“So if I walk outside, the gate will open for me?” I ask dubiously.

“Yes.”

“And if I keep on walking, straight out the entrance gates and onto a bus, you won’t stop me?”

“I’d prefer it if you’d let one of us call you a cab, but no, no one will stop you.”

Getting up, I walk away from them, not believing what he’s saying and needing to see it for myself. Opening the front door, I stride outside, gasping when the gates start to swing open the moment I approach them. Cautiously I step forward, glancing over my shoulder, waiting for the moment that he chases me, but the door stays closed and no one comes.

What the hell is going on? This has to be a game, it’s the only thing that makes sense. Spinning around, I march back into the house and straight into the living room, where all four guys are still sitting. “The gate opened.”

Sebastian nods, his hands clenched together and rested on his knees, his head lowered.

“I don’t understand this game.”

“It’s not a game. I’m going to fix things between you and your mom. I’ll leave you alone, or I’ll try to. I can go. If you want to stay and you don’t want me here, I’ll leave.”

“Leave my mom alone,” I snap.

“I’m going to tell her everything, that it’s my fault.”

“No you won’t. My mom’s an adult, she could have believed me, like my dad did, but she chose not to. I’m not interested in her being sorry only after you tell her she should be.”

“Starling, she misses you,” Evan says, a pleading tone in his voice.

“I can’t help that.”

“All of your belongings are back in your room, as well as all the things I bought for you. You can keep them, sell them or give them away, they’re yours to do whatever you want with. If you decide to leave, let me know which school you want to attend and I’ll ensure you receive the acceptance you would have gotten had I not intervened and of course, I’ll cover your tuition.”

“Just like that? You pull all this shit to get me here and under your thumb and just like that you’re giving up and setting me free? Was this all just about sex? What, now you’ve had me I’ve lost the appeal?” My brows are knitted together and I can feel anger building in me, ready to explode.

“Little bird, if you tell me that you want me, this, that you think you can forgive all the shit I’ve done, that there’s even the faintest hope that you could love me the way I love you then I’ll lock the door and keep you tied to me for the rest of eternity. Is that the case? Do you want to be with me?”

“No,” I say a little too quick.

Nodding, he stands and starts to leave. Pausing beside me, he grabs my chin in gently shaking fingers and kisses me reverently. “I love you, little bird.” Then he strides quickly away, the sound of his heavy footsteps filling the silence until the crash of his bedroom door slamming shut ricochets through the house.