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“No. . . no. . . no. You have to forgive us. Don’t lose faith,” he exclaims before turning his tear-streaked face at me. “She’s going to forgive us, right? She has to, doesn’t she?”
Searching for the right thing to say, my lips part, but no words come out.
“Bash, we have to fix this—we have to,” he trails off, standing and pacing the room as the voicemail plays again.
My nostrils flare as I dart forward, snatching the phone from his hold and pressing one.
“Message deleted,” the computerized voice announces.
“What the fuck did you do?” Owen roars, charging at me. I wrap him in my arms, squeezing until he stills.
“She’s ours, O. She’ll never be able to be anyone else’s—we won’t allow it,” I declare.
Twisting, he works to free himself, but I only tighten my hold.
“Do you hear me,” I bark, gripping his arms and shaking him. “Ariah Bradford is ours, and we’ll fight every obstacle, known and unknown, trying to keep us apart.”
He pauses as if only just registering what I’ve said. Nodding, he mutters, “She’ll forgive us—she has to.”
“Damn fucking right, she will,” I insist. “She’s coming home, Owen. Senator Baker and Samantha don’t get to win.”
I release him, and his arms hang limply at his side before he looks up. Fire blazes in his hazel eyes.
There he is—my brother who doesn’t know the word surrender.
With each deep breath Owen takes, his determination sets in, fueling my resolve.
Meeting his stare, I proclaim, “We’ll work on freeing you and ending Baker, then we’ll bring our girl home.”
9
WYATT
“You stupid fucking bitch! We had a deal,” Wes snaps, charging at Sam, but Sebastian’s arm shoots out, halting his forward progress. He’s not fast enough to stop Owen, though.
Owen’s knife is pressed firmly against her carotid artery. “You fucking tried to kill her. What’s stopping me from actually killing you?” he seethes.
I watch in revulsion as she tries to grind into Owen, and her eyes pool with lust. “If you wanted to play, Owen, baby, all you had to do was ask,” Samantha moans. At the sight of our disgust, her lips curl into a snarl. “The bitch was only safe if she stayed the fuck away. Now she’s back. All bets are off.”
Tilting my head, I study her, narrowing my gaze until she feels my attention boring into the side of her face. She turns, and at the simmering rage in my eyes, some of her bravado slips from her demeanor.
Good. She’s finally realizing she’s not the biggest beast in the room.
“It’s funny you think you can change the rules, Sam,” I hiss, stalking toward her. She tries to turn her head, but I grip her face. “This deal only works if she’s alive. We’d end ourselves before we ever let you kill her. So don’t be stupid,” I command and drop my hand in time for Owen to pat her cheek with his blade and back away.
She huffs as she rights herself, fixing her clothes and schooling her features. “Fine, if you want her and Owen to live, you’ll stay the fuck away from her and make her believe none of what you had with her was real.”
“I’m not fucking doing that,” Owen barks. “Kill me now because I won’t ever lie to her.”
Samantha whirls in his direction. “I’ll kill her and you. I honestly don’t give a fuck. I only need one of you for this to work anyway.” She points to the watch that controls our fate. “One press of this button, and it’s bye-bye Owen,” she singsongs.
Owen snorts. “You’re still not listening, are you?” he taunts, raising his knife to his own throat. “I’ll kill myself, and then nothing will stop them from killing you.”
“You see,” Sebastian chimes in, stepping forward. “You’ve overplayed your hand. While you might be able to control us now, if Owen or Ariah die, all bets are off. So we have you by your pussy as much as you have us by the balls. So, my suggestion is, don't overestimate your power here.”
Gritting her teeth, Samantha surveys the room. She must finally recognize she’s not entirely in control. Fisting her hands at her sides, she shrieks, “You better make her believe this is true because if she goes poking around, I won’t give a fuck if you all die. I’ll kill her.” Then she storms from the room.
None of us speak until we see her car peel out of the driveway on the monitor mounted on the wall.
