Page 76 of In the Midst of Chaos

And he had perhaps been breaking the same way as I had since the moment we found out we could never be more than advisories to each other. That two kings couldn’t take the throne. He had been breaking alongside me, but I’d never seen it because he was too busy collecting the pieces.

“I’m sorry about that night,” he said. “I hated what I said to you, hated the tears in your eyes, but most of all, baby, I hated that you believed every word I said.”

My brows furrowed in confusion.

“I needed you away from me because I didn’t know who I could trust. The night of your vow, I suspected there was a lot more, but I did know your life was in danger, and if anyone got wind that you were my weakness or I was yours, it would have made that target even more massive. I just never thought you would’ve up and left the manor.”

He reached for a glass of water, then touched my chin and gently lifted it so I could open my mouth, and he poured it gently down my throat. The water felt divine. It was like I was reborn.

“Why didn’t you say anything? Didn’t you trust me?” I asked him.

“Fuck, baby, I trust you with my life, but there was the problem. You weren’t meant to be mine. At least far away, I got to keep an eye on you and know that if anyone tried to get you, I’d know who the rat was right away. As much as it killed me, you were safer away than next to me.”

I nodded because it made sense.

“I can’t believe we didn’t see it sooner,” Nash said, and I nodded again.

“I knew all along,” I whispered. Nash’s eyes flashed as he looked at me. “I just didn’t want to remember it.”

Chapter Twenty-Four

The last fewdays were full of revelations. I couldn’t keep them straight anymore. The only thing that kept me from going insane was the fact that Finley was alive and she was by my side.

After Riley showed up, she told us that her men had already picked up Sofia. From what I gathered, she was mostly kept in the dark about her father’s life, only knowing he had money, and he popped in and out of it when it was convenient for him.

Humberto betrayed Leon in exchange for his daughter but not before making sure that we would still be doing business with him.

I told my father to fuck his offer, but Humberto said he didn’t care if we killed his daughter; he had more. I couldn’t say the same about Finley. There wasn’t anyone like her.

So we had to agree to still be in business with him.

A few hours later, we got a text with a location. I rode as fast as I could, and when I saw the abandoned van, I felt like I was coming out of my damn skin.

I reached to open the door, and my father screamed at me because it could have been a bomb. I didn’t care; I just needed to see Finley. If I got a glimpse of her before the bomb blew to pieces, that would have been fine by me.

Luckily, it didn’t come to that.

Seeing her lying in the van, motionless, it scared the fuck out of me. To have her back but for her not to be there, I couldn’t imagine it.

I didn’t notice her smell; all I could see were the faded bruises, her haunted look. It was something that would be burned into my soul.

Now that all of that had settled, only two problems remained. We still needed to find Leon, and perhaps the worst of all was telling Huxley.

“Baby, you need rest,” I said as I walked into my room, and Finley was up.

She held onto the wall for support. I swore this girl was so fucking strong.

I walked up to her and helped her to sit on the sofa. Finley glared at me.

“I had it,” she snapped.

I put my hand on the armrest and the other by her head. I bent so I could look her in the eyes.

“Baby, I don’t fucking care if you had it. I know what you are capable of.” My voice sounded gruff, and she stared at me with wide eyes. “I know you don’t need me here—hell, you might not even want me here—but what I’m telling you, Fin, is that I’m not fucking going anywhere. You and me, it’s endgame. So I suggest you get used to it.”

She looked at me, her eyes blazing with fire at first, and then they went soft on me, and hell if that didn’t do something to me. It made me feel like I was finally in control of my life. Like all was right in the world.

“It feels weird, doesn’t it?” she asked as she licked her lips.

---