Page 43 of Don't Break My Heart
He stands and bends down, placing a kiss on my cheek, softly. “You’re free.”
My heart constricts. Words that should be music to my ears but instead are like a bullet directly to my heart, shattering it into millions of tiny shards. I suck in a shaky breath, trying to get my emotions in check. But I have nothing. I can’t do this anymore. A tear slips down my cheek. “You’re done with me just like that?” I whisper through clenched teeth, pain radiating through me in a way I have never felt before. It would hurt less if he actually shot me.
His face hardens, his walls shooting up as he blocks me out. “Go and live your life, Sloane, forget about me.”
Forget about him. That’s what last night was, his way of saying goodbye to me. Tears blur my eyes now, and I blink them away. I won’t give him the satisfaction. How the fuck am I supposed to live my life without him? He corrupted me, got under my skin and into my heart. Now that I know what it’s like to live with him in my life, I don’t want him to leave me. To send me away like it was nothing.
I flick my head back to him. “You’re a coward, too scared to let me succeed at your side, so you fucking send me away.”
I see the rage bubbling up and out of him now as he turns back toward me, locking his dark eyes with mine. He says nothing, just breathes like a raging bull, nostrils flaring.
I want to hurt him, inflict the same pain he is. “You know it doesn’t matter if you send me away, I’m still the only one who can sign off oneverything. Even if you divorce me, your fucked-up papa left it all to me.”
His chest heaves. “That’s where you’re wrong, Sloane, our lawyers found a loophole. That power is no longer in your hands.” He turns then he’s gone, striding off the jet, hands in his expensive suit pockets, looking every bit the mafia don we all know he now is.
My furious eyes lock with Romeo. “I fucking hate you all for this.”
“I knew you would.” He stands and takes the seat beside me, unaffected by my venomous words. “At least you will be alive to hate me, doll face.” He dusts my hair over my shoulder, his fingers trailing down my arm, sending goosebumps in their wake. “I couldn’t let you die in our family war, and when Valentine works out he’s got nothing, you would have been his first target.”
“What about Daisy?” I sniff, helplessness coming over me. Part of me knows they are right, but fucking come to me with this information. Don’t trick me, knock me out, and take my choice away.
His eyes lock with mine, filled with sadness, and I know he’s fully aware of the damage he’s caused. “She’s safe.”
“How do you expect me to believe you?” My head drops sadly.
“She’s with Dante,” Onyx says, taking the seat opposite me.
My head flicks up, my eyes rising to meet his. Reef is by his side, strapping himself in. They’re coming home as well. A small amount of relief fills me, mostly for them. This is what they both wanted since we got here, to go home, and they don’t deserve to be trapped in this mess any longer. But the truth is I already know I won’t forgive any of them for doing this to me. They could have stopped the twins, but it’s clear they are all working together. They plotted this shit against me. I’m not their possession to protect. I’m my own person, and I could have made a real difference here. If they let me.
A sickness washes over me as I remember my and Orlando’s conversation from last night. I asked him to let me be who I am, and he agreed. He’s letting me go because of what I said to him. A fresh wave of pain radiates through me, because while he clearly knew it was goodbye, I had no clue I was giving him the okay to send me away. To fucking divorce me.
An announcement comes over the loudspeaker. It’s our pilot telling us the plane is about to take off. My fingers wrap around the arm of the chair, gripping it as tightly as I can as the jet’s engines whirl to life.
“Are you alright, trouble?” comes Onyx’s concerned voice.
I close my eyes and try to block them all out. Fuck him for letting them do this to me. Fuck them all. I don’t want his concern now.
I grit my teeth as the plane moves slowly down the runway, tears falling down and over my cheeks. Fear, pain, anger, helplessness all blur into one. My body is so on edge I don’t know what to do. I never ever thought a man could make me feel so broken, but I trusted them, all of them. They made me want more for my life than I ever thought possible. I was imagining a life with all four of them. How could I have been so stupid to have let their handsome faces and false promises blind me. I’m supposed to be smarter than this, but maybe Daisy was the smart one, keeping her heart locked up tight and never letting anyone in.
What’s that saying?It’s better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all. Well, it’s bullshit. I wish I listened to Onyx and never got involved with any of them in the first place.
The jet lifts off, and my stomach drops. Romeo takes my hand in his, giving it a squeeze. I can’t even shove him off. All I can do is keep my eyes locked up tight and try to take myself away from here. Try to pretend the man holding my hand isn’t the same asshole who justdevastated me. For what feels like forever I keep my eyes shut up tight, blocking it all out. The fear of flying lessens in comparison to what I have just been through.
A chime cuts through the silence, and another announcement tells us we can remove our belts and move around the jet. I open my eyes and turn to Romeo like I’m possessed. “Get these fucking cable ties off me.” I don’t even recognize my own voice it’s so filled with animosity toward him.
He assesses me with caution. “Sloane, you know this is for the best, we only wanted to keep you safe.”
I glare back at him, my nostrils flaring. I have nothing left to say to him. “Get them off or I will.” I tug at them again, ripping skin off my arms as the plastic digs in.
“Get them off her,” comes Reef’s voice from the seats across from me. But I don’t look his way; my glare is directed at Romeo.
Romeo slips a pocketknife out of his suit pocket, slicing through the plastic effortlessly.
I reef my hands away from him and massage life back into my wrists, feeling the burn of where the plastic cut into my skin. I feel all their eyes on me, and I can’t stand it. I have never felt so fucking trapped in my life. I don’t make eye contact. I can’t, because if I do, I will lose it completely.
The way-too-flirty flight attendant, who looked after us on the way over, is back pushing her trolley toward us with a stupid smile on her pretty face. I can’t help but glare at her.
“Can I get refreshments for you?” she offers way too perkily.
