continue on your way without me. Either way, I don’t give a damn what you say about him. I know the real Cole. You don’t.”
“Lexi, he doesn’t love yo—”
“You have no claim on me. You have no idea who I love or who loves me. You left me. Cole has never left me. He has done nothing but save me.” I push him away from me with both hands. “I owe him my life and by default you owe him. We may be family, but I have done without any family for a long time. I have survived against the odds.”
He narrows his eyes again, shakes his head, and slams my door. My adrenaline seeps out and I begin to feel the pain of Cole’s absence.
My world feels like it’s collapsing. He’s gone, really gone. And it’s my fault. He might get killed going back out there. I have no idea where he’ll hide from the commander or Wilson.
My body hurts so much, yet I burn with anger toward Keegan. How is it possible to love someone yet feel so conflicted about them? I can’t survive without Cole and Zeus. I almost lost Cole once and don’t ever want to know what life would be like without him. Tears pour down, soaking my blanket, my clothes, and my pillow. The nightmare feels like it just came true and everything fades to black.
A few days later, Keegan stomps into my room. “Get up!” He yanks off my blanket and tosses it to the floor. “We’re running out of time. If you want to fight, like you said you did, then get your ass out of bed and to the training center.” He throws my clothes at me with a look of annoyance.
I sit up slowly and inspect the shirt. The last time I wore it my heart was torn to pieces. I catch a faint whiff of Cole’s cologne and swallow hard to keep from crumbling. Ugh. I look up in time to catch my boots in midair.
“We don’t have time for you to lick your wounds.” He stands over me, a dark shadowy figure.
“I’m not licking my wounds. Let’s go.”
“He’s no good for you and you’re going to lose him one way or another. I’m not making this up. Your relationship will never end well.”