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I shake my head. “Of course not. You never do. I’m an inconvenience and a problem, but maybe, just fucking maybe, if you stopped treating me like some pathetic girl, I’d be better off.”
“You’d like me to talk to you over a beer about how Chance likes to sell snuff films of men killing girls? That he arranges all kinds of tortured crap for men and women to pay for. You think what I do to the girls is hard to stomach, you don’t want to know what Rachet can do to a virgin.” He’s baiting me, and I know it, but all I feel is rage. “You needed some time to feel that, Bella. It’s about time you learned some sense about safety.”
Anger, hotter than I’ve ever felt when fighting with my mother, or pulling that trigger, burns through my veins. “You waited? You knew what he was, and you waited? I asked for help, and you waited? Were you teaching me a lesson?”
Kai pulls me away from Dante, and I let him, just as Knox walks in.
“What the fuck, Dante. Chance? Really?” He looks down at the lump of meat on the floor and up to Dante.
“It was Mariana. Shut the fuck up, Knox.”
Kai’s hand is resting at the base of my neck, as Knox looks over at me in shock. It’s a comfort, knowing he’s on my side – that he’s here for me – because I’m not sure anyone else is right now.
Knox nods to me, but I can see the confusion on his face, and beckons us outside of the room and into the corridor. Dante is the one who looks pissed, though. I can read it in his shoulders, in his whole body, like he’s ready to beat down on someone.“You're damn right I was teaching you a lesson,” he snarls. “About fucking time you caught on. You’ve caused nothing but trouble, and you’re acting like a dumb bitch.”
“Dante?” Knox’s eyes shoot between us, and I feel the pressure growing in the narrow, dark space.
“No. She thinks she can fuck about in this world and not get hurt, and I’m done with her. She’s worse than Shaw. At least he does as he’s told.”
“What?” His words sting, and I yo-yo between hurt and rage. “Dante?”
“You might be a Cortez, but you’re playing. It’s time to grow the hell up and behave. You should have let Kai finish this.”
“What? Why?”
“Because this is a man’s goddamn world, and you playing princess with a gun doesn't make you any more capable.”
I shrug out of Kai’s hold and shove Dante. “Don’t talk to me like that. You’ve called me a whore, and I fucking hate that. Now you’re questioning my abilities?”
“Dante, what the hell’s gotten into you? She’s our sister.” Knox defends me. Knox, against the brother I worshipped.
“Stay out of it, Knox,” Dante grits out.
“No. Not when you’re running your mouth at her.”
“Knox, I’m warning you. Abel might tolerate you challenging him; I fucking won’t. Mariana needs to learn her place. You were bitching pretty damn loud about the missing accounts. Everything with her is a fucking argument or ends with her in trouble.”
I listen to my brothers put me in the middle of an argument, and all I want to do is break down and sob. All the emotion, all the pain I’ve been shoving down and pushing to the side feels like it’s going to split me in two. “You would let Chance rape me to prove a point? After what those men did to me, you think this would teach me a lesson?” I scream at Dante. “What is it, Dante? Owed Chance a favour, made a deal and put me on the table? Because that’s what it fucking feels like.”
“Mariana, let’s go,” Kai suggests, but I barely hear him. I’m watching Dante in the shadows.
His hand connects so hard I stumble back into Kai as the flare of pain explodes over my face.
Kai wraps his arms around me, and I hear his growl towards my brother. “It’s okay. It’s okay,” I reassure him as panic and pain swamp me, but I know I’ve got to keep Kai from stepping in here or there’ll be no preventing the consequences. But Knox seems to be thinking the same thing, boxing Kai in against the wall.
Kai shoves at Knox, but I stand my ground. “No, he’s my brother, and the fight is mine. He shouldn’t even be fighting with me.”
“Well, maybe you would have listened if it was Chance teaching you manners rather than any of us.”
My stomach drops, and my ears ring as I process the words. It’s gloomy, and light is only casting shadows around his face, so I can’t read his eyes. “You don’t mean that?” I check and give him time to think about his words. This isn’t taunting now, this is outright ugly, hurtful words that I can’t distinguish between truth and threat.
“Maybe I fucking do. We need to be together right now – a family – and you’re pulling all this crap. First with lover boy, shoving that suit in front of everyone in your little temper tantrum. Then with Mother. You’ve done nothing but chip away at us, all the while preaching you’re a Cortez like some badge you’re entitled to. You’re not, we all earn that name. You don’t do shit, and I’m fucking tired.” He yells the last part, but I’ve heard too much. “Maybe Mother was always right about you.”
“Dante, shit, man. That’s enough. She was brave enough to go and do what Abel wouldn’t. And she’s just put a bullet in Chance. You’ve had your fun.”
We’ve always been a violent and explosive family. Brawls and arguments are like a family tradition, but we’ve always been close. We’ve always been there for each other, coming in and backing each other up. But I’ve never felt as betrayed or hurt as I do right now. The sour, putrid feeling sitting in my stomach churns and stokes my anger. It’s years of scorn and slaps and put-downs all echoing in my head. All the times I’ve had to come home, justify myself or defend myself.
Something splits inside of me, releasing a rush of power. I scream and race towards Dante, pulling my right arm back and releasing it right into his face. He sees it coming, even in the dark and smacks me away, but I follow up and connect my left fist to his jaw.
