Page 90 of Reckoning

Half the guys sat around fall off their chairs. A few pull out their guns but when they see it’s me, they quickly re-holster them.

“You fucking piece of shit.” I snarl, grabbing Reid by the throat and haul him off his feet.

He jerks, kicking out wildly, and I toss him hard enough that he slams back into the wall.

“The fuck did you say to her?” I shout.

“Nothing I haven’t said before.” He shouts back.

“I told you to stay away.”

“And I told you that she’s cursed.”

A murmur goes through the men watching us and a few of the idiots cross themselves as if they’re religious.

“That is complete bullshit and you know it.” I snap.

“Is it?” He replies. “Her mother’s dead. Her father’s dead. Everyone she’s ever come into contact with has met with a bad ending.”

“Yeah?” I snarl. “The same could be said for me.”

“Her father had the diamond.” He snarls. “We all know it.”

It’s hard not to snort. Not to scoff. Oh, I’ve heard the rumours. We all have. A jewel worth more than an entire country? A diamond so black and tainted, they claim it’s the actual devil’s heart. But it’s bullshit. Even if Horace Montague did possess it, it’s long gone. Darius probably smuggled it out after he burnt their house down, then he squirrelled it away somewhere and now it’s lost forever.

Reid shakes his head. “She’ll be the death of you. The death of all of us.”

I slam my fist into his face. If I have to beat those words out of him I will. He groans, collapsing on the floor.

“Stay away from her.” I growl. “You don’t look at her, you don’t speak to her, you don’t even be in the same room as her, you hear me?”

I can see the look of fear, I can see the way all my men are reacting.

Good, I want them afraid, I want them to understand the consequences.

Sofia is here to stay, this is her domain now and I won’t have them fucking it all up, I won’t have them making her doubt herself, I won’t have her recovery set back because they’re a bunch of morons.

I need her to choose this. To want this. She’ll hardly feel content in her new prison if she’s constantly surrounded by people who are making it more than clear they don’t want her here.

Koen

The next day we’re up early. Sofia looks like she’s had as shit a night despite our playtime and she’s definitely grumpy.

Though I try not to, my eyes drop to stare at her clothes, at her stomach, at where beneath, I know those scars are. What if sheistoo broken? What if sheisn’tcapable of truly healing?

No, I refuse to accept that.

I refuse to believe that she can’t move on.

She just needs to believe in herself. She just needs to get out of this death spiral she’s caught up in.

“We’re gonna work some of this out.” I murmur. If it have to, I’ll drag her through it, I’ll carry her from the very gates of hell with her hissing and clawing me the entire time.

“What?”

“Your trauma, your pain, your anger too.” I say.

She shakes her head. “If it was that easy I would have done it before.”

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