check.
Guilt flashes in Carver’s eyes and I know he’s picturing that cell just as clearly as I am, but he won’t budge. “I stand by my decision,” he says, his comments sending a smug as fuck grin stretching across his mother’s face. “Take her away. She needs to be somewhere secure where she can’t hurt anyone else while we investigate her claims. All in favor?”
Hands raise from all around the room and as I look around, my eyes widen with fear, seeing that I’m outnumbered, even the eight men who are supposed to have my back have their hands raised high above their heads. “No,” I panic, backing into King’s chest as Cruz and Grayson move in around me, protecting me from the men who want to take me away. “I’m not going to some shitty dark cell. You can’t make me.”
“I’m sorry,” Tobias says, leveling his son with a stare to release me. “You have no choice. This is how we deal with things. You’ve committed a crime and now we must hold you accountable. The cell is just a precaution so that you cannot run.”
“I swear, I won’t run,” I say, shaking my head as Grayson and Cruz are pulled aside and held down by the men of Dynasty, desperately trying to get free. The panic rises heavily within my chest, and while Carver will never forgive me for what I’ve done here tonight, if I’m put into another dark, cold cell, I’ll never forgive him. “Lock me in my house. Please, no. I can’t go in another cell. Carver, please.”
Ida waves her hand dismissively toward the door. “Get rid of her. She’s a traitor to her own people. Royston will not die in vain. She will be punished.”
Two men move into my sides as I frantically search for a way out. King’s arm tightens around my waist, more than ready to fight his way out of this. “Hunter,” Tobias snaps. “Release her now.”
“No,” he demands, fixing his father with a hard stare and proving that my well-being comes before these bullshit old policies and traditions of a corrupted organization. “I’ll keep her at my place. She’s not going down to the cells.”
“She has no choice,” Tobias hisses, pissed off with his son’s lack of respect in front of the other heads. “Release. Her. Now.”
Having the patience of a doorknob, two others move in and tackle King away from me, leaving me open for the taking. I try to fight them off, but every single one of them are professionally trained, and their skills up against the bullshit, weak as fuck punches I taught myself are absolutely nothing.
Two men grab my arms and I desperately try to pull free, but their grip is too tight. They pull me toward the door, my feet dragging along the marble tiles. I look back at the crowded bodies, taking in the boys who desperately try to get free, each of their concerned stares on mine, filled with regret, devastation, and defeat.
A lump forms in my throat as I turn my desperate stare on Carver to see nothing but pure rage in his eyes. “You said I could trust you,” I cry, his betrayal hitting me harder than anything I’ve ever felt in my life. “You were supposed to have my back.”
Something flashes in his eyes, but it’s gone before I get the chance to figure it out, and before I know it, the massive doors of the ballroom open and I’m dragged back through them, feeling my freedom slipping away.
Then just like that, the big doors slam closed with a loud BANG, blocking me off from the rest of the world.
CHAPTER 2
The big iron key slips into the lock of the cell, and as the door slides open, the metallic sound of bars scraping sends me straight back to that tiny, damp cell of Sam’s.
How the hell did I get back here?
The hands at my arm grip me tighter as I fear what will come of this. How could Carver do this to me? Out of all the guys, he’s the one who understands me the most. He’s the one I would run to when the nightmares would come back to haunt me, yet he’s the one who condemned me to this bullshit.
Fuck him. I’ll never forgive him for this.
I’m dragged forward, and I do everything in my power to avoid being thrown into the open cell, but my attempts against these strange men are useless. It’s like throwing around a