Tears immediately formed in my eyes as I ran to Colby, wrapping my arms tightly around him and nuzzling my face in his shoulder.
"Jules..." Colby whispered as I started to cry. I felt like I was going to break the fuck down, knowing that even though we were here together, he still couldn't hold me.
He was being held prisoner and I still had one task that was in the way of us being together. I had a feeling it would be impossible, too.
"It's okay, baby." Colby said quietly as I sobbed into his shoulder.
I wanted so desperately to tell him I was pregnant but I didn't think this was the best time to do it.
After hugging him for a minute, I pulled back slightly so I could look at him.
"What are you doing here?" He asked with so much fear I felt my heart ache. I shook my head then took his face in my hands and leaned in to kiss him.
He reacted to the kiss immediately, causing my heart to jolt out of my chest. The way his lips felt on mine after so long was something I could only describe as home.
I missed him so fucking much.
When we pulled away he looked into my eyes, a terrified look on his face. I don't know if I have ever actually seen him as scared as he was right now.
There were cuts and bruises on his cheeks and eyes, but other than that he looks unscathed.
He must have known something that I didn't.
He went to open his mouth but before he could he was interrupted by Pops.
"Alright, Juliana. That's enough." Pops said as I shook my head. "Please...more time." I begged then turned to see that Sam was also in the room. He was on the opposite side of the room, also chained to the wall.
"Sam." I said as he smiled reassuringly. "Hey, Jules." He said as Pops came into the room.
"I'm serious, Juliana. You know I have one last thing for you to do." Pops said then sent someone in to come grab me.
"Don't fucking touch her." Colby growled as Pops laughed. "Cute. Come on, Juliana." Pops said as I was dragged out of the room.
"I love you." I said to Colby as his eyes watered. "I love you." He said as the door closed again.
"Why would you do that?" I asked, my voice cracking. "Do what?" Pop asked with an unbothered tone.
"Why would you let me see him if you were going to take him away again?" I asked as he shrugged.
"Doesn't matter. Come on." He said then led the way back to his office. "I don't want to do anything else for you. I know where they are now, I can just go get them." I said as he raised his brows.
"You really think you can do that?" He asked as I nodded. "Haven't I proved that?" I asked as he hummed.
"You are your father's daughter." He said as my heart dropped. "You knew my father?" I asked as he grinned.
"Know him? You could say that." He said as I rolled my eyes. "What? Were you his lover or something?" I asked as he chuckled.
"Surprised you don't remember me even a little bit." He said then grabbed a picture frame from the desk drawer to his left.
He slid it on the desk and towards me.
In the frame was a picture of my father and a man who looked like a younger version of Pops next to him.
On my dad's shoulders was a picture of five year old me, smiling widely at the camera.
I felt my breath hitch in my chest, realizing that Pops was my dad's absolute best friend.
He was around when I was a kid all the time but I didn't know that he was building a reputation in the crime world with my father.
I didn't know that was the man standing in front of me today.
"There it is. That look of realization that I helped raise you." He said as my eyes watered. "I would say that your father would be proud of you, for everything you've done, but I don't think he would be." Pops explained as a tear trickled down my cheek.
"Because you murdered him." He said, his face going hard. "He fucked me up." I defended, all the confidence leaving my body all at once.
"It doesn't matter! You could have thrived with us! You could have been successful and on top of the crime world but you decided to kill the one person who cared about you." He said as my jaw clenched.
"He didn't care about me! He sold my body for sex and tried to kill me and the person I love! I did what I did because he deserved it!" I yelled and stood up.
"I don't understand why you people can't just let me go! You can't just let me live with the person I love and the family I care so deeply about!" I cried out. "Why can't you just leave me alone?!" I yelled as he blinked slowly.
"Because, Juliana. You've lost that privilege. " He said then pulled something out of his desk drawer.
"Besides, I'm going to let you visit Mr. Brock again in a minute, but I need you to bring this with you." He said and slid a gun towards me.
"What?" I asked as his face hardened. "Your last task from me is to kill your lover." He said as my heart raced.
"That's not a part of the contract that you signed! You said I would get them back UNSCATHED." I yelled, standing up.
"I seem to remember you signing your precious little contract as well." He said and pulled out the paper. "Our agreement won't be discussed to any third party accounts." He read then looked up at me.
"Did you or did you not tell your friend Nate about this?" He asked as my heart dropped.
"He didn't tell anyone." I croaked out, my throat closing up. "It doesn't matter!" Pops bellowed, causing me to flinch back.
"You wanted this silly little contract but you broke it so it means nothing." He said then ripped it up angrily.
"You now belong to me until you do this." He said as I shook my head. "I won't." I said as he chuckled angrily.
"Alright. How about I give you a choice?" He asked with an evil tone. The way he was speaking and acting gave me an uneasy feeling, like how it feels when someone scrapes their nails on a chalkboard.
"If it's me or him that dies, I choose me." I said with no hesitation causing him to chuckle. "You're such a foolish girl, letting love wreck you like this." He said then twirled a pen between his fingers.
"You could have been great. The way you've handled these tasks that I was suspecting would kill you. You really want to throw all of that natural born talent away?" He asked as I nodded.
"You don't understand." I whispered, my voice cracking.
"You're right. I guess I don't. Now do you want the actual choice or no?" He asked and raised his brows. I felt my stomach drop, realizing what was about to happen.
"Don't." I whispered as he stared at me with intensity. "Either you kill Cole, or my men will kill those cute little siblings you have. You know the ones." He said as my chest heaved in and out, panic immediately filling every inch of my body.
"Why are you doing this? My father wouldn't want that!" I screamed as he chuckled.
"You see the thing is, I feel like I need to avenge your father. I never got to say goodbye to him because you're a selfish little brat." Pops said as anger coursed through my veins.
This man was going to ruin my life in one way or another because he wasn't able to say goodbye to my father, who was a piece of shit?
I stared at him for a second, before letting my eyes flicker to the gun that was on the desk. I lunged to reach for it but was stopped by Pops who was able to grab it and shoot me in the chest, right up by the shoulder.
"Fuck!" I gasped, my hand flying to the wound. "Don't make this even harder than it needs to be. All you have to do is kill Colby. You've had no issues killing anyone prior to this, including your father." Pops said as I cried in pain.
"I'm not going to kill him." I said as he chuckled then grabbed his phone. "Perhaps you could use a little motivation then." He said then called someone.
I watched in fear as I trembled, not knowing what was going to happen next.
"Hey, Pete....No, she's resisting. Yeah. You've taken out the babysitters? Great." He said then looked at me, putting the phone on speaker.
In the background I could hear my siblings, especially Juniper, crying.
My body jolted with fear and anger as the impossible choice plagued my mind.