What the hell is wrong with me?
Pushing through the door into the lobby, I sprinted across the marble floors. My only thought was to escape.
The taxi gods were on my side for once, and a taxi pulled up as I stepped outside.
They dropped someone off, and I slid in as soon as the door was clear.
What am I going to do?
16
LIAM
“Get the fuck off me,you motherfuckers.” My voice was muffled, since both my brothers were holding me down.
“No way. You need to let her go. Running after her like a lovesick fool will accomplish absolutely nothing.”
Since when is Gabriel the fucking voice of reason?
“I need to explain.” This couldn’t be how we ended. I wanted to talk to her. Make sure she understood that this was bigger than both of us. That it wasn’t my choice to marry a stranger. That what we’d had was real. More real than anything I’d ever had.
Jude slapped my cheek, and I gritted my teeth to stop myself from biting his finger off. “I think she understood that you’re engaged. Not sure what exactly you need to explain to her.”
Gabriel shifted his position and dug his elbow in my back, the fucker. “Calm your ass down and look at it from your position as head of the Olysses family. Just because you’ve not officially been sworn in yet doesn’t mean anything. You’re still the boss now. You can’t go chasing after some girl who doesn’t want you anymore.”
Jude leaned down so I could see his stupid grinning face. “Smile.”
Then the fucker took a selfie.
Roaring, I bucked underneath them again, but all that accomplished was my brothers shifting position and my cheek pressing harder into the scratchy carpet.
Jude scrolled though his phone with one hand, the other still pushing me to the floor. “Tut, tut. That’s not how a leader behaves.”
Gritting my teeth, I huffed between breaths. “I’m not officially the boss yet.”
And then it sank in. I wasn’t the boss yet. Either of my brothers could do the job.
It doesn’t have to beme.
Gabriel raised a brow at my comment. “That’s only a formality at this point.”
A formality we could change.
“But it’s not final yet.”
Jude groaned. “Whatever is going on in that big brain of yours, I don’t like it.”
I’d had enough. “This would be the point where you let me up,” I growled.
Having a conversation with both of my brothers shortening my air supply wasn’t exactly comfortable. They’d both been working out, judging by their weight and strength. A year ago, they’d have barely been able to hold me down.
“You calm? Or are you going to run after her as soon as we let go?” Gabriel asked, the doubt in his voice obvious.
“I’m not motherfucking calm. My brothers are sitting on me. The only woman I’ve ever loved and aren’t related to now thinks I’m worth less than the dirt on her shoes. And I have to marry a stranger who I have zero interest in.”
I was breathing heavy at the end of my rant, but surprisingly, they stood up. Gabriel held out his hand, and I took it, only to pull him to me and put him in a headlock. “Don’t ever stop me from doing something that’s important to me again.”
Gabriel huffed. “Relax. How would I know she means so much to you? You’re locked up tighter than a nun’s legs.”
