Chapter 115 Say It Again
Violet
The gun presses harder against my temple, cold and unforgiving, painfully real. My breath finally starts to shake, chest rising too fast, too uneven, my pulse roaring in my ears so loudly I can barely hear anything else. Camille is crying somewhere behind me, Theo is swearing, Devin is saying something sharp and controlled, but none of that matters.
Because Rowan doesn’t look at the gun.
He looks at me.
And something in his expression, something dark, steady, unmoved, sends a different kind of fear crawling up my spine. Not the kind that makes you run. The kind that makes you stay.
“Let her go,” he says, low, controlled, deadly.
The guard tightens his grip on me instead, his arm locking harder around my chest as he presses the gun more firmly into my skin. “Don’t come any closer,” he snaps, his voice shaking. “I swear to God, I’ll—”
Rowan doesn’t even glance at him. Not once.
His gaze stays locked on mine.
Unblinking. Unyielding.
“Take the ring off.”
The words hit harder than the gun.
For a second, I think I misheard him.
“What?” My voice comes out breathless, disbelieving.
Behind me, the guard falters slightly, confused. Theo lets out a sharp, incredulous breath. “Rowan, what the hell—”
“Take it off.”
He doesn’t raise his voice. Doesn’t move. Doesn’t break eye contact.
And somehow, that’s worse.
“Are you serious right now?” I snap, anger cutting through the fear. “There’s a gun to my head!”
“I’m aware.”
The calmness in his tone makes something twist inside me.
“Then what the fuck are you doing?” I fire back. “This is not the time—”
“You said yes.”
The words cut through everything, clean and sharp.
My mouth snaps shut.
He takes a step closer.
The guard jerks me tighter, panic spiking. “I said don’t move—”
Rowan doesn’t stop. Doesn’t even acknowledge him.
“You said yes,” he repeats, quieter now. “Upstairs.”
My heart stutters.
“That wasn’t—” I start, shaking my head. “That doesn’t count and you know it—”
“Then say no.”
The room stills.
Even the guard goes quiet behind me.
I stare at Rowan. “What?”
“Say no now,” he says, his voice dropping lower, darker. “Take the ring off. Walk away.”
Something in my chest tightens hard.
“Are you out of your mind?” I breathe.
“Probably,” he replies without hesitation.
And for a second, just a second, I see it.
He is losing control.
But not the way I thought.
Not chaotic. Not reckless.
Focused.
On me.
“You don’t get to do this right now,” I snap, my voice shaking despite myself. “You don’t get to turn this into some twisted conversation when there’s—” I swallow hard, the gun pressing into my skin grounding me again. “When this is happening.”
“This is exactly when it matters.”
His words hit like a slap.
My hands tremble now, my fingers curling slightly against my sides, my mind racing too fast, trying to keep up with everything crashing into me at once.
“You think I had a choice?” I shoot back, anger bubbling up and spilling over. “You cornered me, Rowan. You put me in a situation where saying yes was the only option!”
“Then prove it.”
My breath catches.
“Take it off.”
The room feels like it’s closing in.
Behind me, the guard shifts again, his breathing uneven, his grip not as steady as it was before. I can feel it. He’s listening. Watching. Just as confused as everyone else.
“I can make this stop.”
Rowan’s voice cuts through everything.
I look at him. Really look at him.
“Hargrove. Calder. Internal Affairs. The police.” Each word lands heavier than the last. “I can end it.”
Hope flickers. Dangerous. Fragile.
“But I can’t do it without you.”
And just like that, it shatters.
My throat tightens.
“You don’t get to put that on me,” I whisper, shaking my head. “You don’t get to make this my responsibility—”
“It already is.”
My chest heaves. “No. No, it’s not. This is your world, your mess—your—”
“You are in it now.”
The finality in his voice makes something inside me crack.
“I didn’t ask for this!” I snap, my voice breaking. “I didn’t ask for any of this! I just wanted my life back. I wanted normal, I wanted—” My breath stutters. “I wanted to worry about bills and groceries and stupid everyday things, not this insanity.”
“Then walk away.”
The words hit like a wall.
I freeze.
“Say no,” Rowan says quietly. “Take the ring off. Walk out that door.”
My fingers twitch.
“And I let you go.”
Silence settles, heavy and suffocating.
My gaze drops to my hand.
The ring glints under the light. Simple. Solid. Real.
My heart pounds. My head spins. My chest aches like it’s being torn in two.
I could.
I could take it off.
I could walk away.
This ends. All of it.
No more danger. No more chaos. No more him.
My stomach twists violently.
No more him.
Something in my chest clenches hard, painfully.
My fingers curl tighter, not loosening, not moving.
I lift my head slowly.
Rowan is still watching me. Not moving. Not pushing.
Waiting.
For the first time, he’s actually waiting.
And I realize this is it.
Not the gun. Not the guard. Not Hargrove.
This.
This is the moment that changes everything.
My voice comes out quieter than I expect, but steady.
“I’m not taking it off.”
The words settle into the room, heavy and final.
Something shifts in Rowan instantly. Not explosive, not loud, but precise, like a switch flipped.
The air changes.
His focus snaps away from me and lands on the guard.
And suddenly, I’m not the one in danger anymore.
The guard feels it too. His grip tightens again, panic surging back in full force. “Wait—wait—hold on—”
Too late.
Rowan steps forward, slow, deliberate, lethal.
“You’re done.”
The words aren’t loud. They don’t need to be.
They carry weight. Promise. Finality.
The guard’s breathing turns frantic. “No, no, listen—I didn’t mean for any of this—”
“I know.”
That makes him pause, just for a second.
And that’s all it takes.
Theo moves.
Fast. Violent. Precise.
The gun jerks. A shout rips through the room. My body is yanked, then released.
And everything explodes into motion.