“You have him. There’s no reason to take her. No reason at all.” I slashed my hand through the air.
Emily was covered in blood and each time I looked at her, I feared she was dead.
“You know our rules. She’s just a girl. You need to learn not to let a woman have so much control over you. What’s done, is done.” Dean grabbed the blade of the knife and threw it, using Bernard Crane as a target. The man screamed. I didn’t care about him.
I knew for a fact our dads were pissed that he’d been able to operate for a further two years without them even suspecting he was a traitor. He’d been plotting their demise for so long.
They had believed they were invincible.
“What about Bethany?” Caleb asked. “What about my mom?”
They all tensed. I watched it. One by one. Even Ace who sat in the back stood up at her name.
“Don’t speak her name,” Marshall said.
My dad grabbed a knife out of Bernard and pointed it at Caleb. “You have no right.”
“I have every right. I’m her son, aren’t I? Her blood runs through my veins. She is part of all of us. Even you. There’s no getting away from that. She wouldn’t want you to do this. We all know that to be true.”
“Boy, I suggest you stay fucking quiet.”
The anger in Daniel’s voice was clear. I also didn’t like how he suddenly had a knife in his hand, waiting to explode.
“We all love Emily. She belongs to us and you can’t kill her. Bethany, she’d hate you all for it.”
Daniel reacted first, shoving a blade into Caleb’s shoulder. It missed his heart, but the threat was there.
“Do not use her here. We have our rules.”
Caleb’s face was red, tense. This wasn’t the first time he’d been stabbed, and it probably wouldn’t be the last time.
We’d had to learn to grow up and to do so fast. That was what our fathers always said. There was no room for being children.
“What if it had been Bethany’s father? Would you have let her die to pay for his sins? The love of your life.”
“Daniel,” Dean said.
I noticed my dad had stopped. Even Ace and Marshall were still. They were all watching. They didn’t want to kill us. Caleb was their last connection to Bethany.
“A compromise,” Ace said, speaking up.
Daniel didn’t move but smiled. “A compromise.”
“A way for the girl to live and our sons to be … appeased.” Ace looked at the ground then at me.
“I know just the thing,” Daniel said. “Emily can live. She can live her life without any threat from us.”
Caleb nodded but my gut twisted.
“In return, to make sure that there are no repercussions for our generosity to you, you will let her go.” Daniel talked slowly. The hint of cruelty in his eyes easy to see.
This wasn’t fair.
We all knew it.
“What?” Caleb asked.
“Your girl can live. If you love her enough, if you really believe she is your Bethany, then to make sure she lives a long and happy life, you will let her go. No more second chances. You take her and dump her. A new identity. A new place, but her name is dead here. She is gone. Died with her traitorous father. That is the only compromise. If you don’t agree, Dean here will slit her throat.”
“Caleb?” I asked. We couldn’t let her go. Not now. We’d only just gotten her, but there was no alternative. I’d rather live knowing she was safe.
“Oh, and the condition, if I ever find out that you went to her, you fuck her, you do anything that makes her real to you, I’ll kill her. Her life is now in your and your friends’ hands. Tell me, Caleb. You’ve got a minute to decide.”
“Deal,” Caleb said.
He held out his hand and Daniel pulled out the knife.
“Ashley as well,” I said.
“What?” Caleb asked, as did Daniel.
“If we can’t have her. She’s going to be alone, Caleb. We can’t let her be on her own. Not now. She’s going to need someone. Ashley’s on their shit list as well. Let her have someone.”
Caleb turned back to his father and nodded. “Ashley gets a free pass as well.”
Daniel looked back and they all agreed.
A compromise had been met but whatever trust had been there as father and son had been completely severed.
Life, as we knew it, was now fucked beyond all means.
Epilogue
Emily
Something bad had happened. I didn’t know how I knew it, but there was a sense of doom lingering in the air.
I couldn’t breathe. My throat had closed up.
I jerked awake. My hand went to my neck as I sat up in a bed. I didn’t recognize the bed or any of the décor around me. Rubbing at my eyes, I tried to make sense of what I could see, but there was nothing there.