“Why are you telling me all of this? Why now?” The questions fall out of my mouth before I can swallow them back down.
The Castellos still watch as all of this unfold, silent threats waiting for me to make the wrong move.
The Omen sighs and he places a sure hand on my shoulder making my body tense and I bite back the urge to break his wrist for thinking he has the right to touch me.
“Your suspension after your fallout with Collins keeps us from having any eyes on you at all. The threat is growing and you’re the most at risk for taking the brunt of retaliation.” His Adam’s apple bobs as he swallows through a lump in his throat. “I’m not so confident in your ability to handle yourself.”
The backhanded insult cuts through me and all of the emotions I’m left with after tonight. The Omen removes his hand from his shoulder, and I reach out, fisting the lapels on his suit and tugging him forward. Cool metal is pressed against my temple and both Castellos have their guns drawn on me.
The Omen’s eyes are sharp, and his body is tight, but his expression blank as he stares at me waiting for my threat.
“I’m not fucking weak,” I spit, pushing him away as Lion scoffs to my left, the father and son duo dropping their weapons, but not putting them away.
“Get fucked,Officer.” That nickname on his tongue again has me snapping my head in his direction, a cool, threatening smile stretches across his face begging for me to continue.
“We’ve been gone from the ball far too long,” The Omen cuts in. “I’m sure there’s a lot for you to think about, Liam. I’ll leave it up to you on if you want to continue this war with me or allow me to keep you safe without hiding in the shadows.”
I don’t move or speak, wound so tight I might snap and make true on never leaving here, leaving Xana on her own. My jaw aches from the tension and I turn to walk away, Lion stepping in front of me, blocking the exit.
“Liam,” The Omen calls out, the authority in his voice making me come to a stop and that only pisses me off more. “Whatever it is that you decide, Malia does not know any of this.”
“I’m not your secret keeper,” I grind out, Lion’s attention suddenly on his uncle, the air shifting slightly in the room.
The Omen’s tone drops, all the softness he held throughout this meeting bleeding away when he continues. “In that time you spent with Malia you know she is stubborn and bullheaded. She will take this upon herself if she knows the truth. If you cared about her at all, you’ll keep this to yourself. Should you decide to allow my protection then I will tell you what really happened to your parents, but for now, I think we’ve said enough,”
How dare he demand something like this from me. To give me an ultimatum then making me pinky promise on his secrets.
I let out a humorless laugh and push by Lion. “I knew Mila Williams, not Malia Olin. Don’t confuse the two again,” I say as I exit the room, turning left down a hallway I hope takes me to somewhere I can be alone for a minute to just breathe.
After aimlessly walking the halls, I reach a glass sliding door that leads to the terrace outside. When I step into the cold air, the shock to my lungs settles in my bones and cools down the fire burning inside of me.
I step closer to the edge, looking hundreds of feet down to the ground. The Omen Mansion is carved out of a mountain in the countryside, and it sits dangerously close to the edge of a steep cliff. I stare into the bottom of the cliff where the moonlight no longer reaches, watching my deep breaths mist and disappear into the dead of night.
Voices from the other side of the terrace reach me. I scoff thinking it’s probably some shady business deal or a couple sneaking off to fuck. When my curiosity finally gets the best of me, I push off the ledge and quietly walk closer to the corner that keeps me out of their sight.
I could use something else to think about right now.
The voices get louder as I get closer, one of them becoming familiar. That dominant feminine tone filled with so much sass it instantly makes me want to bend her over and tame the brat that she is. Knowing that it’s Malia on the other side of the wall, I risk a glance, not hesitating when the sight I’m met with has me moving forward and pulling my gun.
Caine Byrne pulls Malia into him, crashing his lips onto hers. I’ve been in many different stages of anger throughout tonight. Between every fucked up situation or conversation I’ve had since being here, this is the one that sends me into a blinding rage. Malia, once again, in another man’s arms.
I close in on them, my feet picking up their pace the more Byrne’s hands roam her body. By the time I get close enough to break up their make out session with the barrel of my gun, Byrne jerks back and grunts in pain. The sound of metal hitting bone resounds around us.
Lifting my weapon, I cock the hammer and they both turn their attention toward me. Byrne holds his shoulder where a dagger sits, blood gushing from the wound Malia had put there. I smile, keeping my aim trained between his eyes as he grunts through his pain.
His movements are slow when he tries to reach his weapon, so I press the muzzle to his lips and step into him. In this moment I know there’s no saving me, the darkness has corrupted my soul and eclipsed my heart.
I would murder this man and not feel bad about it.
For touching what’s mine.
Malia Olin is mine to rip apart and destroy.
Just like she did to me.
Seventeen
Malia