Barbie Bitch (Rejects Paradise 3)

Maybe he’s finally starting to accept that I’m moving on.

I instantly shake the thought from my head. Now isn’t the time to start decoding Nic’s actions. I could be here for years trying to figure out his motives. It’s not worth the time or the pain.

Sebastian slips out from under my arm and hurries in front of us. The car door is pulled open and just as we reach it, Nic adjusts his hold on me and all but puts me inside the car. He grabs the seatbelt and starts reaching across me to buckle it, but I take the clip out of his hands, more than capable of managing on my own.

After getting it fastened, I look up and meet Nic’s eyes to find him watching me intently. “I’m going to fucking kill him,” he promises me.

I nod, knowing damn well that the correct response is to tell him not to, to tell him to back off and leave it be. The war between the Wolves and the Widows is already at boiling point and this just tipped Nic over the edge and upped the stakes in the game. He won’t stop for anything, for anyone. When Nic is intent to do something, he keeps at it until the job is done.

Mikhail Russo will die for touching me and that’s all there is to it

“I know,” I finally whisper, feeling a pang of guilt that doesn’t sit right with me. Why should I feel guilty for knowing this man is going to die? He was my father’s leader, an evil, toxic man who has ordered more kills than I could ever imagine—kills that my father undoubtedly carried out. I should be happy, I should be jumping for fucking joy, yet I just feel cold inside.

Is this what I’m becoming? An emotionless monster? Someone who is okay with death? Maybe I’m just becoming immune to its horrors.

Nic lets out a heavy sigh, probably already putting his plan into place yet for some reason, he remains hovered in the open car door staring at me. His eyes harden and in an instant, I know exactly what he’s looking for but I can’t give it to him, not yet.

I shake my head ever so gently, holding back the cringe that desperately wants to tear out of me. “Not yet, Nic,” I murmur as Sebastian pretends that he can’t hear a damn thing that’s being said. “I’m still so mad at you. I just need some time.”

Heartbreak settles over his features but in a blink of an eye, the hard Nic is back. “Okay,” he finally says, straightening up and closing the door. He takes a step back and starts to make his way around to the driver’s side, but I hear his grumbled murmur through the open window. “Let’s get you back to your new family.”

I keep my gaze settled out the window as Nic puts the car into gear and takes off down the road, being careful to avoid any bumps. He takes a corner and the momentum from the turn has pain shooting through my burn. I suck in a sharp breath through my teeth, trying my best not to show my pain but failing miserably.

A hand falls to my shoulder and squeezes and I latch onto it with desperation, curling my fingers through Sebastian’s and appreciating every ounce of his comfort.

Every gasp, cry, and groan has Nic pushing his car faster and faster, desperate to get me off the bumpy road and into the safety of the pool house where he can help take the pain away. By the time we reach Colton’s street, his careful driving is all but forgotten as he turns into a mad man, driven by emotions.

We reach the gate and I hastily tell him the code and watch as frustration claims him when it slowly peels back. The gate has hardly opened the whole way before Nic shoots past it and races down the drive, narrowly avoiding knocking off his side mirror.

He doesn’t stop where normal people stop, but drives around the side of the mansion, over Charles’ manicured lawns and only just avoiding taking out archways that Enrique, the gardener, has spent years molding.

His car pulls up right outside the pool house and I look across at Nic as he swings his door wide. “Door to door service, huh?”

“I might have a habit of making shitty decisions but you can never claim that I wasn’t thorough and didn’t look after you.”

I roll my eyes as he smirks to himself and climbs out of his car. Sebastian appears at my door and opens it wide before offering me his hand. I take it gingerly and as he helps me out of Nic’s car, the back door of the mega-mansion swings wide, slamming against the wall with such a loud bang that both of the boys flinch for their guns.