Page 99 of A Hurt So Good

“It had to be done.” The three of us walk while he carries Arya back to the house. As fucked up as this whole thing is, in our way of thinking, this is the right thing to do. If we wait it out, he could send someone else after her. If we wait for him to get out, he could come after her, and that doesn’t make sense.

“Are you going to explain the reasoning behind this?” she mumbles as we walk into the house and head for the basement.

“To keep you safe. That’s the reasoning,” Harlon tells her.

“I’m safe with you guys.”

“You are, but what about if he gets out, Arya? Then what?” Harlon asks her.

“Then we deal with it then,” she says through a yawn.

“The chances of us finding him is not good. He could be planning anything with anyone, and we’d never know,” I tell her. War sits down on the couch but keeps Arya in his arms.

“This is a bad idea. For one, how do you know you’ll be sent to the same prison? And two, how long will you have to be there?”

“Dad has some connections that will get him in there. He’ll be gone for a year at most,” I tell her. Now she’s up. She climbs off War’s lap and stands to her feet, shaking her head.

“No. No fucking way. You’re not doing it,” she says, pointing at him.

“We don’t have another choice,” War tells her.

“This is so fucking stupid! I can’t believe you would even come up with something so fucking dumb! What the hell is wrong with the three of you?” she screams louder this time.

“What’s wrong with us? What the fuck is wrong with us? We love you, Arya! That’s what the fuck is wrong with us. We’re doing this for you!” I growl this time. She looks at me and narrows her eyes, and I know she’s pissed.

“Then take me out of the equation, and you have nothing to worry about,” she snaps.

“Now you know that isn’t going to happen,” I remind her.

“I’ll make it happen. I’ll fucking leave,” she sneers as she starts to head for the steps. I stand and quickly grab her, dragging her back toward the living area.

“You think you can just walk out on us? Is that what you think?” I ask her.

“I’m an adult. I can do whatever I want to do.”

“You’d like to think that, wouldn’t you?” I chuckle.

“You can’t hold me hostage,” she yells.

“Oh, we can, and we will if we have to.”

“Just let me go. Then you guys can go on with your lives,” she pleads softly. Harlon moves now, coming to stand in front of us. He pulls the box from his pocket, containing the ring we got her that we never had the chance to give her since everything happened.

He opens the box and stands in front of her, just staring at her.

“What … what is that?”

“Three black diamonds. Obviously, it’s against the law for all of us to marry you at the same time, but this is as close as we can get,” Harlon tells her. I feel her relax in my arms, and when I lether go, she doesn’t try to fight or run. War stands and walks over as I walk to stand in front of her. Tears fall down her cheeks as she looks at the ring in his hand.

“You can’t do this,” she says softly as Harlon pulls the ring from the box and reaches for her hand. She lets him lift it, and then he slides the ring on her finger. It looks fucking perfect there.

“This is us loving you, Arya. All we want is you.”

“But I don’t want to lose him,” she cries as she looks over at War.

“You’re not losing me, little bird. I’m coming back,” he reminds her.

“It’s not the same, and you know it.”

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