Page 32 of God of War

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'mhis.

"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."

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