Page 177 of The Pact

Thea’s eyes soften as I pull away from her.

“I love you so much, Thea. I don’t want things to end this way.”

“I don’t either, Cole. Nothing can change the way I feel about you.” There’s something about the way she’s staring at me, really seeing me, that makes me reconsider. Maybe things don’t have to end like this.

I sit back on my legs and look up at her. “I hoped that there was still a chance for us. When you told Sutton you loved him, it shook me up. My little attempts at distracting my brothers wasn’t cutting it. That’s why there was only one thing left for me to do. Although, those plans got derailed with you confronting me and Jake showing up to the party. Maybe we can still make it work.”

“What are you talking about, Cole?”

I smile proudly at Thea, my hands resting on her thighs. “Getting rid of my brothers, of course.”

THEA

“Sutton?” It slips out as a whisper. I can’t accept it unless it comes from him because it’s too horrifying to even imagine. The cool and collected mask I wore while he told me all of his dirty secrets can’t hold up to this part of his confession.

Cole runs a hand through his hair. I can see a sliver of regret in whatever human part of him still exists. “I didn’t want it to come to this. I tried other ways first. All I wanted was for them to be distracted, to not give you attention so that you’d turn to me.” I search his face. A chill sweeps me as I realize Damian was right. Someone was trying to take them down, however, it wasn’t Gavin. It was their own brother.

“Damian’s computer.” I replay that day over in my head. I remember Sutton comforting his brother while Cole stood back and didn’t say a thing. It’s all making sense now.

He nods. “And Wesley’s reviews. Those are the things you knew about. But there’s other shit I did. I tried keeping Damian tied up with the finances at the bakery being off and stealing Wesley’s meds. I wanted their attention on anything but you.”

My mouth is suddenly dry, and it’s hard to swallow.

“Sutton…how?”

I think I might be sick if he tells me the details, although I need to know for sure.

“When you and Sutton confessed your feelings, something inside of me snapped. I knew it was only a matter of time before the others fell too, if they hadn’t already. All of my efforts to show you I was your perfect match backfired. It drove you to become closer with all of us. I knew if you didn’t feel the same way about my brothers yet, it would eventually happen. So there was only one logical thing left to do.”

I’m silent. My body’s trembling and I’m not sure if it’s shock from my head injury or his words. Keeping my emotions stifled is becoming harder. I want to lash out at him for his lies. I want to cry because I should have been smarter than this and I’m fucking heartbroken that Cole isn’t who I thought he was. I want to scream because I have no control right now. I’ve given all of it to him—willingly.

“Sutton had to be the first to go. He was too close to you and it had to look like an accident. That was simple enough. Motorcycles are inherently dangerous, especially up here in the mountains. All I had to do was weaken the chain of his bike. Eventually, it’d give out. I honestly expected to take longer.”

No. No. No. I thought his admission would be enough for me to come to terms with what he’s done, but it’s not. I can’t wrap my head around Cole trying to kill Sutton because of me. How could anyone ever do something like that, especially to their family?

“We don’t know if he’s dead. He might pull through,” I say weakly.

Cole shrugs. “He might, but if he’s incapacitated in the hospital, he’ll be easy to finish off.”

I try to control my quivering lip. Cole has truly gone off the deep end. There’s no bringing him back. The only way I’m surviving this is if I convince him I can be just as psychotic…no, more. He needs to believe that I’ll do anything to be with him.

Swallowing, I prepare myself for what I’m about to say. “If we get rid of them, everything will be ours? The house, the businesses, the money?”

He doesn’t answer right away. I think he’s evaluating my words, my intentions—aligning them with his. His eyes squint as he processes it all.

“Yes. All of it,” he confirms, his voice heavy with suspicion.

Nodding, I offer my advice. “If Sutton pulls through, we can read over his chart and see what meds they’re giving him. I’m sure we can get our hands on something and give him a little too much in his IV. They’ll think a tired nurse gave him the wrong dosage.” Cole eyes me in disbelief. “I can convince Wes to take me on the same hike we went on before. There’s a ledge there that’s pretty dangerous. He could have an accident. He could fall. Damian might be the hardest, although with two of his brothers dead, it might not be too far off that he didn’t want to live anymore.”

All the scenarios hurt to speak of. It hurts even more making Cole believe I would do these things to them. However, I need him to be completely convinced. “You need me, Cole. It’s this or a life on the run. If you kill me or they think you took me against my will, they won’t stop chasing you until they find you. Our only way out is to fight. And you need my help with that. They still trust me. I can get close to them. Then, when they’re gone, it’s all ours.” I let a grin creep over my mouth.

Cole turns his head away. I can tell that he’s fighting against what his heart wants and what his head is telling him. I shrug and nonchalantly say. “Up to you. But if I were you, I’d take the money and the girl.”

He looks back at me, trying to detect any lies. “There’s no coming back from killing family. Are you good with that?”

“Cole, they’re your family, not mine.”

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