Chapter 82
Nathan's POV
Joseph trembled, tears flooding his face. "It's easy for you, isn't it Nathan? You have family, dozens of followers, you have Lily, about to have a child—you don't know what it's like to live like me. You say you had a hard life, but look at you? I needed something good in my life... Lily—she made me smile, she made me happy... but like everything else, she's yours, and you didn't even trust me."
His words cut deeper than I expected.
"Do you know how I felt when I heard she was a Donovan? I felt like I was being punished... like I don't deserve anything good in my life! But I was still willing to stay with her, but you told her everything was a lie. I was ready to give my life for her—and as soon as you told her not to trust me... she abandoned me like everyone else."
"That's not true!" I defended immediately. "Lily never stopped caring about you, never, and you still love her."
I began to blame myself. I had doubted Joseph, even Tyler too—but despite him being my friend for years, the thought that Joseph was sincere never entered my mind. I had failed Joseph.
"What does it matter?" Joseph shouted in my face. "She hates me! She will never love me, my mother will never love me, she's not here anymore—Christopher can't even look me in the eyes anymore. Why would I risk going against my father when no one loves me?"
I glanced at Christopher, his head buried against my waist, and said, "That's not true, I love you. I love you like a brother, which is why I'm willing to talk to you—friends can love you, Joseph, now please put the gun down and let's talk about this!"
Joseph finally lowered the gun, looking at me with an expression of pure agony on his face. That's what he wanted to hear—that he was loved.
"Even if I tell my father to stop, he won't. I don't have that kind of power, you know what kind of man he is."
I tried to persuade him. "It's not too late, I know you still love Lily, deep down you don't want to do this to her. Help me take down Antonio, join the winning team, and I can spare your life and Christopher's. That way you can earn Lily's trust back!"
Joseph cried, "I can't, it's too late." He turned to Christopher. "I never meant for things to go this far, all I wanted was to work with my father so I could keep Christopher safe, I'm sorry."
Then, in a move that shocked me to my core, Joseph turned the gun toward his own temple. "I'm sorry, Nathan—please take care of Christopher."
"Joseph put the gun down!" I shouted, panic rising in my chest. I'd prepared for many different scenarios, but this was absolutely not one of them. One wrong move could ruin my entire plan.
Christopher began to realize what was happening, lifting his head from my waist and running toward his brother. "Joseph, please stop—I'm begging you to stop, please! Don't do this, don't leave me alone!"
Joseph closed his eyes, taking a deep breath. "Tell Tyler I'm sorry." I blocked out the sound of Christopher begging me to do something, crossing my arms as I watched Joseph. "Tell Lily I loved her—"
Before Joseph had a chance to finish his sentence, I grabbed him by the throat, shoving him against the wall, causing the gun to fall to the floor. "Love? Are you out of your mind? Think about Christopher, think about Lily!"
Joseph looked at Christopher kneeling on the floor, crying, and immediately came to his senses. Ending his life wouldn't solve anything.
"If you really love her, you will do everything possible to save her," I growled at him. "If you want to hurt yourself after that, that's what you have to do—but before that—you're going to work with me, am I clear?"
I tightened my grip on his throat. "You can kill yourself, but know that it won't accomplish anything because I will follow you!"
"If you truly regret your actions, if you truly love her, you won't run away like a coward until you help me fix this mess. You claim to love Lily and Christopher, but if you don't help me, their lives will be in danger!"
Joseph nodded, and I released him. "Good, because I have a plan—and you're not going to ruin it."