Page 141 of Muted

Chaz narrows his eyes at me and shakes his head once to shut me up. Grinding my jaw, I fight the urge to remind her again that in every scenario, I always want her to fight. To never give up and do what she needed to survive.

“How can you want to be with someone who’s more concerned for their own life than keeping five other people safe? Jesus… it’s so fucking selfish! And I tried. Ireallyfucking tried to make myself do it. But my body refused to move those final inches. Even with the violence he promised for all of you, I couldn’t move.”

“I swear to God, pumpkin. If you’d listened, I would have brought you back just to belt your ass for the next five decades.” Ronnie steps into the room with Elaine following close behind.

It’s clear the two of them have been listening. Elaine seems broken, knowing the decision that Walston tried to force her niece to make.

As they come closer, Susu shuts her eyes and drops her head, chin hitting her chest in shame. His heavy footsteps cross to the bed as he eyes all three of us surrounding her.

“Yeah… I don’t like this,” he grumbles, then pushes my arm, forcing me to stand up from the bed so he can sit in front of my girl. Eyeing Vance and Chaz next, he lifts a brow, but neither of them moves away.

Ronnie glances over his shoulder and smirks at me, and I justknowI gave in way too easily just now. Whatever. Fuck him. I’ll give up the win if he can pull her out of her head.

“Narcissistic, gas-lighting, manipulating piece of shit. That’s what he is. People like him thrive on tearing others down to make themselves big. They’ll say whatever they can, so even if they lose, they’ll still come out on top if you take their words to heart. Look at me, pumpkin.” He lifts her chin and waits until her eyes find his.

Sighing, his shoulders slump. “You. Did. Nothing. Wrong. You hear me, girl? Not giving in doesn’t mean you don’t care about anyone in this room. It means you’re a goddamn fighter, and you always have been.”

“Language, honey,” Elaine murmurs, but it isn’t filled with any heat.

He glares at his wife. “Tell me I’m wrong, then?” Looking around at all of us, he asks, “Anyone? No? Didn’t think so.” His arms go around Susu’s waist and he tugs her into his side, forcing Chaz and Vance to release their hold on her. “Now, I’m not going to say you can’t feel all that you’re feeling, but what I’m not going to do is allow you to sit here and blame yourself for not dying.”

His voice cracks on the last word and no matter how much of an ass he is, he loves the fuck out of my girl. Murmuring something into her hair, she nods a few times and hugs him tightly.

She’s been healing up fairly well over the past few days, so seeing her cling to him is a good sign of how her body has been feeling. With a kiss to her head, he stands up. Looking around at all of us, he huffs in irritation.

“I still don’t like this, but I’ll accept it under two conditions.” Elaine’s watery giggle has a grin growing across my face because she’s just an absolutely sweet person without any hint she’s intimidated by her husband’s threats.

Crossing my arms, I stare him down with a mock stern face. He couldn’t care less about my size. Holding a finger up in my face, he says, “One. You willalltreat her like a goddamn lady. She deserves all the respect. If I hear otherwise, well… I won’t hurt you, but I’ll certainly remove her from the equation and bring her back home.”

Susu’s head jerks up, and she stares at him with her mouth hanging open. “What does—” Chaz uses his finger to cover her lips and leans toward her.

“Let’s hear his other condition first.”

Batting his finger away, she glares at him. “I really don’t think it matters. I haven’t said I’m going anywhere.”

“Sweet girl, yes you are,” Elaine sings to her.

“Two!” Ronnie raises his voice to be heard over mine and Vance’s laughter. Chaz is grinning like a fool but keeps himself in check.

With a finger, Ronnie points directly at each one of us. “Not a single one of you crawls into that bed unless there is a third person in this room. I won’t have any shenanigans happening under my roof. Easiest way to avoid that is no one is left alone, or the door stays open.”

I bite my cheek and really fucking debate enlightening the old man. Fuck it, I want to win this round. Just as I begin with, “You know—”

“Theo, don’t do it,” Susu whispers to me and I toss her an apologetic look.

Staring down Ronnie Fisher, I say, “There doesn’t have toonlybe—”

Elaine starts coughing loudly when Ronnie’s face turns into one of confusion. Patting him on the shoulder, she ushers him from the room. “They’ll agree, darling. Susanna, I’ll be up later with some dinner, unless you’d like to try coming down tonight?”

There’s a twinge of hopefulness in her voice, and I can see Susu begin to crumble under the guilt for hiding in her room. “None of that, songbird,” Vance says, sitting down at her side again.

“I’ll come down, Aunt Elaine. Promise.” Christ, it’s so fucking amazing to hear her finally speaking again, even if not directly to me at the moment. With a quick nod, happy she’s made a decision, Elaine pulls Ronnie from the room and shuts the door behind her.

We all chuckle when his voice raises behind the door with something along the lines of ‘What did I just say?’ being bellowed down the hallway.

All three of us turn and face our girl. The small smile at her uncle’s ramblings falls away, and she gulps once, taking us in.

“Let’s get you tucked back in for a bit before dinner. That was a lot and I’m sure you’re exhausted,” Chaz says, quickly picking up the mantle as caretaker. Vance tugs back her blanket as she crawls her way up the bed and slips below the sheet.

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