“A devastating fire broke out at Mason Vineyards early this morning. It’s not clear yet if the fire was accidental, according to Deputy Fire Chief Stanton, who says his department is still investigating. There were no reported deaths from the fire…”

The bowl of chili slipped from my fingers and cracked at my feet. Rafe sank into the chair and buried his head in his hands. Jax shut off the TV, and the silence that tore through the room disturbed me on such a deep level, I wanted to scream just to break it. I lowered to my haunches and placed my hands on his knees.

“I’m sorry.”

He looked up, his eyes tired and defeated. “They already burned the island, and now the vineyard. Perrone is systematically destroying my family’s legacy.” My hands fell away as he stood.

He began pacing, but Jax gripped his shoulder. “And tomorrow, we’re gonna destroy my legacy.”

21. Breaking Alex - Alex

21. BREAKING ALEX - ALEX

Rafe’s soft snores should have offered me comfort. They assured me he was beside me, alive. Breathing. Still with me. But it wasn’t enough. Everything pressed on me too heavily—the destruction of Mason Vineyards, my dad’s arrest, Rafe and Jax planning to go after Lucas.

The turmoil inside me was a beast, its teeth gnawing from the inside, claws scratching to get free. I’d conditioned myself to keep my eyes dry for years, even while Zach thrust his cock into every part of me. Especially then. I’d learned to deal with emotions another way.

It was unhealthy and abnormal, but causing pain was the only way I knew to dampen the clutch of the beast inside me that stole my breath and turned my chest into a pressure cooker. Pain brought a blessed sigh of relief as my skin tingled and burned. It was like a drug. I caught a whiff of my next fix now, except gouging flesh with the sharp edge of my fingernails wouldn’t be enough this time.

I couldn’t unglue my mind from Jax slicing into that apple with a blade.

Slipping from bed, I made my way quietly into the bathroom, shut the door, and switched on the light. The mirror above the sink whispered to me, and I stared at the damage Zach had done to my abdomen. I craved the sting, craved the sharp bite of a blade drawing a line of crimson. I wanted red to wipe away those carved letters, thirsted for the subsequent relief that would follow the cut.

I wanted the death of his fucking name.

Spurned on by the need raging in my blood, I switched off the light and left the bathroom, my bare feet padding across the hardwood toward the hall. I cracked open the door and waited a few seconds, listening.

Rafe’s breathing continued, uninterrupted.