I let out an exhausted sigh. “I think Laney has a thing for Stone, and…and August asked me out right before summer, but I turned him down.”
Kincaid shook her head. “That doesn’t make any sense, though,” she remarked. “August knows the penalty for interfering with a Hera contract. And even if he didn’t, he has to know Stone Lexington isn’t one to fuck with.” She shook her head again. “Stone’s fucking vicious. Everyone knows it. He’ll kill August.”
“Look, Ireally don’t care about August, Stone, or Laney right now,” I told them. “All I care about is making sure my family is safe from this fucked-up situation and never seeing any of you ever again.” The corner of Saxton’s lip lifted a bit. “No offense,” I quickly added.
Kincaid snorted. “I wouldn’t want anything to do with any of us, either, if I were you.”
Saxton didn’t say anything for a long while before finally putting me out of my misery. “You’re safe, Rylee,” he finally said. “The Order would rather a member change his mind than make a mistake as big as marriage interfering with the way of things.”
Myhead dropped back, and I let out the biggest sigh of relief, not caring about the fresh tears. “Oh, thank God.”
“But Rylee?”
I openedmy eyes, wiped my cheeks, then looked at Saxton. “Yeah?”
Helooked sympathetic as he threw me for another loop. “I have to tell Stone what’s going on, Rylee.”
“What?” I cried out. “Why?”
“Rylee, August and Laney have interfered with a contact, Hera or not,” he said. “Even if I didn’t like you or Stone, I’m obligated to report the betrayal.” His eyes slid quickly over towards Kincaid, and if his words hadn’t been causing such havoc in my chest, I would have noticed the meaningful glance he shot her way. “To Kincaid’s point, if August has no qualms about betraying someone as powerful as Stone Lexington, then he’ll have no qualms about betraying any of us.”
No,no, no, no, no, I chanted in my head. I wanted nothing more to do with Stone Lexington. I wanted fucking freedom from all this craziness. I almost married a sadistic guy I didn’t know and committed to an organization that was powerful and dangerous, and this was my golden ticket out of this hell. Besides, the hurt I was feeling over my misplaced feelings for Stone was still there.
Stonehurt me, and I wasn’t about to sign up for him to do it again.
Think.
“Okay, but…but that doesn’t change anything, right?”
“What do you mean?”
“The contract is cancelled,” I reminded him. “Whatever Stone and I had, well it’s over. So…even if you tell him, I’m…I’m still free to walk away, right?”
“Rylee, honey, August and Laney set you guys up,” Kincaid said. “You and Stone can work thing-”
I looked over at her and prayed shecould see it. I prayed she could see inside all the way to my pain. “Whatever August and Laney did, they didn’t make Stone treat me like he did, Kincaid,” I told her. “There were a million different ways he could have handled the situation, and he went for the most brutal. I’ll never forget that, nor will I forgive it.”
“Admittedly, I don’t know the guy well, but that’s his way, Rylee,” Saxton remarked. “The guy is reputed to be ruthless, so I’m not surprised he took your supposed betrayal as badly as he did.”
I didn’t want to see Stone’s point of view. I didn’t want Stone to have a valid reason for his rage. I didn’t want to understand how he could do what he did to me.
I wanted to nurse my broken heart and move the hell on.
“I don’t care, Saxton,” I replied. “All I care about is that I’m free to walk.”
“It depends,” he said.
“Onwhat?” I felt like I was going to lose it, and I couldn’t believe that one week of phone calls, walking me to class, and making out would have me an emotional mess over a guy I barely knew.
But here I fucking was.
“IfStone’s put in the official request,” he answered, and I could feel my stomach sinking to the floor. “And I highly doubt it since this has all just happened.” He glanced at the expensive-looking watch on his wrist. “It’s almost midnight, Rylee. Odds are in favor of Stone waiting to get a hold of Alexander in the morning.”
Desperation started clawing at my throat. “Then give me Alexander’s phone number,” I practically demanded. “I’ll call him and tell him Stone cancelled the contract.”
Saxtonlooked sad for me as he said, “Rylee, Stone has to be the one to do it.”
I started shaking myhead. “No,” I choked out. “No.”