Treachery

Luca deserves better than this. She’s worth more than this. And as I step off the elevator onto her floor, I realize that I’m not looking forward to the day I finally fuck over Clayton and give her what she’s owed.

It means she’ll leave the city. Whether to go home, or back to school, or whatever she decides to do with her life, she won’t be here anymore since she never wanted to be here in the first place.

She came to this state to follow Clayton.

And she certainly won’t stay for me.

I don’t like it. But I know I’ll have to deal with it. And with that thought in mind, I storm into her apartment and pause to see just how bad the damage is.

Mason and Ava stand off to the side of the small living room, her face buried in his chest and his arms wrapped around her.

Near them, Ezra picks through the chaos of broken furniture and scattered papers, his boots crunching over broken glass as he rescues photographs and whatever else seems important from the destruction.

A tornado could have torn through this place and caused less damage, my jaw locking as I survey the scene, growing angrier to see how thorough it is.

My eyes meet Ezra’s as I walk the short distance inside, his head tilting toward the hall leading to Luca’s bedroom.

Turning down the hall, I eat the distance with a ground-shaking stride, my eyes catching Gabriel’s stare for just a second before I turn to find Luca standing near her closet with her arms wrapped around her abdomen and her expression tight.

It’s easy to see she’s been crying, her skin stained pink over her cheeks and her eyes puffy.

Gabriel silently leaves the room as I approach her, my steps careful because I have no idea how to handle this.

“It’s all gone,” she whispers, her voice weak and shaky.

“What did they steal?”

Her hair falls over her shoulder as she turns to look at me. I stand there like a jackass not knowing whether to hold onto her or keep my distance.

I’m responsible for this. Maybe not directly, but in some way or another, I caused the pain in her expression.

Again.

Luca shakes her head, swipes at a tear that escapes the corner of her eye. “Nothing that I can tell. Everything is just torn apart or destroyed.”

I step closer. “It can be replaced.”

Her lips pull into a thin line.

“With what money? I have nothing left, Ta

She cuts the tirade off and stares into her closet.

Yes, I’m responsible for a lot of what she just said, but not all of it.

My anger ratchets higher as I think of how the game keeps changing.

When this all began, Luca was supposed to be an easy target. I needed her to ask one favor so I could extract the price later on.

But then it became a fight to keep her in reach, my decisions made without concern for what it would do to her.

I’d saved her life by getting her out of Georgia and keeping her close. And I’d believed the money would be enough to force her to fall in line.

I should have known better. Should have known she would make this as difficult as fucking possible.

And now the game has changed again because she refuses to make it an easy win.

This time, it isn’t about extracting what I want. It isn’t about getting her under control to force her to give up what our fathers want. It’s about keeping her out of the line of fire because if she gets hurt in this, I’ll kill somebody.

It’s about protecting her now. About keeping her safe and getting revenge for what our families have done to us and for what they’ve done to her.

I’m done being a jackass when it comes to her.

Yes, I know she’ll move on when this is all said and done. I know she’ll hate me when she realizes just how involved I’ve been in the destruction of her life.

Luca Bailey will take off to become the amazing fucking person she’s supposed to be while I’m stuck in my own personal hell of revenge, and games and bullshit.

But right now?

Right now, she’s hurting, and I refuse to stand here watching helplessly.

Right now, there’s something I can do to ease the frustration in both of us.

Right now, I can lay claim on a woman who will never be replaced after the day I destroy Clayton and hand over what he owes her.

Right now, I can be a halfway decent guy for once in my miserable fucking life. But only for her.

“Come here.”

I step up to her, spin her to face me and pull her against my body. She struggles at first, just like always, but I refuse to let go and give her space.

Eventually, Luca’s muscles relax and she leans into me, my arms wrapping around her as she buries her face against my chest and cries.

My jaw tics with each shudder of her shoulders. Each sob. Each fucking tear that leaks out to soak my shirt.

I have no idea what I’ll do to end this, but it will fucking end. I’m done. I can’t fuck with her anymore. Not when this is the result of my efforts.

“You’re coming back with me,” I tell her, my eyes sca

“So I can be a prisoner again?”

Tightening my hold on her, I plant a soft kiss on the top of her head.

“No. But I’m not leaving you here to live in what’s left of your life. I’m not leaving you alone where you might get hurt.”

Her arms wrap around me and she laughs, the sound bitter.

“Why? Because you can’t stand when somebody else hurts me since that should be your job?”

I deserved that, so I don’t correct her.

Pushing her back so I can grab her chin and tilt her face to mine, I meet her stare, the entire time hating the redness of her eyes, the absolute broken expression she wears.

Luca doesn’t break.

She might cuss up a storm, yell, scream, tell you just how much you’re pissing her off while also making it extremely fucking clear she doesn’t need you...but she doesn’t break.

This can’t happen.

I won’t allow it.

She needs to regain everything so she can return to being the a

“I’m going to find out who did this to your apartment, and when I do, I’ll be sure to destroy them for what they’ve done to you.”

Her eyes narrow on mine, concern crinkling the skin between her eyes.

Reaching up, she palms my cheek. “Why does it look like you’re about to murder someone?”

Because I am. She doesn’t need to know it, though. I want her conscience clear when I finally let her go.

“Gather up what you can to bring to my place. We’ll figure out what to do about this later when you’ve had a chance to calm down.”

Except she’s pretty fucking calm compared to me. Thankfully, she doesn’t point that out.

Nodding her head, Luca pulls away from me and turns to step into her closet. She pulls a stool from beneath a rack and climbs up to shove open a tile in the ceiling. After removing a small box, she lifts the lid, whatever she sees causing her shoulders to relax.

My brows tug together about what the fuck could be in the box, but instead of questioning her about it, I make a decision to check for myself when she’s not looking.

Is it fucked up?

Yes.

Do I care?

No.

I’m already in too deep with this game.

Even if the board has changed and the pieces have been shuffled around.