Chapter 181

“If you are expecting me to apologize, you will be disappointed,” Neil says.

“I deserve to know what’s going on,” I say, anger pulsing through me.

“You don’t deserve to be buried under stress,” Neil says. He meets my anger with a cool attitude. The flames of annoyance flickering off me don’t even seem to faze him.

Maybe he understands why I would be upset. Maybe he agrees I even have a right to be.

Likely where we differ is on what action to take next. I want to be let into the inner circle of what is going on. Neil seems like he would take on another piece of silver than utter one word of it to me.

“I can handle the stress,” I say.

“You don’t have to, though. That’s the difference, Chloe. You need to trust me and my brothers to be able to take care of our own affairs.”

“Wyatt is my step-brother.”

“But he is our Beta. What we do with him is our right, not yours.” Neil sighs. “I don’t want to argue with you. You are leaving soon. Your final days with us shouldn’t be shrouded with all of this unnecessary drama.”

Oh. For Neil, his desire to protect me isn’t just related to my injury. It also has to do with the fact that I’m leaving soon. In one week actually. Seven little days. Well, nearly six now.

I settle back into the bed beside him. We have our pillows propped up against the headboard. I steal quick glances at Neil as we sit quietly. Sometimes I find him glancing back at me.

We’ve talked a little about me leaving, but not as much as we probably needed to. It is a shitty topic that I hate to bring up, so I’ve been avoiding it. Soon, though, it will be upon us whether or not we talked about it. I’d rather be prepared.

“Neil…”

“I already hate that you are spending your last week with us injured like you are.” Neil turns away from me and curses under his breath. “If it weren’t for this silver, I would have put Wyatt through the way for what he did to you.”

“I’m sure Archer wouldn’t be opposed to being your stand-in,” I say, meaning it light, but when Neil looks at me again, I can see the seriousness in his eyes. He really wants to put Wyatt through the wall. Come to think of it, Archer probably does too.

“We need to find Wyatt soon,” Neil says. “I worry about what could happen when you leave our protection.”

He’s still serious but I snort out a short laugh. “I can take care of myself. Don’t forget I won the fight with Wyatt.”

“You were lucky.”

That irritation inside of me flared back to life. “I’m not helpless.”

“I’m not saying you are,” Neil says. “But what happens next time, when there aren’t referees around, or other students watching? What if he brings friends? What if he catches you alone?”

“You think he would do that…?” It seems so far-fetched to me. Wyatt hates me, sure, but he hardly bothered with me before I came traipsing onto his turf here. I can’t imagine him going out of his way to bother me once I’m out of the way of his ambitions.

Although…

“Don’t underestimate him,” Neil says. “You humiliated him in front of the entire school. You cost him his life here with us. And then there’s whatever other reasons he hates you for, for your mother and step-father. If he can catch you alone, he will be out for blood.”

A chill runs up my spine. Neil isn’t wrong. Wyatt is out there, enraged, with very little to lose. Maybe he would go to any lengths to ‘put me in my place.’ I try to fight it, but a shiver shakes through me.

Neil notices. “I’m taking measures, making plans. I won’t give you specific details, but neither my brothers nor I will allow you to roam unprotected.”

“But you won’t tell me what those details are? Neil… I’m pissed as hell at you for keeping what you are planning for Wyatt a secret from me. But to keep secret even what you are intending to do to protect me? I need to know that.”

Neil shakes his head. “I won’t worry you. You will be able to go about your life and not worry about anything.”

“Yeah, that’s unlikely. Especially if I feel a bunch of eyes on me all the time. At least tell me you are going to have me followed so I know what to look for.”

Neil keeps his mouth firmly closed.

I try to grasp for understanding, when all I really want to do is grab him by the shoulders and shake him until the truth comes out.

“I get it. You guys want to keep me safe. I’m not unappreciative, really. But Neil, I just want to have some measure of agency over my own life. You guys make all these decisions but don’t involve me… I feel like I’m just some kind of pawn in a game.”

“If you recall, nothing in the contract dictates that we need to keep you in our confidence,” Neil says, monotone.

And it hurts like a punch to the gut. What a low blow. After everything we’ve been through, everything we’ve shared, he’s pulling out wording from the contract to win an argument?

“Well,” I snap. “If you recall, the contract isn’t going to mean shit in seven days.” I shuffle toward the end of the bed, but a hand reaches out and clasps my arm. Suddenly, I’m being yanked to Neil’s side of the bed. His mouth descends over mine and he swoops his tongue into my mouth.

I hate that he can win an argument like this. One kiss and I’m basically putty in his hands. And he knows it. Absolute bastard.

When the kiss ends, I blink up at him. I’m not as mad as I want to be. He’s a really good kisser, Gods help me.

“Was that a goodbye kiss?” I ask, my heart heavy.

He glances at my mouth. “When I kiss you goodbye, you’ll know it.”

A few kisses later, and I’m pliant enough to leave Neil’s room without further argument. He’s dozing, tired again, so I see myself out.

Out in the hallway, I hear the distinct sound of shattering glass, or maybe ceramic. Alarmed, I follow the noise down the hallway… to Wyatt’s bedroom.

The door isn’t totally closed, so I push it open wider.

Beau is within, holding a lamp high above his head. It’s unplugged. The base is a round ceramic. Its twin is already in pieces all over the floor.

Beau throws this one next, smashing it down onto the ground beside its pair. It makes a horrible crashing noise, and I wince.

“Beau?”

“Oh. Nanny.”

As I start to move closer, Beau immediately holds up a hand.

“Shards everywhere,” he says. “Don’t come closer, or you’ll hurt yourself.”

I decide to listen this time, staying in the doorway. “And why are there shards everywhere?”

As I look across the room, almost all of Wyatt’s furniture and decorations are entirely trashed.

Beau spits on the debris. “Because Wyatt is an asshole.”