But I nearly drop to my knees as she rushes toward me with a huge smile, as disbelief andhorrorassault me, as my mind tries to deny what my eyes are seeing.
Inside I feel like I’m dying an agonizing death.
“No,” I choke out.
I’m vaguely aware of Ash getting up from the table and coming to stand beside me.
“What did you do?” Pain etches each of my words. I can’t breathe.
Her delicate hand flutters to her neck. To the perfect ivory silky skin that used to be unblemished and unmarked, but now holds a tattoo.
Hismark.Hisbrand. Guerilla’s.
His name is on the side of her neck where the elegant curve of her shoulder meets her graceful, long neck.
“He made you his old lady.” I somehow get the words out. No. No.Fucking no.
I loom over her; she’s still too underweight and slight, like she could easily be broken in half.
She steps back from me, hurt coating her beautiful face. “I thought you’d be happy.”
How the fuck can I be happy that my piece of shit brother has the woman I love? How can I be happy that you never see him for the unworthy fuck he is?
I still haven’t told her how I feel. I’ve still been wrestling with the filthy, deviant thoughts of the things I want to do to her—that have only grown more intense—and promised myself once I did, I’d confess my love to her. At eighteen, she’s still too young to make an informed decision about what it means to be tied to someone in the MC. I still feel she should marry someone not tied to the criminal underworld, who can give her the kind of life that was stolen from her when her parents died.
But my hesitation and delay have only pushed her straight to Guerilla.
Jesus, fuck, I don’t think I’m going to survive this.
Never,neverin my wildest dreams did I think she’d become his old lady so young and so soon after they started dating.I thought I had time. I thought Guerilla would show his true colors without me being the bad guy to point them out. I thought…
It doesn’t matter what I thought, because the absolute most horrible thing—other than her dying—has happened.
I canneverhave her.
Even if she decides to leave Guerilla in the future because he broke her heart—and he will fucking break her heart, I know that as surely as I need air to breathe—I still couldn’t have her. In the eyes of our MC, she’d always be Guerilla’s because his brand is on her skin, and according to our laws, I could never touch her.
She’s now untouchable. Forbidden and off-limits.
Zeus comes up behind Leeva, looking at me with concern.
Ash, who’s the spitting image of his dad, motions to Leeva's neck.
Leeva turns to look at Zeus and shock covers his face.
Then he rocks back on his heels with a look of disapproval. “Your grandpa approved this, Leeva?”
“I’m an adult,” she snaps. “Believe it or not, I’m capable of making decisions. If Hayes can join the military and risk getting his ass blown up for his country, then why the hell can’t I make this choice for myself?”
“I’m not going.” The words are out of my mouth without thought.
She whips back to me, her brow creased in concern. “It’s your dream, Hayes. Why wouldn’t you go?”
I know I can’t leave her now that she’s officially Guerilla’s.
Fuck, the thought of him being with her…having her…
Her innocence, and not just her virginity—my stomach revolts at the thought of that though, and my knees nearly buckle—but her purity. He’ll taint that, destroy that, but if I stay, I might prevent that from happening.
