Leo shakes his head. “There are those in the Constantine family tree who will never let go of the feud. Not as long as it gives them power. Not as long as it brings them money.”
“You knew exactly who Lyriope was when you helped her,” Tiernan says between clenched teeth. “I thought you were smarter than that, Nick. I thought you wouldn’t fuck with the Morellis.”
Nick shrugs. “See it how you choose. I simply was keeping the girl alive. Your family should thank me. Especially now knowing that the Constantines have paid a pretty penny to have her delivered to them.”
“Fuck you,” Leo says, sounding bored.
“Who are the Constantines?” I finally ask, ignoring Nick’s dictate to not say a word.
Nick snaps his head in my direction and gives me a warning that looks like one I’ve never seen. It’s ferocious and almost beast-like. He doesn’t need to tell me to be quiet for me to shut my mouth and not say another word.
Leo stands, and Tiernan copies. He stands tall and glares at Nick. “We’re done here. No one is taking Lyriope anywhere. She’s coming with us.”
“No,” Nick says. “Like I said, she’ll be leaving with me. She’s my possession right now. I’m not done with her. But once I am, I’ll be more than happy to negotiate with the highest bidder on who gets her next.”
I shoot out of my chair and kick back, casting it down to the ground. I look directly into Nick’s eyes, silently begging him to not morph into this monster again. I believed he had changed… I so desperately want him to change. No, no, no. Please don’t be this monster. Please don’t make me the fool. Please.
His eyes seem to darken right before me. No remorse. Not even a flicker of apology.
He’s the fucking monster whether I like it or not.
“Fuck you!” I shout. “Fuck each and every one of you.” I glare at Gio Ralston first. “I don’t know who the Constantines are, but you can tell them to go fuck themselves.” I then look at the Sidorovs and say, “Our debt is done. We are done.” I then look at my brothers. “I’m not going anywhere with either one of you. You can tell Bryant to go fuck himself when you see him next.” I then turn to face Nick who has replaced his casual smile with a locked jaw and darkened eyes. “And you can really go fuck yourself. I’m not yours to negotiate with. I don’t belong to anyone!”
“Consequences…” Nick warns.
“Fuck you. And fuck your consequences.”
Without thinking, I storm out of the room and head back to the party. I know I’ll be followed. I know I won’t get far. But I can’t stay in that room being discussed like a piece of property any longer.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Nick
“Where is she?” I ask Harrison as I storm through my front door. The rest of the staff scurry sensing now is not the time to be in my presence.
“She’s upstairs in her room. She didn’t resist me one bit when I brought her home as you asked. She should get some credit for that,” he says calmly. “She knows she pissed you off.”
“I told her not to talk.”
“Can you blame her?” Harrison is always my voice of reason. “She’s a young girl who is quite smitten with you. And you start talking about auctioning her off to the highest bidder. I don’t think anyone could have kept their cool.”
“I’m fucking furious,” I say, running my hands through my hair and trying to take deep breaths to slow down my pulse.
“It’s misdirected toward Lyriope. Let’s be real man, you’re pissed at the situation you’re in. You pissed off two powerful families by getting in the middle of the Morellis and Constantines. You should have stayed out of it.”
“I thought this was about the Sidorovs. I thought they were the ones after her.”
Harrison pats my shoulder. “Yeah, and that’s also why you’re pissed. You feel like a fool because you got your information wrong. You misread this entire situation.”
Harrison is the only man in the world I allow to speak with me so frankly. But even though we have this type of friendship, I want to claw out his jugular. Because he’s right.
“You should give her to the Morellis. It’s just a matter of time until they take her. Try to at least come out of this with them not being your enemy,” he says.
“And what about the Constantines? Now that we know they have a guy after Lyriope, should I just ignore that?”
“We have a long-standing relationship with the Morellis,” Harrison says. “It’s best to take our chances with pissing off the Constantines. You know I’m right, man. You need to give her to the Morellis.”
“I will… eventually,” I say, pacing as I try to calm my temper.