3. Chapter Two

Chapter Two

Skyla

I lay there numb, in shock, completely naked and broken as Asher slips out of the room with my nightgown clutched in his fist, as he disappears without so much as a backward glance. Fighting back the tears has been hard this entire day, but now? I can't hold them back any longer. I feel the tears begin pouring down my face, a twinge on my cheek from Asher's slap reminding me of the mark.

I don't understand. I don't get any of it. Was it really all for show? A game? That doesn't seem right. Things changed, slowly. It wasn't an overnight shift. We let down our guards; we opened up to each other. We…fell. Or maybe I'm the only one that did the falling. Sure as hell feels that way, as I'm left splattered against this stone slab in front of all these men.

A noise catches my attention, and I see Ronan has Vincent wrapped up in his arms, quickly whispering into his ear. Vincent is seething, and he catches the attention of several curious men around him. My eyes come to Liam, and I find him looking almost as furious as Vincent when my father speaks.

"Ronan, please escort my…daughter to her room."

He pauses on the word daughter, like it's unpleasant on his tongue, before him and the other men make their way out of the room one by one. Everyone leaves until it's just Ronan and me, with Liam and Vincent purposefully hanging towards the back of the group, probably so it doesn't look suspicious.

Ronan slowly steps towards me, picking up the discarded blindfold before wrapping it around my eyes. He speaks so softly, I almost don't hear him, his touch featherlight as he does.

"Are you okay, baby?"

"No," I whisper, my throat tightening by the second as the building tears continue to fall.

The world goes dark with the blindfold in place, and I feel Ronan's arms slip beneath my legs as he lifts me into his hold.

"I've got you, baby," he says, as he allows his lips to brush against my head.

He carries me out of the room, and I find myself burrowing into his chest as deeply as I can. A chill takes over me, scattering goosebumps across my body before I hear rustling and feel a thin material cover me. I grab onto it, the feel of what I can tell to be a man's shirt now wrapping around me like a blanket.

I take comfort in it, giving a weak smile to whoever gave it to me and whoever can see. It feels like it takes forever before we're back in my room. Maybe that's because we didn't get in a car this time. I'm not exactly sure where we are. Off-campus somewhere I'd assume, though not too far off. Then again, I wouldn't be surprised if they had that creepy ceremony room built somewhere on campus for convenience sake.

My feet touch the ground, and when the blindfold is removed from my eyes, I see Vincent to my left, Ronan to my right, and a shirtless Liam in front of me. We are back in my room already, and when my head whips around again, Liam is the first one to move. He closes the distance between us, burying my head into his chest as a sob I didn't know I was still holding in rips out of me.

"Shhh, shhh. It's okay, babygirl. Let it out. I've got you."

I release my hold on his dress shirt, letting it flitter to the ground as I cling to him for dear life. I feel a warm body press behind me, the familiar smell of Ronan overwhelming me as he wraps me in his arms.

"We both do," he says.

I continue to sob when I blink my eyes open and see Vincent standing several feet away, fists clenched, jaw tight. He looks like a bomb ready to go off, and when I reach for him, desperate for that special brand of comfort that only he's capable of, he jerks away.

It cracks my already bleeding heart, and he seems to be able to tell because he speaks.

"I'm not angry with you, Siren. I'm angry for you. I'm ready to tear through every single person that was in that goddamn room and lay their remains at your feet. I can't touch you right now," he says, his body shaking uncontrollably as he does.

I reach for him once more and he easily dodges me again.

"P-please," I whisper brokenly. "I-I need you," I say as my words begin to catch, feeling myself on the edge of one of those lovely panic attacks.

He stares at me for several seconds before he reaches out a shaking hand. It comes to cup my face, cradling me surprisingly tender as he speaks.

"I'm here."

My eyes fall closed at that and I sob. I don't even know for how long and I don't even really know why. For the humiliation of tonight? The pain? The hurt? Did any of the bleeding, branding and tearing really hurt compared to Asher's slap and his vile words?

I don't think so.

Ronan slips away for a moment, rustling around in the bathroom before coming back out with a first aid kit. He begins tending to my burnt and bleeding palms. I almost tell him not to worry about it, that my hand isn't the body part that hurts the most right now. Unfortunately, I don't think there is anything in that kit for a shattered heart.

Eventually we make our way onto the bed, my body on top of Liam's, with Ronan and Vincent on either side of me. I feel several pairs of hands running through my hair, rubbing up and down my back, drawing mindless patterns on my hip. The silence is heavy, it's deafening, and I can't take it anymore.

"Why would he do that?" I whisper brokenly, not needing to elaborate.

They are all silent for several moments before Ronan speaks.

"I don't know, baby. But I'm going to find out."

I feel him begin to shift and I cling to him desperately, looking to him with panicked eyes as I shake my head.

"Please don't go. Stay. P-please," I whimper.

Ronan's blue eyes soften on me instantly, and he leans in pressing his lips to mine as he nods.

"Of course. Whatever you need, baby."