Into The Darkness [#2]

CHAPTER TWENTY THREE (PART THREE)

ELLIE

I looked at the three of them and they all looked at me in shock. I folded my hands on my desk and continued to glare at them as I thought of how I was going to put into words what I wanted to tell them.

I didn't want them to hate me but I also didn't need them acting like they were better than me. I could treat them like my equals, I was more than happy to do that, but I was tired of being treated like I didn't matter and with people hating me for things I didn't even know had happened. It was honestly tiring and I had had enough of it all.

"I don't know. Where do you want to begin?" Luca asked sharply.

"Firstly, there is the issue with the way you keep talking to me, you act like you're better than me and you constantly treat me like you know so much better. And I am tired of it, Luca, I am tired of you treating me like I'm stupid and you telling me everything I do is wrong. You're my best friend and I don't want you to stop being that but I also need you to stop acting like you're better than me," I sighed.

"I don't act better than you. That's not fair," Luca replied angrily. His hands gripped at the side of his chair and he looked at me like he was going to kill me for speaking against him. I would have been pissed off with him but I knew it wouldn't do anything besides make the situation worse than it already was.

"Yes you do. You continually undermine all my decisions and you don't stop breathing down my neck. You protect me even when I don't want protecting and you seem to always be there, even when I don't want you to be there," I said harshly. I didn't want to argue with him but he was a stubborn bastard when he wanted to be.

"How? When?" he snapped.

"How about when I got back? You didn't even give Bradley a chance to explain before you were threatening to murder him and demanding that he leave the territory. You always have to think the worst in everyone because you don't want anyone around me unless they pass your approval test," I seethed. He didn't know better than me and I didn't need him looking out for me when I already had Blake to do that for me.

Blake was my mate and he was the father of my children. He was protective enough for all of us but loving enough that he didn't need to tell me that he loved me for me to know. He watched over me and held enough anger to start several wars all at once but I knew it was only because he cared about me and the twins. So I don't need Luca doing the same thing unless he was there to protect me.

"Now—"

"No. Even when we were kids you were always overly protective but I'm not that kid anymore. I had a shit life and I lost everything so I don't need protecting, not now I've seen the world for what it really is and I have come to realise that it isn't what you expect it to be. I have Blake for everything you continue to do for me. I just want you to be my best friend and to fulfil the position I've asked you to fulfil," I interrupted him.

"Blake is—"

"Her mate. That's who Blake is. It's his job to protect her and it's his job to be there for her. She doesn't need you trying to take the position when she's already got a perfectly good male who does the job wonderfully. Stop sticking your nose in, Luca, and concentrate on your own life," Elliot shouted at him before I even had the chance to defend Blake.

I noticed the way Jackson's arm was wrapped around her waist and the way he held her back when she tried to move forwards. The look on his face was passive and I was sure he was ready to punch Luca at this moment too but that's not only because he had pissed off his mate but also because he had insulted Blake, the guy he saw as his older brother who he cared a great deal about.