Page 24 of Stay Little Fighter

If one of us got off easy, it was me. I was allowed to love who I wanted to love. I was allowed to go to college and get an education, even if it was one to help the family, and when I walked away with the love of my life in my arms, the only thing I was leaving behind was a father that didn’t love me and a brother that chose his path.

“I don’t want to speak for him, but I can tell you with absolute certainty that there’s no one in the world that hates my father more than Damon.”

He grunts in reply and leans back in his seat.

It’s not my job to justify the things Damon has done in the Lombardi name, and right now all that matters is getting them back, because let’s be honest.

If I don’t bring Chloe home, Ryker is going to kill me, and after seeing the way he was with Sebastian, I really don’t want to get on the wrong end of his knife collection.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

CHLOE

NOW

Imust lose consciousness again because I’m startled awake by the door above the stairs slamming open.

Damon’s arms flex around me for a beat before he carefully slips me off his lap and props me against the wall.

By the time our visitors reach the bottom step, he’s positioned in front of me, blocking them from view.

My skin is sticky with sweat despite how cold it is down here, and each breath rattles painfully through my chest.

I’m dying.

I know because I’ve felt like this before. I’ve felt as if the life slowly fades away and blissful darkness beckons me.

The difference is that I don’t want to die this time.

When I almost bled out in Kingston’s arms ten years ago, my heart was broken and my mind was filled with horrors I didn’t want to spend the rest of my life reliving.

I would have welcomed death.

But it’s different now.

I’m so close to having everything I’ve ever wanted. My heart is full for the first time in my life, and it feels cruel for it to be ripped away from me like this.

Even if it is my time, even if death drags me kicking and screaming to the other side, at least I felt what it was like to be loved by them.

I’ve never given much thought about the afterlife. Whether it’s heaven and hell waiting for me, or if I’ll be reincarnated into another body, destined to live a new life a world away from this one.

But I suppose it doesn’t matter what’s on the other side, only that I’ll be leaving this world with so many things unsaid.

I’m dragged from my thoughts by heels clicking on the stairs, and a violent shiver vibrates through my bones.

Dying at any time would suck, but dying in a basement while being held hostage by Mikayla fucking Vega is a level of cruelty no one deserves.

We couldn’t stand each other as kids, and I sure as hell can’t stand her as an adult who has plotted to hurt the men I love.

Damon’s body does little to shield me from the huge tulle monstrosity she’s wearing, her hair and makeup done to perfection.

She doesn’t spare me a glance, which is probably a good thing because I have no control of my reactions, and even while biting down on the inside of my cheek, I’m desperate to giggle at how ridiculous she looks in a dank basement in a dress that probably cost as much as most people’s homes.

The guard in front of her throws a bag in front of Damon. “Change into this.”

“I’m not marrying you, Mikayla,” he snaps. “And do you really want a husband that you had to blackmail?”

“I want the Lombardi name. The man attached to it is irrelevant.” Her eyes flicker over his shoulder to me, and her sneer makes my stomach roll. I’ve never been comfortable with people hating me. Not when I was a child or a teenager, and not even now as an adult. But the way Mikayla hates me is different, and it makes my skin crawl. “Your whore isn’t looking too good, Damon. The quicker you say ‘I do,’ the quicker she gets medical attention. Are you going to let her die just to avoid marrying me?”