I propose to my brother, “We have to choose. Talvery or Romano.”
“I’ll die before siding with Talvery,” my brother confesses without a hint of emotion. It’s merely a fact. And one I can support and respect, given everything Talvery has done. “I’d rather take them both out.”
Feeling the heat and buzz of the liquor slinking its way into my thoughts, I merely nod and then roll my tense shoulders. I’m tired. Not just of tonight. But tired of fighting.
There’s no way to make it end though. The moment a man stops fighting in this business, is the moment he’s executed.
“We’ve pissed them both off, so it’s better to choose a side and make sure they don’t put their past behind them to take us on together. Just because Romano slipped him intel doesn’t mean anything more than he’s fueling the flames between them… but he knows what he’s doing. He’s redirecting Talvery’s hate.”
Jase’s head falls back as he downs the whiskey and sets the glass down heavily on the tabletop. He breathes out long and low as he nods his head in agreement.
“We can’t let that happen. But between the two, Romano is the best choice.” He stares at me, making sure I listen to his final words. “You already know that. Siding with Talvery will be the end of us.”
He’s not wrong. And dropping my gaze, I give in to what I’d already decided. To what I knew had to happen. Romano can’t be trusted, but he can be manipulated and used. Talvery would slit our throats the second he got a chance. He’s already tried to wipe us out before and failed. And for that reason alone, allowing him any mercy would be a sign of weakness.
Instead of answering my brother, I give him a short nod and turn to leave him, to head back to Aria.
“How is she?” he asks me, changing the subject before I can depart.
“Handling it well, all things considered.” The image of her trembling form in the shower reminds me that she’s not well. “Today was hard on her. I should go back.”
“You should,” he says beneath his breath, although he speaks so quietly I’m not sure if the words were meant for me or for himself.
“It had to be done,” I remind him, and he nods his head in agreement.
Feeling the conversation is over, I start to leave, but he calls out for me one more time.
“Carter…”
Looking over my shoulder, I see the sincerity in my brother’s expression when he tells me, “Be gentle with her.”
The moonlight filters through the slits in the curtain and washes over Aria’s curves, hidden beneath the covers. Her hair is a messy halo, still damp on the pillow as she lies on her side.
My cock instantly hardens, remembering how I left her. Naked and wanting.
She’s a good girl, my little songbird, so I know she’ll be naked with the exception of my necklace around her throat. She’ll be ready for me to take her.
The words from Jase still ring clear in my head. Be gentle with her.
Jase doesn’t know her like I do, but he knows women far better than I ever have.
The images of me slamming into her and rubbing her clit until she’s screaming my name push me to forget Jase’s advice. To continue fucking Aria into obedience… until the moment I come closer to her.
She’s still trembling. Her hands clutch one another in front of her and her eyes are closed tightly. As if she’s praying in the bed.
Her breathing is a mess of stutters.
Not all of us are made to be killers. I knew that when I gave her the knife and set Stephan up to be her victim.
“It’s the adrenaline,” I tell her quietly, cutting through the hushed night with my tense words. Her body jolts under the sheets and she stiffens, but her hands and shoulders still tremble.
I watch as she swallows and then her lips part. The look in her hazel-green eyes is a mix of utter sadness and fear.
“I can’t stop,” she says, and her words are a whisper.
The need to make it all go away rides me hard as I quickly crawl into bed with her, pulling back the sheets and letting her fall into my arms. “Please, help me,” she begs me.
“Shh,” I hush her, petting her hair and pulling her closer to me. Her small body clutches at mine as if she can’t get close enough. “I shouldn’t have left you,” I whisper out loud and into her hair, feeling the wisps tickle my jaw.
She only responds by moving her hands to my chest and burying her head beneath my chin. She’s so frail in my embrace.
Which is anything but the Aria I know.
Maybe I’ve finally broken her. I already knew I was a monster, but the smile that begs to creep onto my lips at the thought is a validation of that fact. I’m not worthy of a single breath, let alone the woman in my arms.