REIGN (A REVERSE HAREM)

93. Asher

The door slams upstairs making Roman flinch.

We were trying to go paintballing like Arabella wanted however we got caught up. With fifteen of Romans men dying in the same way.

Roman can't risk it.

So she's mad.

He leans forward with his head in his hands, "She hates me."

"She doesn't. She just needs a little time." I lean back, not certain about that myself.

"Ash, go check on her." Luca says to me.

"She wants to be alone-"

"You're her favourite and tell her she has to talk remember." He ushers.

True.

I get up, picking up her phone and walking up the stairs. Only my door was closed so i walk in, seeing her curled under the covers. "Can we talk?" I close the door over.

"No." She turns her back to me.

I set her phone on the bedside table and walk to the other side of the bed, getting in beside her i see she had turned the heated blanket on.

She goes to turn around again, but i stop her, "We all promised to talk, remember?" I put my hand on her jaw.

She looks in my eyes while hers glistened with a gloss of tears, "I just wanted to go paintballing." She closes her eyes, a tear rolling down her cheek.

I wipe it away with my thumb, "What else, baby?"

"Alek grabbed me to pull me away from the bodies and i got bad memories." She shuffles a little closer to me. "And when Luca touched me i flinched, and when Roman noticed he seemed confused."

She never wanted to talk about what happened when she was kidnapped. I think she needs to. She didn't even talk to Gwendoline about it, or Rosa, Roman or Keilani. No one. She spoke to no one. I know she usually bottles things in and then breaks, i think today is the day where she breaks.

"Arabella, do you think you should talk to someone-"

"I talked to the doctors and they said what i'm feeling is normal. They said i'll be on edge but i was fine and-"

"You don't always have to be fine, Arabella." I rest my head against hers. "You can have a bad day, You can have a bad week, darling. You don't always have to be strong."

She sniffs, "I need to be strong."

"You don't."

"If i'm not strong it's going to make me feel confined." She sniffs. "Sometimes... sometimes when i'm with you guys i feel trapped. I don't mean to but i do."

"And it's okay that you do. We're gonna help you-"

She looks at me, "Can you keep a secret?"

"For you? Anything."

She blinks quickly, "I'm going to meet agent Hamada."

"Why?" I frown.

"If you tell Roman or Luca i'm never speaking to you again." She clears her throat, holding up her pinky between us.

I look down at her shaky hand and hesitantly wrap my pink around hers. She keeps our pinkies connected, "When i was in the hospital, he offered to help me get out of here for a while to focus on me-"

I pull my hand away from hers, "Arabella-"

"No, Asher. You can't say anything, okay. You don't..." She takes a breath. "You don't have to deal with the things they did to me. I do. I have to." She grabs my hand again. "I called him. And i called Keilani. She's gonna help-"