Chapter Nine

Brynna

" I don't want to go," I admit, my bottom lip quivering as Naz and I say goodbye a few blocks away from my father's house.

He reaches out, stroking the back of his hand down my jaw, his eyes soft. "I'll break you out without hesitation, little one. Just say the word."

I know he means it. If I call him for a rescue, he won't even hesitate to show up on my father's doorstep. He'll bring an army if that's what it takes. And he won't leave without me.

But…I don't want it to come to that. If there's a way out of this without more bloodshed, I want to find it. Despite their flaws, despite everything, I love my father and Niall, and I know they love me in the same fierce way. They aren't bad men. They're simply men, just like Naz. They're flawed and complicated and frustrating as hell. But they're my men, my family.

If there's a way out of this…well, there has to be a way out of this.

"Just let me try," I whisper. It's all I can do. Try. Go reassure my father and brother that I'm alive and try to keep them from escalating this war any further.

Naz jerks his chin in a nod, his amber eyes glittering with repressed emotion. "Be careful, Brynna. If they try to keep you from me…"

"They won't," I hurry to say, my soul quivering. "I'll stick to the story. It'll be fine." I place my hand on his arm, trying to calm him. "Just let me try, Naz. Please."

He exhales a sharp breath, and then nods again, his thumb against my bottom lip. "Do what you must, mi amor . I made my promise already. I won't break it."

I practically fling myself across the console against his chest, pressing my lips to his. He consumes me with his kiss again, searing his brand onto my soul, into my lungs. I accept it willingly, eagerly, breathing my own back into him.

And just like yesterday, I wrench myself out of his arms before I lose the willpower to do it at all. I throw myself from his SUV and slam the door, my feet flying down the sidewalk as I race toward my father's house, tears in my eyes.

If this doesn't work, I'm going to lose someone else I love. Cancer already stole my mother. Will war still Niall? My father? Naz? Am I going to be the reason the people I love destroy each other?

No. I'll wage war myself before I let that happen. I've gone along with their plans and been their obedient little princess my entire life. I haven't made waves. I've stayed in my place. I've done everything I was supposed to do because they said I was supposed to do it. Because I loved them enough to do it.

I've enabled them to my own damn detriment. I'm not doing it anymore. I know who I am now and what I want. His marks are still painted across my skin. His possession still sings in my veins.

He may be the god of war, but I'm the one who drove him to his knees. I'm not weak. I'm not helpless. I'm his .

"What the fuck are you doing?"

I wheel around, yelping as Niall's furious voice rips through the shadows half a block from the house.

He steps out from behind a tree, his furious green eyes locked on my face as he stomps toward me, dressed in the same suit he left in this morning. Only it's wrinkled now, and he looks like he's been through hell today.

Crap. He and my father have probably been worried for hours.

"You scared the crap out of me, Niall," I say, guilt whispering through me. It seems like every damn decision I make lately causes harm to someone I care about.

Naz swept into my life, turned it upside down, and everything has been spiraling out of control since. It would be easy to lay the blame at his feet, but it isn't his fault.

It's Newton's Third freaking Law. We're two objects colliding into one another, one no more responsible for the force of impact than the other. But the force of the collision bound us together, and the energy rippled outward, impacting everyone and everything around us.

"What the fuck were you doing with him?" Niall growls, his voice level.

"I…" I lick my lips, anxiety shooting through me.

"We've been tearing this fucking city apart, worried out of our goddamn minds that he was holding you hostage after he killed your bodyguards," he growls. "And he just brings you home?"

"I can explain," I whisper.

"Really?" His upper lip curls. "You can explain the fact that you threw yourself into his fucking arms and kissed him, Brynna?"

Shit. He saw us.

I didn't anticipate that, didn't plan for that. I didn't mean to kiss Naz this close to my father's house at all, honestly. But I did it anyway. Because when it comes to him, I can't stop myself.

"What the fuck are you thinking?" Niall asks, shoving a hand through his tousled hair. His voice is rough, the betrayal in it cutting bone deep. "It's Nazario Leyva."

"Don't," I whisper.

"Don't what? Remind you who you're dealing with?" He shakes his head at me, clearly frustrated. "He's dangerous, Brynna."

"You mean like you and Dad? Because people say the same thing about the two of you, Niall," I remind him, crossing my arms to glare at him. I don't know if there's a chill in the air or if it's in me, but I feel cold all the way to my bones. "He just doesn't pretend he's someone other than who he is the way you and Dad do."

Niall's lips compress into a disapproving line, but he doesn't say anything. He can't because he knows he's wrong here. Judging Naz for doing the same things he and Dad do every day is the height of hypocrisy.

It's sad, really. Niall wants to look down his nose at Naz, treat him as if he's somehow beneath him because of who he is, but they're cut from the same cloth. Naz is just more honest about who he is than my brother has ever been. He wants the mobster life and the reputation, but not the stains that come with it.

He can't have both. It doesn't matter how hard you scrub, blood doesn't come out once it's stained your soul. Naz understands this. My brother has yet to learn that lesson.

"He killed your bodyguards, Brynna," Niall says, his voice softer. "Men you've known for years. You know we can't let that stand."

"And why do you think that happened, big brother?" I ask, staring him right in the face. "What do you think could have possibly driven him that point?"

Niall clenches his jaw, his gaze shifting from mine.

"You and Dad have been attacking his organization for months. You've snatched businesses out from beneath him just to keep him from getting them. You've taunted him, pushed him, and what has he done in response, Niall? Until you killed two of his men and stole his drugs, what was his big crime?" I demand. "He talked with me at a freaking gala! That's it."

"He's using you," my brother grits out. "How do you not see that, Brynna? You've been down this road before. Our enemies think they can push you around on the board like a goddamn chess piece to get to us. Lombardi did it. Callahan tried it. Do you really think Nazario fucking Leyva is any different?"

"You don't even know him."

"And neither do you," he snaps, fire in his eyes. "All you know is the lie he's sold you. Whatever you think this is, it ends now."

I gape at him. "You don't get to tell me what to do, Niall. This is my life. Why can't you just let me live it for once? Why do you want me miserable so damn badly?"

He stares at me for a long, silent moment before he shakes his head. Something almost…sad floats through his gaze. "I've never wanted you miserable, deirfiúr . I've only ever wanted you happy and safe. Everything I've ever done; I've done to protect you."

"Yeah, well, maybe I'm tired of being a perfect little princess in a glass cage," I whisper, my throat burning as tears prick at my eyes. "Maybe I've been tired of being her for a long time, Niall."

He swallows, his jaw pulsing with emotion. "End it with Nazario or I'll tell Da," he says. "You know what he'll do if he finds out that he put his hands on you."

I stumble back a step, shock coursing through me. "You wouldn't."

"That's where you're wrong, baby sister. I would. I will." He holds my gaze, and I see the truth glittering in the depths of his eyes. Even if I hate him for it, he'll do it. Because I may chafe against my bonds…but he never has. He's my father's obedient little prince. And if I was born to be free, he was born to follow.

"Do it, and I'll never speak to you again, Niall. Neither of you," I whisper, my voice shaking with emotion. My hands shake too, fury and devastation coursing through me. My own damn brother would betray me, pit the man I love against the man who raised me. All because duty matters more to him.

Surprise flares in his eyes, as if I've startled him this time. "You'd choose him over your own family?"

Would I? Can I? Is that really the choice I'm going to be forced to make?

"Yes," I say, meeting his gaze, unflinching. "I'd choose him, Niall. Today or any other damn day, I'd choose him because he already chose me."

"Jesus Christ," Niall mutters, his lips twisting. "If you believe that, you're more na?ve than I thought, Brynna."

"He wasn't at the club today because of me, Niall. He intended to burn it down because of what you did." I pause a moment, letting that sink in. Without the club or the books my father keeps hidden inside, we'd lose millions. Potentially enough to ruin this family. "He changed his mind because he chose me instead. So yeah, I'd choose him. He deserves for someone to put him before this stupid war." I shoot my brother a sad smile. "And so do I."

I don't wait around for a response. There isn't anything else to say anyway. I turn and head for the house, leaving Niall to make up his own damn mind. He will anyway.

Half an hour later, my father is still hugging me when Niall stomps inside.

"Look who is home safe," Dad says, relief coloring his tone. "Your sister is a clever girl, Niall. She ran out the back and hid until she thought it was safe to make her way back here."

As far as stories go, it's paper thin. But my father has always preferred to believe a comforting lie than a hard truth when it comes to me. It's his weakness. He doesn't want to see what's right in front of his face, so he doesn't let himself.

Niall flicks his gaze in our direction and grunts. "Welcome back. I'm going to shower. I've got some prick's blood all over me."

I didn't see it outside, but he's right. Flecks of it stain his pants. It crusts his cuticles.

My heart clenches.

"What did you do?" I whisper.

He meets my gaze, his burning. "What I had to do. Thought you were being held hostage by a monster."

"I wasn't," I say, iron in my voice.

"Yeah, well, it's not like I knew that when I was trying to beat answers out of the motherfucker's man," he mutters.

"Niall!" Dad snaps. "Enough. You don't talk to her like that. She isn't part of this."

Niall glances from me to him. "Maybe it's time she is, Da. She's old enough. Might as well let her know what this family is willing to do to protect its own."

"I don't need to know," I whisper, my voice shaking. Why is he doing this? To prove a point? To punish me?

"Go on," he says. "Tell her what you plan to do to Nazario for what he did today. She should hear it. How else is she supposed to protect herself?"

Dad hesitates and then his eyes narrow. "I'm going to destroy his organization from the inside out using his own man against him."

I blink, my blood running cold. "What man?"

My dad smiles, a cold, vicious smile that sends a shiver ripping down my spine as he pats me on the head. "You don't need to worry about that, iníon . Just keep yourself far away from Nazario Leyva and let us worry about the details."

Niall meets my gaze, something glinting in his eyes that I don't understand. "Yes, keep yourself far away from Nazario," he says in a flat, emotionless voice that sends a chill racing through me. "Even his own people see him for the soulless monster he is. You don't want to end up caught in his trap."

He turns and walks away without another word, leaving me trembling in his wake. I know he was just trying to get a rise out of me…but the fact that one of Naz's own people is helping my family is terrifying.

Is Naz in danger? Am I?

Ha. Is that even a question? There's been nothing but danger since I dropped my books at his feet. And if there's danger now, it changes nothing.

Do his people really see him as a soulless monster?

A protest wells up from the depths of my soul at the thought. Naz is many things—dangerous, ruthless, brutal, a criminal, and a killer. Maybe he's even a monster. But he isn't soulless. Not even close.