Page 101 of Downfall

He’s trying to twist this only it won’t work. I’m doing this for us. I’ve become this for us. Rose will realise that. She will understand that. We’re not the naïve teenagers we were six years ago. We’ve both grown. We’ve both been forced too. Life is not all fairy tales and princes. It’s not all black and white. Good and bad. To win you have to muddy the water. You have to be prepared to cross the lines or else there’s no point even getting in the ring.

“You’re overstepping Darius.” I growl stepping closer to him.

“Is that so?” He says smirking but I can see it, the concern in his eyes anyway. “Tell me, did you love her all this time?”

I give him a look like ‘what the hell do you think?’

He sighs sinking back into his chair. “If you’d come to me six years ago, if you’d asked, I would have cut you a deal.”

I let out a laugh. Sure he would have. And then what? Me and Rose would have had our happy ending? Not a chance. I would have been tied to him. His pet fucking monkey.

God, he would have loved that. A Montague and a Capulet right in his pocket.

No, if I’d taken that path it wouldn’t have worked out better for us. I knew not to trust anyone then and that hasn’t changed.

“I’ll cut you a deal. Get your sister to marry Otto and I’ll take care of Ignatio, clear the path for you and Rose.”

“No thanks.” I don’t need him to do my dirty work and I certainly won’t be making any deals that involve Sofia being tied to one of them.

“Don’t be a fool Roman…”

I snap then. All but jumping across the desk to pin him into his chair.

“You dare to speak to me like that.” I snarl. “After what you’ve done.”

He splutters. His eyes focused entirely on the blade millimetres from his eyes.

“You touched her didn’t you?” I spit.

He shakes his head with as much movement as he dares to make right now.

“You’ve made a habit of that.” I continue. “Of taking things, of touching things that don’t belong to you…”

“I’ve done nothing…” He begins but the knife turns his words into a shriek.

I drag the blade down his cheek. It slices through his flesh like a hot knife through butter. He’s going to need a good amount of stitching to fix that back up.

“The only reason I’m not gutting you where you sit is because you still have a use.” I say. “But the minute you stop being that, the minute you outlive that, I’m going to enjoy ripping your throat out…”

He’s trembling now, though I can’t blame him.

“…So let this be a lesson to you Darius.” I state. “Every time you look at yourself in the mirror, every time you see your reflection from now on, you’ll remember this. You’ll remember what happens when you take things that don’t belong to you.”

“She doesn’t belong to you either.” He says.

His blood is streaming down his cheek. I’ve a good mind to cut his damn tongue out for that statement but I don’t. I’m saving that for another time. A future I can barely wait to come into fruition.

I step back, wipe the blade on his overpriced shirt, and grin.

“Rose Capulet is mine. She’s always been mine.” I say before driving the blade into the leather top of his desk.

He can keep that as a souvenir. Another gift from me.

Along with the four inch scar he’ll now have on his face.

Rose

I’ve stayed away from everyone. I don’t know what to do. I have five months now. Five months before I can leave. Before I can finally get away from this awful place and all these awful people.

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