“Alright, Colby. You get your wish.”
My eyes narrowed. “You agree to all of my terms?” I asked, needing him to clarify.
“Yes. We agree.”
My head spun and I felt a little lightheaded as all the stress and guilt lifted from my shoulders. I’d thought for sure going in to this he was going to tell me to fuck off and do whatever he wanted to. My threats must have been enough. Well, that and their feelings. Something inside me warmed at the realization that they wouldn’t give a shit about my feelings if they didn’t care for me.
“Thank you,” I said, trying to be a gracious winner. Because that’s what’d just happened. I’d taken them head on and I’d won. A word of gloating would never pass my lips, but the inner me did a happy dance. I’d gotten what I wanted. The type of respect I needed as well as keeping them. It really was proof that they respected me. They wouldn’t have given in otherwise.
Would they ever have respected me if I hadn’t?I’d never know and I was fine with that.
It wasn’t going to be easy. Arsen was right, they were going to fuck up, but I’d be there to remind them of this moment.
Rafe turned and walked away from me. I let him go. This wasn’t easy for him. He was too used to having control and demanding compliance from everyone around him. For him to give that over was going to take some getting used to. It meant he was going to have to change, grow, but we’d all be there right along with him. We were all going to have to make some sacrifices if this was going to work. We finally had a real shot.