“Shocker,” Rowan says, sarcasm underscoring his words.
“I don’t care.” Elisa tries to wriggle again. “Let me go.”
“No.” I smirk. “What’re you gonna do, Lili, huh?”
In an unexpected move I didn’t consider him capable of, Romeo grabs my gun and points it at my temple.
“Dude!” Rowan hops up, his eyes almost bugging out of his head. “What are you doing?”
“Something I should have done a long time ago.” Romeo prods the gun into the side of my head. “I should have protected you better, Elisa. I’m sorry.”
“Romeo, put the gun down,” Lili says.
“Not until he lets you go.”
I turn and grin at him. “About time you found your balls.”
“I hate you,” he says in a deceptively calm voice. “My sister is far too good for you.”
“I agree,” I honestly admit.
“I’m done doing nothing while you shit all over her feelings and hurt her over and over again.”
“I have never intentionally set out to hurt Lili. I could never do that.”
“It doesn’t matter if it’s intentional or not!” Romeo yells. “You see she is hurting, and you never change your ways!”
“You need to put the gun down,” Elisa says, sounding way more sober now. “This is between Caleb and me, and I don’t want you to get involved.”
“We’re all involved! We’ve all had to watch this shit from the sidelines for years.” He digs the gun into my temple, and he’s so wound up he might actually shoot me. “He knows how you feel about him, and he just continues screwing anything in a skirt, uncaring how much it hurts you.”
I release Lili from my grip, trying to reassure her with my eyes. “Romeo, I?—”
“Shut. Up,” he snaps at me.
Out of the corner of my eye I see Rowan furiously typing on his phone. Calling in reinforcements, I’m guessing.
“Romeo, I appreciate your loyalty, but this isn’t Caleb’s fault.” Elisa flashes me a look. “Yes, he broke a promise to me, but I have no claim on him. He’s free to sleep with whoever he likes, and he’s not responsible for my feelings. I can’t force him to return them, and I should have gotten over him years ago. That’s on me, not him.” She moves forward and bravely puts her hand on her brother’s arm. “This isn’t you. You don’t want to do this.”
“I will do it for you. So you can move forward.”
“Do you honestly think I could ever move forward if you killed him because of me?”
“Romeo, no!” Alesso yells, racing toward us from the direction of the house with Serena hot on his heels.
“Please, Romeo.” Lili’s soft tone pleads with her brother. “Put the gun down. This has gone far enough.”
“I’m only doing this for my sister,” he says, lowering the gun and handing it to me.
“I know, and I respect you for it.” I tuck the gun away.
“I don’t want your respect, and I still hate you.”
“That’s your right. I would feel the same way if it was Rosa.”
“What is going on here?” Alesso asks when he reaches us, his gaze bouncing around all of us.
“I’m defending my sister.” Romeo folds his arms as his phone vibrates in his jeans pocket. “And I’m not sorry.”
