“Sure, you keep telling yourself that if it helps you sleep at night.”
“What… that’s… I’ve protected you,” I argue. “It’s different.”
“Is it? Is keeping me in the dark about any part of our lives, what’s happening around me protecting me? Really? I was clueless, Nico. Utterly vulnerable without even so much as the basic knowledge to even try to protect myself.
“I’m a part of this as much as you all are, but the only ones who seem to see that are Daemon, Stella and Emmie.
“You guys need to fight, I want to be right there with you. Helping you in any way I can.”
A deep, angry growl comes from Daemon behind but, but she doesn’t stop to address it.
“I’m allowed secrets, Nico. Contrary to what you seem to believe, you are not my keeper. I am eighteen. I can make my own choices and live my life the way I see fit. The only person who has any right to an opinion seems to have checked out, so feel free to do the fucking same.”
She stares at me with determined and defiant eyes that I’m not used to seeing while her hands rest on her hips, more than ready to continue sparring with me.
“You’d think that orgasm would have chilled her out, huh?” Theo quips, making me want to spin around and plant my fist in his face.
“So what’s it going to be, Bro?” she hisses.
“What secret is Brianna keeping for you?”
Her expression falters, some kind of emotion flashing through her eyes, but she locks it down as quickly as it appears. It seems she might just have what it takes for this life if she’s going to be able to remain almost emotionless while facing off against me.
“What’s that got to do with you?”
My lips part to respond, but she doesn’t let me get a word in.
“If she wanted to spill my secrets, she’d have already told you.”
My eyes narrow when hers flash with amusement.
“You know, if you treated her better, she might not feel the need to be on my side.”
“Who the fuck said anything about sides?” I bark.
“You drew the line between us when you decided I wasn’t good enough to live the same life as you. There have been sides ever since.”
“That’s bullshit, Calli.”
“Is it?”
Silence falls around us as the tension becomes unbearable.
Her eyes flick over my shoulder and a lightness enters them as I assume she looks at Daemon.
There’s a part of me that wants to hate him for giving Calli this strength. But there’s a bigger part of me that’s so fucking proud to watch her stand up for what she wants that I find it hard to hold onto the anger I first felt when I discovered their relationship.
“I-I just—”
“She knew about us before anyone else did,” Calli blurts, finally cracking. “I spent the weekend you raided the Italian compound here with Daemon. Things got… things were intense back then, and I might have drugged him and ran away.”
“WHAT?” I roar, ripping my eyes from my sister and instead focusing on the motherfucker behind me. “What the fuck did you do to her for her to drug you?”
“Nico,” Calli soothes as her small hand lands on my upper arm, forcing me to look back at her. “It’s old news now and doesn’t matter.
“The point I’m trying to make is that when I ran from the building, Brianna was there. She looked after me, took me home, and promised that she’d keep my secret for as long as she needed me to.
“She’s loyal, Nico. So fucking loyal. She never breathed a word to anyone so—”