“It is.” He moves his eyes to mine. Nothing but victory swimming in them. “She marries in, unites our families once and for all, we no longer push for power in lead as our strength will come in time.”
“Raven.”
My eyes slide back to the tattooed guy.
He confirms who he is in his introduction. “I’m Trick Rivera. You understand what they’re saying, right?” He eyes me. “You must accept the marriage.”
Donley scoffs beside me and Trick’s eyes darken as they slide his way, a fierce expression in place.
“I promise you, I only ever do what I want,” I tell him. “Something Collins is well aware of, so maybe it’s he who should accept me, the bitch of a bride he’ll be getting.”
Small chuckles float across the room.
“In a heartbeat, Rae.” Collins pushes his chest out, not bothering to look my way.
I bite into my cheek.
“Actually,” Donley draws out, his smirk as revolting as his presence. “I threw that little clause in a long time ago, and it earned me a runaway bride. I don’t wish to extend this to Raven, especially since Collins will already be marrying an impure bride when we were promised a virgin. Contract says she’s mine regardless, though...” He trails off, his eyes meeting mine, knowing. “I don’t imagine we’ll be forcing anyone’s hands today.”
Piece of shit.
The man who looks the eldest of them all, studies me curiously. “Ms. Brayshaw, I’m Romero Hacienda of Hacienda Heights. Welcome home.”
I nod, having no words for the stranger.
“Regardless of Donley’s show of power he does not have,” the man remarks. “If you would, please make the announcement you gathered us here for today, so we can be on our way.”
“Be sure to state your name first,” Trick offers with a small nod.
“I’m Raven Brayshaw,” I say with zero hesitation, a numb body, and shattering heart. “And I acknowledge the union between families.”
“You wish to marry Collins Graven?”
I look to Collins who stares at me with open, honest eyes. An apology shines in them, regret and hope all rolled into one.
He truly wants this?
“I’ll be good to you, I swear it,” he says directly, in front of everyone as if it’s just the two of us standing here.
Brave of the bastard.
I face forward. “Yes.”
Not a second after Donley’s single clap, the air shifts.
I don’t have to look to know who is coming, my boys’ footsteps vibrate the floor beneath us.
My eyes slice to Rolland’s, witnessing the strain that takes over in an instant.
“This will be tough, Raven,” he whispers quickly. “I’m so sorry.”
With a deep breath, I spin, my heart dropping to my feet at the sight of the boys.
I fight the urge to go to them, to swallow the anger radiating off every inch of Maddoc, to burn the unknown swimming in his eyes, in all their eyes.
“You’re late to the party, boys, but no worry, you’ll receive the invitation to the real celebration in the mail.” Donley smiles as he steps forward.
He pushes Collins to my side, and my eyes slice back to Maddoc’s, but he masks his mien well.
“I want you to stay away from her,” Collins dares to say. “Raven belongs—”
“To a Graven,” Captain cuts him off, his voice strong and determined, his head held high, brass knuckles on and gleaming against the light. “I’m here to ask for that spot.” He steps beside me and the entire room stills. “Raven should be mine.”
What.
The.
Fuck.
My breath lodges in my throat, a numbness shoots from my neck to my toes.
Four words that, while I don’t understand their meaning, should bring me relief, but dread is what locks me in place instead.
I believe Maddoc would go toe to toe with his dad, this town, these people if he could. He’d do anything in his power to keep me at his side, fight neck to neck if push came to shove and reason was thrown out the window, if Zoey wasn’t at risk.
But Captain?
Two brothers who love each other soul deep having something standing between them, threatening to shred what is supposed to be an unbreakable bond?
Having me stand between them?
“No,” I whisper, shaking my head, and a strain of other rejections follow – not one from Maddoc.
“Stop,” Captain demands of everyone. “Ravina Brayshaw was promised to the top Graven.” His eyes hit Donley. “That doesn’t mean her daughter defaults to his son.”
“She has to marry a Graven,” Collins adds, stepping forward.
“You’re right, cousin.”
I grow nauseous.
Cousin.
“Cap...” I think I say out loud.
“Donley.” The man who addressed me second stands.
Donley frowns at Captain, but after a moment, anger paints his face red. “What is this?”
“I have the paternity test—”
“There is no need. Raven has accepted the marriage; your daughter is irrelevant to us now.”
“I know,” he says, nice and calm. Too calm.
“Then why—”
Captain shoves an envelope into Collins’ chest. “Open it.”
“What is it?” he asks hesitantly, his eyes finding mine a moment.
Captain says nothing and a few of the others stand as Collins tears open the envelope. His eyes skim over the folded paperwork a moment, a deep crease forming over his forehead.
“This is... this can’t be true,” Collins says, looking to Donley when he snags it from him.
Captain addresses the rest of the room, avoiding his dad’s eyes. “As you know, I am not of Brayshaw blood.”
Donley fumes, tossing the papers to the floor. “Family runs deeper than blood,” he mocks.
“I’m aware. I claim nothing you are, represent nothing you’ve been,” Cap says strongly. “But my real father was brought into Graven as my adoptive father is Brayshaw. Does that not give me the right to ask for this?”
“Cap,” I rasp, my hand moving to my throat as my breathing becomes increasingly louder.
He continues, “My choice was stolen from me. I’m here to ask for it back.”
Finally, Captain turns to me, grief, pain, and prospect clouding his light eyes. My body wrenches forward from the force in which his pain hits me. His stare tightens even more as he says, “A Brayshaw and a Graven is what is needed, yes?” His eyes are glued to me as he says it, but his words are for them. “This will give Brayshaw power.” He looks to Donley. “But what about the Gravens, they only gain a queen?”
Collins jerks forward, but Royce is quick to step in front of him.
Donley walks around them and closer to Captain, Rolland moving closer to his son as the enemy creeps in.
He eyes Captain a moment, and he can’t help himself. He asks, “What are you offering, son?”
“A game changer.” Captain lifts his chin. “Raven will be mine, I hers, and together, the head of an empire. No one surrenders anything. A new era begins. Both Graven and Brayshaw under Graven and Brayshaw.”
“What makes you think we can’t do this without you?” Donley asks.
“It doesn’t matter what I think, it’s what I know. I’m stronger than Collins. I have an influence he never will, respect he could only wish for, and Raven’s love, which I can promise you he will never gain. You wanted Ravina to love her husband, it’s why you chose Felix. With me, you will get that.”
“And what is it you want in return for this?” Donley asks.
“You mean besides knowing Raven is cared for, safe and away from your grasp?” Captain glares. “My daughter’s safety. Your word in writing, right here right now and in front of everyone, that she becomes untouchable, irrelevant to you and anyone else who may believe she’s anything other than mine to care for and protect, only. Always.”
My head starts to s
pin, and I fight for air.
Donley frowns, but it’s clear he’s swaying. “You’ll have your own name’s best interest.”
“We will have this town’s best interest, the town my daughter will grow up in, as it should be. This isn’t about a powerful family. This is about a bulletproof empire. She deserves the strongest Graven has to offer. That’s not Collins.”
“You’ll take the Graven name, give it to Zoey?” Donley asks slowly.
His acknowledging he knows her name has all the boys inching forward, and Cap’s hands ball into fists at his side, but he swallows, holding his head high. “Yes.”
“This is bullshit!” Collins shouts.
Donley shuts him up with a simple hand raised. He gauges me. “How about you, princess?”
Suddenly all eyes are on me, and I want nothing more than to tear his out.
Donley looks over my shoulder and I know it’s Maddoc he’s focused on. “You’ll have to give him up. Completely.” His foul stare comes back to mine. “This would have to be an honorable marriage, a new beginning.”
“Why?” I snap. “Five minutes ago you were prepared to force my hand, now you wanna talk honor?”
He continues like I never spoke. “I won’t allow you to marry one, and secretly keep the other. Maddoc will be expected to find his own bride. Will you accept this, accept Captain’s offer?”
I swallow past the bile that makes its way up, forcing my features blank for the bastards before me. My gut tightens to the point of pain.
Captain turns to me, but I force my feet to shift.
I look to Maddoc.
He stares back, blank face, dead eyes – the boy I met on my very first day in this twisted city.
The boy I love, who loves me back. The one who would do anything for his family, for those he loves. No sacrifice too big.
I love him, I love all of them.
I look back to Captain.
My decision to marry Collins saves Zoey. I marry Collins, she’s safe. She goes home where she’ll be cared for and protected to no end, with her true family.
The boys would have her and each other, as they were meant to.
They would be okay and I would be in the arms of the asshole who touched me without permission, who attacked me to the point of loss of consciousness, who wants me so he can feel like he’s worthy in Donley’s eyes.
I agreed to marry Collins, but Cap is offering me his hand. Someone I trust and care for.
Marrying him, Zoey would still be safe to come home, but with the trade of grooms, Captain becomes everything he hates. The boys lose their brother, sort of. Maddoc would be forced to watch me at Captain’s side.
Forever?
I lick my lips and look to the ground.
No sacrifice too big.
“No.”
Cap’s face falls and Collins smirks.
“No?” Donley repeats, almost as if he doesn’t like my answer.
“I don’t want him.” I step away from Captain, moving toward Collins.
“No,” Cap says.
“Raven,” Royce starts.
“I said no!” I shout, looking to my boys, but it’s too much, so I break the contact just as quick.
“Brayshaw stays on top. Brayshaw keeps control and Collins gets his wife. Me.” I look to Donley, the others still struck by my decision. “It’s what you wanted walking in here. I will be everything expected of me, I swear, but only for him.”
At my words, Maddoc snaps, the indifference he tried to put off for the others in here gone.
He rushes me before anyone can stop him. Gripping my shoulders, he tugs me close.
“Stop it,” he growls, eyes wrecked.
“No,” I whisper, attempting to tear away from his touch.
“Baby,” he breathes, so low I almost miss it. His grip tightens, his hands shaking against me though nobody else could spot it. “Don’t.”
“You knew why I was coming here.”
“And now there’s a better choice.”
“If it’s not you, it doesn’t matter.”
“Yes. It does,” he growls. “Marry Captain.” His brows meet in the center, deep creases buried in his forehead.
“I can’t.”
“May my family have a moment alone outside?” Rolland asks.
Before an answer is given, Maddoc yanks me down the hall and out the front. He pulls me around the corner, telling the security standing there to leave.
He turns to me.
“You love him,” he rushes out, desperation screaming behind his green eyes. “You could love him more.”
“I don’t want to.”
“He’s saving you.”
“By breaking you.”
He steps against me, his hands sliding up both sides of my face.
I lift my chin, and his palms slide farther, tangling into my hair, his thumbs on my cheekbones.
“Nobody can break me but you, snow,” he whispers. “And you will, you will fucking shred me if you marry Collins when you could have Captain instead.”
“No. We both win or we both lose.”
“That’s fucking stupid!” he hisses. “Why when you can have more, be safe?”
“I won’t destroy your family so I can sleep easier at night.”
“You think we’ll be functional knowing you gave your life for us? We won’t.”
“Maddoc please...”
His lips push against mine, but they don’t move. They don’t demand, and they don’t take as they should. They plead.
He pulls back, eyes sloped at the edges. “Let me go, give me peace of mind. Cap will love you, he will protect you.”
“And you?”
He looks to the ground. “I’ll never replace you, but if you don’t accept him, I’ll hate you.”
“I’m okay with that.”
“I’ll wreck your world.”
“It’s already wrecked!”
He glares, jerking away from me, tearing my heart a little more in the process. “I will leave them.”
I freeze, my eyes bouncing between his.
Abandon his family?
“I’ll leave this place, right fucking now and everyone in it, never looking back.”
“Maddoc—”
“Don’t test me, Raven.” His eyes turn to stone, freezing me out in a moment’s notice.
My eyes start to water without permission, so I look to the sky, denying their escape.
Damned if I do, damned if I don’t.
“You’re backing me into a corner, Big Man.”
“Where I can protect you.”
I look back to him, giving a slow shake of my head. “I won’t be yours to protect.”
I swear his eyes haze over, but he blinks the pain away. “You will always be mine where it matters.”
“Don’t make me do this.”
“Don’t make him wait.”
With that, he turns and walks back inside, and I’m left standing there, a dozen men waiting only feet away for me to seal my fate.
I squeeze my eyes shut, wipe my face with my sleeves, and take a deep breath.
I know I look busted and weak, everything a girl in their world is likely known to be, but I go back in with my head held high.
I step forward, into the room full of men I don’t know, men I do, and the only people in the world I trust.
The ones I trust, who are asking me to deny one, give up the other, and take another.
Everyone knew I’d give myself for them, it’s why the boys were fearful, and how the Gravens were so sure. Dangle Zoey and I’d save her, for them. It’s what Perkins meant when he said I would make the decision once I learned the alternative. It’s why Collins helped hide Zoey from his dear leader as long as he could – holding out for me.
He wanted my trust, but they earned it first, a fact Rolland didn’t fully think through.
He wanted me to grow to tolerate, if not care for, his boys. He knew if I did, I’d do right by them as time went on and I was in
my new role as a Graven trophy, but he underestimated the bond he hoped to create. He wasn’t aware the boys were missing something they desperately craved – free, untainted love, something they stole from me without my permission, that I’d willingly give them now.
We all had broken tethers before each other, lost pieces we couldn’t place and refused to acknowledge.
Nobody could predict or prepare for the strength behind four fused souls.
Captain let the world in on a secret nobody ever had to learn tonight, all in hopes it would give him the power to claim me over Collins, the girl no one cared to defend before this place.
Cap’s hand isn’t being forced. He’s the reasonable one of the three, the deep thinker and over processor, the calm. He’s the packman, protecting his own as he can, and here I am turning him down for someone he hates when he just stood in front of his dad and brothers, looked in the eyes of a man he hates and gave up his future for mine.
For ours?
I slide my clammy hand into Captain’s.
I wait for Rolland to look me dead in the eye, drop my guard and show him all he’s done.
One night, one choice.
Four broken Brayshaws.
“You win.”
The slope of his eyes conveys what it should, a self-directed question that I hope crushes him from the inside out.
Did he?
Two words changed everything in in the blink of an eye.
The boys were asked to leave as were the other families while Cap and I had to sit at a round table with Rolland and Donley, where they laid it all out.
Our wedding is planned, honeymoon scheduled and paid for before we’re even allowed to leave. Donley adjusted the contract to reflect my “situation.” Since I wouldn’t produce bloody sheets the morning after, a video will be required. A fucking porno, for lack of better words, of me and my husband consummating our marriage. Only after that, will Donley let go of the idea of Zoey – he wants me, not her, but he won’t dare say the words aloud. He needs the threat to hang over our heads.
I’ll be eighteen in two months.
My wedding is scheduled for the first Saturday that follows, and on neutral ground – the cabins. I assume Donley has no idea I’m technically already a legal adult.
Reign of Brayshaw (Brayshaw High #3) Page 8