Keeping Their Dark Rose by Jessica & Jane

Chapter 17

Somewhere clean and nice with everything in order where I’m not constantly feeling cold and able to hear the wind rattling the roof on those rough nights. It wasn’t so bad, though. There were nights where Drake would hold me close. Cuddling me against him so that I felt warm and safe, usually when he was in a good mood, which wasn’t often. But for a moment, I could pretend I was safe and loved. Until someone came knocking on the door, at least, and Drake was forcing me to my knees to pay off whatever debt he wracked up.

Finally finding the courage, I force myself to leave the room and I wander around this maze of a mansion, trying to work out where to go, when I hear talking from the living room by the front door. My eyes instantly go to the door and I calculate my chances of escaping through it without them noticing me when I realize the voice belongs to Max. Yet, my blood runs cold when I recognize the other voice, and I am transported back to that night. The memory hits me like an icy wave as I hear Ethan and Max’s uncle’s voice, transporting me back to the night at the police station, the night everything changed.

-Flashback-

I’m sitting in the sterile, cold interrogation room, the harsh light overhead making everything feel exposed and raw. My heart is pounding, fear and confusion swirling inside me. Ethan was taken to another room, and I’m alone, desperately trying to make sense of the chaos that has engulfed our lives.

The door opens, and for a brief moment, relief washes over me as I recognize Ethan’s uncle. He’s been a constant presence in our lives, always kind, always treating me like his own. “Thank go d, they have Ethan in the other room. You have to help him,” I plead, getting up from my chair, my voice filled with desperation. But I know that he will help, he’s family.

But as I step closer, I sense something is off. His expression is cold and distant. “Uncle?” I ask, my voice trembling.

He laughs, a sound that sends chills down my spine. “I am not your uncle,” he says. “Your mother is dead, and so is my brother. We no longer have to play pretend, little Rose.”

Chapter 17

288 Vouchers

Confusion and disbelief grip me. This man, who always showed me kindness, is now a stranger, his words cutting deeper than any blade. “You killed my mother,” I start, my voice barely a whisper.

He cuts me off, his hands suddenly gripping my hair, pulling me harshly towards the desk. I’m bent over, my face pressed against the cold metal surface, tears stinging my eyes. I don’t understand what’s going on and why he is acting like this. “That is what you will be arrested and charged with unless…” His voice trails off, his grip tightening.

I try to argue, to plead my innocence. “But it was self-defense!” My words are desperate, but he doesn’t care.

He laughs, a sinister sound that fills the room. “I don’t care. You have two options. Either you pin it on them, and I let them.live. Or I kill them, and once you’re free from prison, you will spend the rest of your life as a wet hole for alphas to f uck.”

His words are vile, threatening, leaving me feeling helpless and violated. The reality of my situation sinks in. I’m trapped, caught in a web of his making, with no way out. I don’t want either of those things. I can’t imagine a life without Ethan and Max, but I can’t imagine a life of just being used the way that he’s suggesting.

The uncle I thought I knew is gone, replaced by this cold, merciless man who holds my fate and the fate of my stepbrothers in his hands. The realization is crushing, leaving me feeling hollow and broken.

As he releases me, I slump to the floor, my body shaking, my mind reeling from the brutality of his words and actions. The choice he’s given me is no choice at all. It’s a sentence, a condemnation to a life of suffering, no matter what I decide.

“Now you are going to do exactly what I tell you to do.” He snarls.

I pulled from the memory when Ethan catches me loitering outside the living room, and I hadn’t realized I had wandered closer. He comes up behind me and I feel the heat of his chest against my back before feeling his menacing aura wash over me. My entire body tenses, and I turn around to find him glaring down at me.

“How about you join the conversation instead of eavesdropping?” he snarls at me, seizing my arm and dragging me into the living room, where I find Max, Uncle Pete and finally Colt. Colt glances at me but returns his attention to Pete, who stares at me in shock.

“You found her?” he exclaims as Ethan shoves me further into the room. I stumble

Chapter 17

and barely catch myself on the leather armchair before falling on my face.

288 Vouchers

“Yeah, robbing the warehouse with her cr ackhead boyfriend,” Ethan comments.

Pete’s eyes roam over me and I can see the glimmer of malice in his gaze as he says, “Well, isn’t that something? I guess you four have some catching up to do,” he tells the boys, but his eyes remain on me.

Colt scoffs and folds his arms across his chest. “Yeah, she definitely has some explaining to do,” Colt says, sending a glare my way. “Not that anything she says will make up for her ruining my life and sending my mate to prison for years,” he adds, and I swallow guiltily, my eyes darting back to Pete.

“Well, I guess I will get going so you four can catch up. I know you have plenty of things to talk about.”

Pete stands and pulls on his jacket that is over his arm when Ethan speaks. “Don’t forget to check in with me next week and send some men to collect the shipment from the harbor. I have guys waiting to keep watch.” Pete nods at his words. But Pete’s eyes re