Page 64 of Tempted to Rebel

“A vase,” Rage replies, unimpressed. “What about it?”

“This was your mother’s,” Thanatos snaps, slamming the vase to the floor. It shatters around our feet, the heavy base the only piece remaining whole. The remaining pieces skid across the foyer and tumble into the walls, some of the larger pieces sliding beneath the antique grandfather clock in the corner, with the more fragile ones breaking into invisible little slivers that will take days to properly clean up.

As the glass breaks, I cry out in shock and jump back, but I’m not fast enough to avoid getting hit. Blood streaks across the tops of my feet and on the side of one of my ankles. “Ah!” The cuts sting, but it’s nothing compared to thecrackof Rage’s fist meeting Thanatos’ jaw.

“What iswrongwith you?” Rage snarls, shoving him into the dining room table. “You’ve been a dick all morning. Why show up at all if you’re only going to make things worse?”

Someone lifts me from behind and carries me into the living room, setting me down on the edge of the couch away from the glass. Ruin walks around to my front and kneels at my feet to inspect the damage, careful to remove the remaining shards off of my skin.

“For fuck’s sake,” Rebel huffs, stomping into the dining room after his brothers. “Can’t you two stop measuring each other’s dicks long enough to actually accomplish something? What’s the problem—you missed your little foreplay session this morning and had to beat your meat without any spank bank material? Get a grip!”

Spank bank material?

Embarrassment hits me like a freight train. Ruin disappears to grab the medical kit under the kitchen sink, but as soon as he returns, I grip his shoulders to keep myself from shaking. He doesn’t react, too focused on pouring peroxide on my cuts and wiping them clean to pay attention to the argument brewing in the other room.

But I hear everything loud and clear.

“She asked me to train her,” Thanatos grinds out, his voice pinched like he’s in pain. “So that’s what I’m doing. Trainingyourgirl, watching her like a fucking hawk all hours of the day, listening to you guys have sex with her over and over again?—”

I cover my mouth with my hands.

“I never took you for the jealous type,” Rebel sneers, kicking a piece of glass hard enough that it clatters across the hardwood. “But I guess it makes sense. You finally roll back into town and can’t wait for your piece of the pie. Well guess what? I’m not sharing her with someone who can’t control his fucking temper. You hurt her,again, and I’m sure as shit getting tired of it.”

“I’m never meant to?—”

“Rebel’s right,” Rage sighs, sounding exhausted. “You need to apologize. Not just for the vase, but for the things you said to her before.”

There’s a beat of silence between the three of them, and then they all appear from around the corner. Ruin just finished wrapping my feet and both ankles in a bandage, tucking the end neatly inside one of the bands. It’s overkill for the amount of damage taken, but he seems satisfied with the job, idly rubbing his thumbs down the arch of my foot.

I run my hand through his hair, scratching his scalp as he stands up. “Thank you, Ruin.” He slips out of the room without saying a word, but I have no doubt he’s watching from a safe distance.

“Apologize,” Rage demands, pushing Thanatos closer to me.

The oldest brother cuts his gaze to the window, the deep scowl on his lips making him look more like Rage than ever before. Finally, after a few minutes of tense silence, he stares at my feet and unclenches his jaw. “I shouldn’t have thrown the vase.”

I fold my hands in my lap and wait for him to continue.

He flicks his gaze up to mine and winces. “I didn’t mean—I don’t want to hurt you.”

That hasn’t always been the case, but this time, I think he means what he says. “I believe you.”

Some of the tension in his shoulders relaxes. “Thank you.”

Rage doesn’t look pleased, but at least he isn’t as angry as he was five minutes ago. He claps Thanatos on the shoulder and spins him around. “If you hurt her again, intentional or otherwise, I don’t care that you’re my flesh and blood. You’redead, and she’s going to decide how long we make you suffer. Do you understand?”

Thanatos nods, his mouth pressed into a grim line. “I understand.”

“Don’t you fucking forget it, asshole.”

Rage runs a hand down his face and turns back to me. “You don’t have to forgive him. Hell, you don’t have to forgiveme.I’ve been—” He grits his teeth—“stubborn.Demanding.”

“A dick,” Rebel chimes in, smiling cheekily.

“I have,” Rage admits slowly. “I’ve hurt you, too, and although I don’t regret the things I’ve done to keep you, Celia, I’m—” He kneels at my feet in the same spot Ruin did moments ago. Taking my hands in his, he presses a kiss to each of them. “I’m a better man than I’ve shown you. Iwillbea better man, for you and for our family.”

I don’t know what to say to him. To any of them. None of this feels real—I could wake up any moment and still be locked inside that cage, cold and angry and afraid?—

Rebel leans over Rage’s shoulder and kisses me, soothing my worries away with practiced ease. “Nothing’s changed, baby, I promise.” He winks, repeating the same turn of phrase he said yesterday when I found out I wasn’t pregnant. Except everythingdoesfeel different—like we’re about to step into a new chapter together.

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