Page 49 of Sin and Deception

"And that's not giving up?" Xander shouted, his anger escalating. "Do you even remember your vow, Theo? Maybe you didn't make it in front of God or our families, but you made it to me."

"My vow?" I questioned, raising an eyebrow. "What does that have to do with anything?"

He scoffed, his words fueling the flames of our heated argument.

"I can't believe you would even ask that. Your vow means everything—everything—in this situation, Theo. Youpromised me that no matter how difficult things became or what our enemies threw at us, you would never abandon us. How could you forget something like that?"

Our voices grew louder as we stood up, facing each other with fiery gazes.

"How dare you think I need reminding," I seethed, and my anger peaked.

"I'm offering a solution to keep us safe, and you question my loyalty? Don't you see my father's actions brought us here, Xander?" I cried out. "His foolish pride, his insatiable ego! And for what? To prove to his sons that he possessed the courage to take down the leader of our enemy?"

I turned away, pacing back and forth in the small cabin of the plane. I couldn't stand still—my fury was building inside me like a raging inferno, threatening to consume me.

"And as if that wasn't enough, as if he hadn't already caused enough damage, he defied orders and chased after that car. He killed a child, for God's sake!" My voice echoed through the cabin as I continued pacing like a trapped animal. At that moment, I hated being on this plane. All I wanted was to run away. To escape from my past, my family, and the cursed blood flowing through my veins.

But I couldn't. This cursed legacy was a part of me, a weight on my shoulders that I could never shake off. No matter how much I wished to be someone else, the burden of this curse was mine.

“Theo.”

“Theo,” Nerine’s voice sliced through my thoughts like a sharp knife, startling me and pulling me back to the reality ofour current situation. Unable to meet her gaze, I turned away and focused on the clouds outside the plane window. Fluffy, white clouds drifted by, peacefully displaying purity and cleanliness, starkly contrasting the dark, twisted path that had led me here. I was tainted, marked by my family’s sins, since the moment I drew my first breath as an infant.

Shaking my head, I muttered bitterly, “The sins of the father fall on the son. Isn’t that how it goes?”

“Fuck that nonsense,” Nerine exploded from behind me, her voice laced with anger and frustration. “How can you believe such bullshit?”

I could feel their disappointment and pain radiating from them. I was hurting them, just as I had feared I would. They shouldn’t expect anything less from me.

I knew deep down that I bore the blame for this mess. It was all because of my connections to my fucked up family.

“Honestly, I don’t know how the two of you can still stand to be around me.” My words hung heavy in the air for what felt like an eternity before a hand suddenly landed on my forearm and pulled me around.

Nerine stood before me, her usually bright sea-blue eyes now clouded with pain and frustration. Xander watched from his seat, a mix of sadness, disappointment, and understanding playing across his face.

Without warning, Nerine punched me in the stomach with surprising strength, causing me to stumble backward.

“What the fuck?” I exclaimed, caught off guard by her sudden aggression.

“I thought you were smarter than this! When did youbecome so stupid?” she demanded, hitting me again, harder this time.

I shifted away from her blows but hit the small white leather couch against the side of the plane.

“Calm the fuck down,” I demanded, trying to give her a few seconds to release her anger before I grabbed her hands in an attempt to stop her constant assault.

But she wouldn’t listen. “No! I’m serious, Theo!” she yelled again, pushing me so hard that I fell back onto the sofa.

She stood over me, her beautiful face contorted with anger as she shook her head in disbelief. “Are you a dumbass? Only a dumbass says the shit you just said.”

I took a deep breath, trying to calm myself down as well. “Nerine?—”

“Don’t Nerine me. None of us are going anywhere. Is that clear?” She kept yelling, not giving me a chance to respond. “We can’t just snap our fingers and become different people. I’m the prime example of how that fucking doesn’t work. You will not come find me just to run away. I need you now more than ever. Do you hear me?”

She jumped on top of me and hit me again, this time pounding her fist into my chest.

I managed to capture her wrists this time, pulling her toward me and ordering, “Stop punching me.”

“You aren't going anywhere until you get it through your thick skull. None of us are.” Her voice was shaking now, tears streaming down her face and falling onto mine. “We’re a family now.”

---