"Did ever imagine we'd end up here when I kissed you that first night?" I whispered.
Mia looked up at me blushing slightly. "I imagined a lot of things in that moment, and throughout the rest of the night. But I kept telling myself it was a nice dream. There's something about that night that I don't think you know though."
"What's that?"
"I was in the midst of unlocking my door and something made me stop." Her eyes glistening as she spoke. "I didn't even pull the keys out of the knob, just turned and ran. I practically ran the whole way back to the club looking for you that night."
"Why?"
"I felt different after you kissed me. Then when you left, it was the first time I truly understood what being lonely felt like, and I didn't like it."
Declan's POV
I heard Deacon and Mia talking behind me but I couldn't tell what they were saying, but it sounded happy. Hearing what my son said to Gregory about the sedition of the Living Omertà opened my eyes immensely. Everything we have ever signed has been done so with blood. Though I cannot dispute what he said, I never truly realized how much Mia had given to not only this family but also the people surrounding her.
My attention turned back to the door in front of me as I realized what had to be done. "Open the door."
As I stepped through the doorway, I watched both women slowly look towards the door. First, I looked over Erin, who scooted back against the wall away from me, her face having fear written all over it. "You have someone worse to fear than me Erin, he's still out there."
My attention was immediately drawn across the room to the second bed, as I locked eyes with the girl who sat there, I was taken back. There was no tenderness or love in them anymore, I saw nothing but disdain and loathing. I stepped cautiously towards her. "Irena, my dear, please tell me you had nothing to do with the events that took place."
She stood slowly, taking a small step forward. Only her hands had been chained to the bed. A smile crossing her face that wiped away all doubt in my mind that she hadn't been involved, and sending my blood running cold through my veins. "Would you demand he spare me if I did?" Her voice growled. "I've enjoyed nothing more in my life than watching that worthless bitch suffer. Every sob of loneliness, every plea for information, the echoing of the chains holding her and the sound of flesh striking her skin they were music to my ears, every one of them."
"Irena, what did he do to you to make you this way?"
"What did he do?" She laughed. "He did nothing to me you old fool, he simply showed me the truth of what true power is, how to get it and best of all, he allowed me to gain power of my own."
All I could do was stare at her and wonder what happened to my bright eyed, caring, and warm-hearted daughter. The girl that stood in front of me now showed no signs of my child. I closed my eyes for a moment as I tried to gain strength not only for what I was about to do, but also for what was to come. Before I could ask the question I wanted to, I was interrupted.
"Are you losing your nerve Poppa? Don't you have questions for me before my big brother comes in here and takes his pound of flesh from me?" Her smile never fading. "I guess not."
"What reason was ever given to you to cause such agony to such a good and giving person?"
"Good?! Giving?! That canga took everything from me! From the moment she stepped into this house everyone fell at her feet like she was their damn saving grace. She was and will always be no better than the trash that lines the streets where she belongs to live." A vile, wicked laugh rang out of her mouth.
I stared at her, my heart ripping apart more every time she talks. All I can see is my beautiful daughter, and I wanted more than anything to take her into my arms to welcome her home again. Though when she speaks, I hear nothing but the hate that Gregory has instilled in her. "My dear girl, nothing was taken from you by her. That is just another lie that has been driven into your mind. You must remember, at one point she risked her own life to bring you back to us. Mia was willing to give her life that day to bring you home to us. How can you say that she took anything from you?"
"How? First my brothers, we did everything together even after you handed power over to Deacon and what's the first thing he does with that power? He turned absolutely everything that you had ever taught us upside down and for what? A waitress that he hid from damn near everyone for months, disappeared for days at a time with her unable to be reached, still you did nothing but stand aside and watch while he disgraced our name.
You think that they've forgotten the way that you reacted the first time that he brought here? Let me assure they don't, because I remember every moment of it. You all but forbid him see her again, threatened to remove him from his seat and replace him with Alex. Even after that he still showed where his loyalty lay and it was not with this family, it was with her. So much so that he married her like he was had nothing himself, in the courthouse, then brought her here to flaunt how little power you had in your face and still you did nothing. I celebrated in my room the night that she was taken, thinking that finally she was gone and my family would return to how it had always been, but no. Both your sons rushed into an obvious ambush and for what? To save her? She would have been better off if they left her there for them to do with as they pleased. Sure, you went after your sons when they didn't come home, that I expected, that I understood. When the three of you arrived home I raced to welcome you all home again and what was I met with? What was the sight that I found myself staring at instead of welcoming my family home? I see you carrying that canga in your arms like she was the most precious treasure in the world to you. She had been beaten so bad that you could barely tell that she was a person, I don' t think that that there was a part of body that was not caked in blood and where was she? Wrapped in your arms, while her blood soaked your coat. I've heard you scream and berate the maids if you so much as found a stray on one of your coats before, and there you were ruining one with her blood. After that you just like everyone else, basically bowing down before her, like she was some kind of savior in your eyes.
Then she went and just had to save that little doe eyed bitch, bringing her back here with them. Everyone knew I wanted him, yet I was forced to watch as he doted on her every moment of everyday. I had to watch as he would rush back here to be with her. When I heard that she was going back whatever two horse town that she was taken from I figured that he would finally see me, but no, she just had to stay didn't she. She stayed and took him away from me. He should have been mine, but no I didn't even get to have a chance to show him that I was what he wanted, what he needed. Who did? The little doe eyed bitch that she saved.
I could not have been more ecstatic when Gregory took me away from here, unfortunately for me though I had to wait for him to see that I was better for him than I was for him pathetic excuse for a son. I have to admit though, that the first night that Gregory and I spent together was nothing less than the most glorious experience of my life. The way that be worked my body, the things that he did to me, the way that he made me scream in pleasure. What do you think about that Papa? The man the you hate with the very essence of your being is the man that made your little girl a woman. I was more than happy to wrap my legs around him in order for him to feel him relentlessly pounding between my legs. Even the night he made a woman of me he took me viciously, like a starving animal and I loved every second of it.
How does that make you feel? Do you still want me to sleep under your roof, knowing that I happily became a whore for Gregory, the one that he used every night?" As she stopped talking, a cackling laugh echoed through the room.
"You never lost any of us. If you feel as though you did, then it was of your own doing, by pulling away from us. I didn't like her right away that's true. The woman you speak of has a name Irena. Her name is Rose, and as of this afternoon it is Rose Decker. If he had been interested in you, don't you think he would have shown you long before that?
My eyes were opened the day I walked into that room to find your brothers, and was met with Deacon sitting on the ground cradling her broken and bloodied body. I saw the way he looked at her, while he begged her to stay with him. I heard the pain in his voice, as he begged me to do something to help her, not to let her die there like that. Watching him torment himself day and night at her bedside until she woke up again, only to see the joy ripped away again at the thought of never hearing her whisper an I love you to him again. Yes, I carried her in wrapped in my jacket. After seeing the pain, I saw in Deacon's eyes that day, loosing that single jacket meant nothing."
"Did you get the pleasure to watch the beating she received? Did you hear the sound of his strikes?' Irena smirked evilly at me. "Gregory broke her body, her will and her spirit, all while your son watched. He never once tried to bargain for her. That's the boy you handed our family legacy over to. He watched quietly as his wife's body was broken.
She never begged for her own life did you know that? For her selflessness, her love for everyone here, the pride you instilled I her, and the name you allowed her to take, do you know what her reward was for all of that? Three bullets. That's what it all meant in the end for her. That's all she ended up being worth.
For all the good she may have done in your eyes, she ruined your family. She never has been and never will be worthy of carrying your family name. If you were smart, you'd do what you should've done in the beginning and eliminate the problem. Make sure she's unable to anymore damage to your legacy, to your family, and protect your grandchildren from becoming painful regrets. If you were smart old man, you'd send her back to where he found her, maybe in kindness allow her to scrub the floors here once or twice a week in silence. Allowing her to see her precious babies, but unable to hold them or talk to them. Don't they at least deserve a fair chance in this life?"
I shook my head in sadness as I came to terms that this was no longer my daughter who spoke, this was the wife of Gregory who spoke. I took a step back, raised my hand and waved the rest of them in. "I prayed that there was a piece of my Irena left in you, but if there is, it is buried so deep inside that you have forgotten it completely. I apologize now for whatever your fate is Irena, but I cannot save you from your brother's wrath if you show no remorse."
I watched as Deacon entered, Dimitri to his right stopping only a few feet from my side. "She is yours to do with as you please, this is not my daughter." I turned and walked quietly away only stopping when I found myself behind Mia and Alex.
Mia's POV
I could see the hurt in Declan's eyes as he walked by Alex and myself and it was painful to see. I knew that she couldn't see me behind Deacon and Dimitri, and since Alex stood to my right he was in the window between their shoulders. Although we weren't in the room when they spoke, I heard what she had said to him. Declan had given me a family tonight, but because of me he lost his one real daughter tonight as well. He gave me the greatest gift I could imagine, the one thing I always wanted. But all I've ever given him was pain.
Without thinking about it, I turned wrapping my arms tightly around Declan's shoulders. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, this is my fault. All of this is my fault." I buried my face into his chest deeper. "You should have forbidden him to come after me, you should have locked him down here until they were done with me, until you knew he wouldn't have had a hope of finding me alive. He would have forgotten about me by now, found someone who deserves to be standing here. If it wasn't for me, you'd be upstairs hugging your daughter right now, not here listening to her fate. I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I wish I could change it for you."
Declan's POV
I felt Mia's arms pull me tightly into her, as she cried. At first her words were muffled by her tears. The first words I had made out were her saying this was her fault.
Mia must not have felt my arm wrap around her shoulder to comfort her, because she didn't stop.
"You should have forbidden him to come after me, you should have locked him down here until they were done with me, until you knew he wouldn't have had a hope of finding me alive. He would have forgotten about me by now, found someone who deserves to be standing here. If it wasn't for me, you'd be upstairs hugging your daughter right now, not here listening to her fate. I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I wish I could change it for you."
Alex turned looking from me to her as she clung to me a second longer. Her eyes met my own as she stepped back slightly. "Irena's right you know?" She said barely audible to even me, though it was very apparent that Alex could hear her as well. "There's nothing that is ever going to make me truly deserving of carrying this name. I'm a liability to everyone who I love. If I were to choose for you, I'd eliminate the weakness to keep my son alive." She looked down. "That's what I am for him, his weakness. I could live happily with all the memories we've made together, knowing that someone out there will always love me. I can't live knowing that I'm going to be the reason he's buried before his time."
My son stared at me in disbelief at what she had just said to me. "Mia, what are you saying right now?" He whispered so his brother couldn't hear.
Mia's eyes never lifted from the ground. "I'm saying you all tell Teo and Lessie that I never made it home. Give them something to visit with my name on it, give them a place to mourn, but never let know I'm alive." Her eyes were filled with tears as she looked behind her at Deacon, smiling ever so faintly. "I'm saying erase my name from everything, make him move forward with someone who is worthy to stand beside him. I was able to live without anyone before, I'll be able to manage doing it again. I'll never love anyone again, but at least I'll know what it felt like to have it for a little bit. I'll be able to live peacefully with that, along with every beautiful memory he and I made together, mostly I'll be able to live knowing I'm not the reason he's going to die."
Before either one of us had a chance to say another word, Mia stepped to the side and made her way silently out of the room.
Alex's POV
I stood there dumbfounded at what Mia had just said. I wasn't even capable of reacting to stop her from leaving the room. It seemed as though an hour passed, when it had actually barely been more than three minutes. I looked to my father, his expression stone cold, but his eyes said everything that needed to be said to me. He was as bewildered as I was at Mia's statement, but more than that he was devastated in knowing what she was about to do if she wasn't stopped.
Quickly pulling myself together I grabbed Deacon's shoulder tightly to get his attention. He turned to look meet my gaze, then immediately looked for Mia. "Go now. She heard what Irena said to Dad. Deacon if you don't catch her now, you're never going to find her. Mia's going to run if you don't hurry."