Page 82 of Ruthless Rebel

“Lily,” he breathes out her name with a contented smile on his face, and my heart starts to break. “My sweet Lilypad,” he sighs, looking up to the sky, and his hand goes loose in mine.

“I’m here, Logan, it’s okay, I’m here, just stay with me, please,” she begs, breaking her way out of Max’s arms and crawling on her knees to reach her twin. “You can’t leave me, remember? It’s just me and you against the world. You have my back, and I have yours,” she sobs, throwing her arms around him, but he doesn’t respond, he can’t.

Because Logan Royton is dead.

She must feel his life slip away beneath her, because she pulls back and starts to scream. “No, please no, I need you, don’t fucking leave me,” she sobs, moving to start CPR on him, and watching her pump her hands against his lifeless chest will probably stay with me forever. “No, you promised me, Lo, you promised you would never leave me, and you never break your promises,” she blubbers out, as Arthur tries to console her.

“He’s gone,” he chokes out, and more cries sound out around me, as I drop back from my knees to the floor, staring at his body in shock.

“No, he can’t be gone, he was all I had left, I can’t lose him,” she cries, her entire body beginning to tremble, as she starts to shake her brother. “Wake up, please, Logan, just come back to me, I can’t do this without you, you have to wake up, please,” she begs, her voice breaking completely on that last word, as Zack staggers to his feet and moves towards her.

“Lils,” he breathes, dropping back to his knees beside her, and gently grabbing her chin between his fingers. “Lils, he’s gone, Sweetheart, he isn’t coming back,” he forces out, tears streaming down his face, as Helen breaks completely, and Jace has to slowly drop them down to the floor just to keep hold of her.

His words seem to get through to her as she mutters, “No, he’s not gone, he can’t be.” Then the sobs shake her entire body, as Zack pulls her into his arms and they cry together, yet all I can do is stare at Logan’s body.

Two minutes ago he was telling me he loved me, and now he’s dead.

How fucked up is that?

“Asher,” Elle screams in a panic, and I turn just in time to see his body go limp in Marcus’ arm, as he struggles to hold him upright, and all I can do is watch in horror as he passes out completely.

My eyes flick around the driveway, as sirens start to blare in the distance, and I can see the sorrow and pity in the eyes of the security team. Like them, I watch as a family mourns their dead son and brother, the man I love, while the rest of them rush to Asher’s side. Marcus performs CPR as Max stems the bleeding in his shoulder, while Elle screams his name over and over, and all I can do is sit and watch it all unfold.

I can hear Jace calling my name, shaking my shoulders, as two of the security guys lift Helen off the floor, but my eyes only move between Logan and Asher. One of them already dead, and the other one dying, and it’s all my fault.

I should have known that monsters don’t ever get happy endings.

41

ASHER

He’s dead, Michael Riviera is dead. I couldn’t save him, I couldn’t stop my father, and now I have to deliver the news to the other person I couldn’t save. I’m sitting outside the large house in a town car, wishing I was anywhere but here, yet I have no choice. Michael is dead, and now I am the only one who knows where she is. Exiting the car, I walk up the driveway towards the huge front door of the house. A house I only have the address of because Michael trusted me with it, and I failed. So I can’t fail her, not again.

I raise my hand to ring the bell, when a voice calls out from behind me, “Well I certainly hope you’re here looking for me,” he drawls, and I turn to find a guy around my age, staring at me with a smirk. When I don’t respond, he closes the distance between us, his eyes trailing over me from top to bottom and back again. “So, are you?” He asks, biting his lip, and his closeness makes me nervous, but not uncomfortable.

“I’m here for Elle,” I finally respond, and his face drops.

“Are you Marcus?” He asks, and I almost laugh. I bet when I finally find her, she wishes it was Marcus and not me, but I fear we might have lost him for good too, the moment his father was killed.

“No,” I reply simply, not elaborating any further, but that only makes his smile return.

“Ah, so you’re the infamous Asher Donovan,” he purrs, inspecting me even closer, as he walks around me like a predator circling his prey. “You’re not what I expected at all,” he adds, licking his lips, and I can’t help but feel under scrutiny.

“What were you expecting?” I snap, irritated by his proximity and presence, and his grin only grows.

“No one as delicious as you, my little psycho,” he quips back, his little nickname getting to me more than it should.

“And you are?” I question, even though from his attitude I am pretty sure I know exactly who this little ray of sunshine is.

“My name is Logan Royton.”

The memory slips away,and then there is just pain. So much pain. Everything hurts and I don’t know why. My eyes won’t open, why won’t they open? Where am I? Where is Logan?

Pain.

There is just so much pain.

“Come on,my little psycho, I know you want me,” Logan drawls, watching me from his spot on the sofa, while I sit on the floor with my daughter.

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