Ride or Die (Rejects Paradise 4)
I raise a brow, turning my stare back on Nic. “So much for having their approval, huh?”
Nic raises his chin, not sorry at all. “I did what I had to do to keep you safe.”
“You had your men put their hands on me. You held a gun to my head. How is any of that keeping me safe? You’re fucking delusional, Nic, but now your time is up.”
Nic takes a step toward me, and my hand instantly begins shaking, even more so when the tip of the gun presses against his chest. I feel my heart breaking, dread sinking into my stomach, and the little voice inside my head telling me that I’m not strong enough to pull this off. “You think you have the balls to shoot me?” he questions, leaning in and forcing me to hold my arm out stronger. “We’ve been here already once today. Let me bring you in on a little secret; you don’t.”
“Really?” I laugh, dropping my eyes to his leg. “How’s that bullet wound feeling?”
He grins. “Peachy,” he says. “But you know damn well that’s not what I’m talking about. You couldn’t take a kill shot, so what the fuck are you doing here if not just trying to waste my time? You want to shoot my other leg? How about mixing it up and going for an arm?”
“I already told you what I’m here for,” I say, flinching the gun to show just how serious I am, done with his bullshit attitude.
I feel the boys’ eyes on us, watching with caution, and as Nic takes in the seriousness deep within my eyes, his brows pinch as betrayal washes over him. He looks at me like I’m some kind of stranger, unable to truly comprehend what’s happening right in front of him. “You’re really serious,” he questions, his eyes bouncing over my face, taking me in, hardly able to believe what he’s seeing. His voice breaks. “You’ve come here to end my life after everything we’ve been through?”
Tears well in my eyes, but I hold my ground as my voice drops to a broken whisper. “You need to be stopped,” I tell him, fighting the tears as they begin to drop. “I’ve tried so many times. I’ve begged you, I’ve forgiven you, I’ve let you back in, but it never works. I’ve done everything that I can to turn this around, but you just keep hurting me. I can’t let it go on anymore. Don’t you see how bad you’ve become? You’re as bad as Kian was, and it’s only getting worse. Killing my men was the final straw. They were good guys with families at home who loved them. You’re not the Nic I once knew, you’re nothing but a cold-blooded murderer.”
Pain twists across his face, his eyes dropping with disappointment as the boys secretly move around us. “That’s what you really think of me?” he says on a whispered breath, disbelief and hurt in his tone. “That I’m just like my father?”
I nod as the tears roll down my cheeks. “I’ve been trying so hard to hold onto that love I once had for you, wishing that I could somehow bring you back, but you’re gone. This world has changed you, and it’s on me to stop you. I can’t let you go on hurting people the way that you do.”
Nic stumbles back a step as if finally seeing things through my eyes, and when Sebastian takes a step toward me and turns to face Nic, the tension rises. “I’m sorry, bro,” Sebastian says, his voice deep and pained. “She’s right. This has gone on for too long. You’re going to get us all killed, and I can’t stand back and watch you destroy yourself.”
Nic looks at him as though he's never quite felt pain like it, but when Eli moves into my other side, it only gets worse. “I’m sorry, Nic,” Eli grumbles. “It kills me to stand against you like this, but this road you're traveling down. I can’t … I joined the widows for the brotherhood not to become a killer.”
Nic scoffs and then looks back at Kai. “What about you?” he grunts, saving the worst for last. “Are you turning your back on me too?”
Kai shakes his head. “You’re my best friend, bro. None of us are turning our back on you, and you know damn well that we’d follow you to the ends of the earth, but something’s gotta give. You’re going to get us all killed over a bullshit war that you could have ended. Your selfish need to always be at the top is tearing us down, and I’m afraid that once you finally reach the top, you’ll have no one there holding you up.”
Nic glances around, looking at the boys before finally coming back to me. He stares at me for a long, drawn out moment before stumbling back a step, almost as though the weight of the moment is too much for him to bear. “I have. I’ve turned into my fucking father,” he says with a whisper, a hint of disbelief and horror surfacing in his tone. “You’re fucking right. I did the one thing I always said that I didn’t want to do, but I’m just like him. Right down to the fucking core.”