Page 92 of Tyrant (The Villetti Chronicles)

I tried not to let my emotions overwhelm me. Tried not to allow myself to drown in the hurt caused by his words.

“Yes, boss,” Arlo replied.

“No,” I whispered. “No.”

He started to pull me away, but I didn’t move. I refused to move.

“No, I won’t leave you, Zayn. I won’t.”

“Arlo, take her.”

For some reason, Arlo released his grasp on me rather than taking me from the room. I took it as a sign. My feet moved, practically running towards Zayn. I threw myself at him, wrapping my arms around his neck and breathing him in.

“Please, don’t make me go home.”

He didn’t speak. I knew he couldn’t. Going against his father was not an option right now. And I’d only said those words for the benefit of the people in the room.

Lowering my voice to a whisper as I pressed my mouth to his ear, I told him exactly what he needed to hear from me before Arlo took me away.

“It’s okay. I know you can’t go against him and it’s okay. I know you’ll find a way because I trust you. I. Trust. You.”

I swallowed hard. This wasn’t how I wanted to say these words. It wasn’t how I wanted any of this to be, but he’d told me it wouldn’t be easy. This was the part where I had to put my faith in the man I didn’t think I could live without.

“I need you to know before I walk out of here that I love you. I love you, Zayn. I’m yours and you’re still mine, no matter what he says.”

He let out a silent breath. I knew it was the only answer he could give me. I knew he’d understood what I was saying. What I was admitting and the magnitude of it.

I let him go as Arlo placed a hand on my shoulder, pulling me away. To keep up the act, I struggled against him as he pulled me back.

“No, no, don’t make me go. Please.”

My eyes told a different story. They met Zayn’s as Arlo dragged me from the room. I saw the flicker in them. I saw it clear as day. He was going to fix this. And it was the only reason I allowed his right-hand man to take me away from him.

Thirty One

Arianna

Even though I trusted Zayn, the abject misery I felt sitting in this silent car with Arlo driving me home to Hackney permeated the air surrounding us. I watched the city with my head leaning against the window, seeing the places I’d grown up around the closer we got to home. Dread laced my veins. I was going back to my father and away from the man I’d fallen in love with. I should be happy to see my family again, but I wasn’t. Not when there was so much to explain. Not when I had to do it all by myself without support and someone to hold my hand.

When we pulled up outside my father’s house on the estate I grew up in, I bit down hard on my lip to stop myself from crying. My hands were clenched in my lap. I didn’t want to do this. I didn’t want to walk into that house and tell my father the truth about his brother. About what I’d done to him. How I’d run away and covered it up instead of coming home to him. And how I’d fallen in love with the wrong person. At least, it would be the wrong person in his eyes. In my own, Zayn was everything I’d ever needed. He was my lifeline. My safety. My hope.

Be strong, Ari. Do it because you believe in yourself. You can. He wouldn’t have sent you back home if he didn’t think you could.

I unclenched my hand and rubbed my chest, staring at the house I grew up in. Staring at the place that no longer felt like home. My home was no longer a place in this world. It was a person.

I didn’t look at Arlo as I opened the car door and climbed out, slamming it shut behind me. My feet remained on the pavement as I kept staring at the house. I barely heard the other car door opening and the footsteps coming to a halt next to me. My eyes darted to the side, finding Arlo looking at the house too.

“If you’re going to convince your father that you’re okay, I’m going to suggest you don’t go in there looking like a puppy got kicked.”

For some reason, his words made me smile.

“That’s your advice?”

“If you wanted to know how to torture someone without leaving marks, I could help you with that. Talking isn’t really my strong point.”

“That why you refused to say a word to me all this time?”

He looked down at me, his eyes crinkling at the corners as he smiled.

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