Page 34 of Jared's Redemption

“It’s because in her mind, she was doing the right thing. You were protecting the only family you had ever known. My mother thought Steffen would whisk me away to live like royalty and be safe in some silly mansion. Stop making digs at me because you struggle at letting people in. I’m not going anywhere and you can’t scare me off.” I sneer at him, crossing my arms and regretting it as my shoulder strains and protests with the healing skin grafts.

“What makes you think you get a choice? When they discharge you today, you’re going home with your father.” He says, confusion hitting me heavy. This was news to me and I shook my head in denial.

“No.”

“I’m going to miss your attitude.” He tilts his head, a predatory gleam in his eye. My chin tilts up as I hold my head taller.

“You won’t miss anything, because I’m going home with you.”

Jared shakes his head, standing up as a nurse peers into the room to freeze when she makes eye contact with him. This entire time, he had been pushing me away, planning this. My heart was screaming in my chest to stop him, to do something.

“Goodbye, Lunatic.” His voice is cold and final. I watch his back as he leaves me again. After seeing him turn away and leave me behind so many times, my heart should be used to it. But nausea rolls up my throat and grips my chest in fire as my heart rate beeps an alarm on the monitor behind me. The sound of my heart breaking, the walls closing in on me.

“Slow down, Luna. You need to take some deep breaths and look at me, okay?” The nurse says, gripping my chin to turn my face.

“Are you hurting? Can you show me where?” She asks, her hands fluttering over my body as if she can find the source.

“Everywhere.” I confess, swiping away angry tears as she nods sadly, peeling away my bandages to clean and redress them. She was kind enough to give me something to help me relax, probably sick of listening to me scream for Jared. But nothing could stop the feeling of abandonment.

My father limped into the room a few hours later, resting heavily on his cane while we stared at each other in uncomfortable silence. My father’s head of gray hair, the wrinkles around his eyes and permanent frown lines were on the face of a man who was nearly a stranger. Aden walks into the room, giving us both an excuse to mutter our hellos and look away as he stepped forward to help me into my wheelchair.

“You look worse today than you did yesterday. Possibly we are removing you too suddenly and should keep you under medical supervision for a while more?” My father asks, his voice deep and scratchy from his age and smoking. I shake my head quickly, horrified at the idea of being trapped here any longer.

“We got you a room set up on the first floor.” Aden tells me, pushing me through the hospital and through the front door as I bite my lip.

“I don’t want to live with you.” I tell them. My father shakes his head, snorting a laugh, before climbing into the large SUV first.

“I knew that by just looking at you. When have you ever given up and accepted defeat?” My father asks as Aden helps slide me onto the seat beside him.

“Look at you. You died to prove to me that you had a right to our family business. Instead of talking to me.” My father says, shaking his head.

“You didn’t listen.” My voice gives away the frustration. My father sighs heavily, holding a hand out to me. I stare at it, refusing to cooperate.

“I wanted to protect you, my little girl. Your brother putting his life in danger is more than my old heart can handle. Now I deal with that, but double?” He says, shaking his head. As I look at my brother who shakes his head, I roll my eyes.

“I’m stronger than Aden.” I mutter. My father laughs, nodding his head as he takes my hand in his.

“You are stronger than us all.” He says. I clear my throat, looking down at our entwined hands.

“Let me be equal with Aden in the family business. I want to go out on missions and I need you to trust that I’ll come home alive.”

My father says nothing, squeezing my hand as he looks out the window. Aden sighs, shaking his head while pulling his phone out. He types a quick message and I squint up at him.

“Tell him if he wants to know how I’m doing so fucking bad, he can come see me for himself.” I snap, seeing Jared’s name on the screen.

Aden snorts a laugh, but types the message out anyway, and I bite my lip to hide the smile. My brother throws in a few extra colorful insults in the text and, for once, I felt like a normal family. Except my father had enough weapons to stock an armory on him at this moment.

“If I let you go where your heart leads, then you will still come home and work for me?” My father asks. I smile, resting my head on his shoulder like I did as a child.

“He is my home, papa.” I say.

Chapter 25- Jared

My hands were slick with blood, but I kept my grip on the knife as I slid it through the taught skin on his chest. Steffen screams, thrashing in the binds that hold him to the chair I’ve bolted to the floor. I was torturing him in the room I brought Luna to at first, in the basement of Alec and Markus’ house, as poetic justice. It was nearly night, and I was exhausted, but I wasn’t ready to stop.

“You bastard!” He roars, spitting blood at my feet. My lip curls up into half a smile as he looks up at me with wild eyes, one of them swollen shut with dried blood crusting half his face. His blonde hair was patchy after I had ripped chunks of it out while he begged me to stop.

“Stef, you have begged and cried more than Luna while she was dragged by her hair through the pits of Hell.” I say with a smug chuckle, wiping the blade on his pants. Steffen drops his head forward, a whimper seeping from him as his chest bleeds slow and steady.

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