Why the fuck did he want to hurt any of us like this?
I was sick of this shit not making sense. Sick of Martin holding Mark and Austin over me like a shrouded mystery. Sick of Shea putting a veil over whatever she thought needed hiding.
But I knew…
Knew whatever lay beneath them both was a fucking nightmare.
Her eyes squeezed closed, her face sodden with tears as she frantically shook her head. “Don’t you get it? He knows how to control you, too, Sebastian. He knows your weaknesses. He studies and anticipates exactly how someone will react and uses that to his advantage. He knows you’re aggressive. He knows you’re willing to protect those you love, and this is exactly what he wants. To provoke you so he can separate us.”
Humorlessly, she laughed, and her tone went low with significance, as if she were giving me a clue. “And I…I didn’t act how he anticipated. He expected my submission and instead I took him by surprise.”
I raked my hand over the top of my head. “Then what do we do? What do I do?”
She pressed her hands to her chest. “Stand by me. Fight with me. Don’t ever leave me. When I get to California, I’m going to tell you everything that happened. And you’re going to protect me by standing by my side, you’re going to help me by being there when I tell the attorney and anyone who will listen, and above it all, you will protect me by staying away from him.”
My brow pinched, because this fucking hurt. Hurt that Shea had been resisting confiding in me because of who I was. A fucking loose cannon. Someone prone to violence. And there it was, right beneath the surface, fire flaming and licking and begging for release.
My voice was tight. “Made you a promise I’d protect you, Shea. Live for you. And that’s exactly what I’m gonna do. You and Kallie? You’re my life. My everything. And I will do anything…give up anything…to make sure you two are together. I won’t let him win.”
She brushed the back of her hand over the wetness on her cheeks. “He will do anything to break us apart…to separate us. He knows we’re weaker alone. All his words about taking us down at the same time?”
Her head shook with bitterness and hate, something so foreign on my girl’s face, but I saw it there—the atrocities he’d committed—the things she still kept inside.
The scars she wore on her heart while I wore mine on my skin.
“It’s a tactic. A ploy. He thinks he can fill us with threats. Convince our subconscious into believing together we’re easy targets. But, no.” Her eyes drew together as she refuted the idea, as she spilled her own belief. “He’s a coward. A coward. Someone who allows others to carry out his crimes and then lords it over them as if he is the one exerting control.”
That brave chin quivered. “I gave him my submission for so long, and I refuse to ever be that girl again. I was her, Sebastian. I was weak.”
Strength filled the profession. “But I’m not weak anymore. And I’m even stronger with you by my side.”
Raw.
Bold.
Courageous.
“Promise me you won’t let him provoke you, Sebastian. He knows exactly how to ruin people. He finds their weaknesses. He knows Kallie is mine. And he knows the two of us are yours.”
I swallowed hard. “I promise, baby.”
I promise.
I scrubbed my palms over my face, fisted my hair, some kind of desperation taking me over. “Please, Shea. Need you to tell me one thing right now. Tell me how the hell you ended up with him.”