I shake my head, my hands clenching at my sides, the need to beat a rhythm on my drums pulsing heavily through my veins as the dread overtakes me, the images of the past twenty-four hours flashing through my head like a fucking movie playing in HD. “We … we thought Shayne shot you,” I say, looking back at Roman, my eyes wide and terrified for what we’ve done.
Marcus throws the blankets back, rage pouring out of him as Roman stands in dead silence, the horror crashing down over his shoulders just as it’s doing to me. Marcus slides out of bed with a pained grunt, most likely tearing each of the stitches inside his chest. He steps up to me, meeting me eye to eye. “TELL ME YOU DIDN’T?” he roars, seeing the horrifying truth shining through my eyes as he wobbles on his feet, the blood quickly draining from his cheeks. He grabs the front of my shirt, trying to pull me in, but he’s just too weak. “WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU DO TO HER?”
FUCK! What the hell have we done?
The guilt weighs down on me and I drop to my knees, my stomach twisting with disgust. The things I did to her, the torment and horror … FUCK. She’s never going to forgive me. All along, she was trying to tell us, she screamed until she was blue in the face and I just kept hurting her, I just kept going, calling her a fucking liar and demanding the truth.
Shayne … my precious fucking Shayne. What have I done? What kind of monster am I?
Marcus turns and looks back at Roman, barely steady on his feet. “YOU,” he spits, striding across the room like he didn’t just have life-saving surgery. “IF YOU HURT ONE FUCKING HAIR ON HER BODY, I’M GOING TO SPILL YOUR GODDAMN USELESS BLOOD.”
Roman looks back at Marcus, slowly shaking his head with dead eyes, his heart lying out on his shoulder, begging Marcus to take it and crush it between his capable hands. Marcus rears back and with one sickening blow, cracks his fist across Roman’s face, sending him sprawling back against the wall, and I don’t doubt that had he had the energy, he would have gutted him right there without a goddamn hint of remorse.
Without another word, Marcus turns and meets my hard stare. “If she doesn’t make it, I’m holding both of you fuckers personally responsible. What we have planned for our father will look like child’s play compared to what I will do to you.”
I nod, swallowing hard over the lump in my throat. “If she dies, I’ll fucking beg you to.”
Marcus storms out of the room, determined to find his girl and make things right, but Roman calls out after him. “Wait,” he says, his voice full of regret, self-loathing, and devastation. “There’s something you need to know.”
Marcus stops in his tracks, turning back to stare down Roman in a way I’ve never seen. “What?” he growls, the feral pitch in his tone enough to send even my blood cold.
Roman sighs, his gaze dropping to the ground. “We …” he cringes, his gaze slowly rising to meet our brother’s as he clutches the side of the bed to keep himself upright. “We told her you were dead.”
Marcus just stares, not moving a fucking muscle as he tries to keep himself from putting a bullet straight through our heads. Each of us has fucked up in the past, we’ve all had moments that we’ve tried to forget, but nothing quite like this. “From now on,” Marcus says, his tone dropping to a lethal whisper, the threat coming through loud and clear. “She is your goddamn queen, your fucking Empress.”
Roman nods and just like that, Marcus turns and stalks out the door, the anger wafting off him in waves, a clear message that once he’s through with Shayne, he’s coming for us and we better be fucking ready.
My stare lingers on my older brother, the man who I’ve looked up to all my life, my one role model, friend, and confidant. I gape at him in horror. “What the fuck have we done?”
6
SHAYNE
The door busts in with a loud BANG, slamming against the inside wall of my surgical prison cell. My eyes snap open, terror pulsing through my veins as my heart leaps into action, beating wildly like a fucking thunderstorm rolling in over the ocean. “NO,” I sob, tears already springing to my eyes at the sheer thought of Roman and Levi coming back for more. “Please, no.”
I’ve had enough. I can’t do it anymore. Short of putting a bullet through my head, there’s nothing else they can do to me.
They broke me.
I’m done.
No more running. No more fighting. I have nothing left to give. Perhaps they will see the difference and go easy on me. Perhaps they may take pity and finally put me out of my misery. Who am I kidding? This is the DeAngelis brothers. They don’t take pity and they sure as fuck don’t allow mercy killings. They’ll push me past my final limit until I’m a pathetic heap of nothing, forgotten and abused, and only then will they end my miserable life.