Chapter 46: Chapter 46

"This is not gonna happen," I say to Aiden. If he thinks that I am gonna choose between Rachel and John then he’s mistaken. "I’m not gonna choose between either of them. We made a deal and you’re gonna stick with it."

"What are you talking about? That is not the question I asked you. You tell me what thing, is it gonna be your brother." He points at John; John is still unconscious "Or your woman." He grips Rachel’s arm tightly.

"I tell you what, you take me and let them go," I suggest.

Aiden’s brows furrow, as he looks at me profoundly. He acts like he’s thinking about it before he suddenly boosts into laughter.

"You sometimes make me laugh Richie Maranzano." He laughs, tapping his hand on his lap; humorously. "Why will I let them go and take you?"

"You are not useful to me. I don’t want you, in fact, I do not want any of you." He says with his terrible accent.

"Then why are you doing this?" I ask

"Because I want to see you hopeless, I want you to beg me for your family’s mercy. I want you to witness your family member die." He says wide-eyed. To my surprise, Rachel had that same expression on her face.

"Then you will know how I felt when you shot my brother," Aiden added

"Your brother," I say questionably. That incident happened two years ago, I can’t believe he’s still holding onto it, and to my surprise, he still thinks I shot his brother.

"What happened back then was an accident and you know that. He was trying to kill Alice an-"

"I do not care what he was trying to do." He says cutting me off "You did what you did and I will do want I want to do." He grips Rachel’s hair pulling her head backward and making her scalp sting.

"Listen to me, you didn’t see me. You saw your brother laying on the ground and you thought I shot him." I try to explain.

"If you did not, who did?" I am surprised he asked that question. He normally goes with what he thinks the truth is.

"I can’t tell you that," I say. I can’t tell him that Alice shot his brother, if I do he will kill her.

"Okay." He harshly pushed Rachel to the floor. She wince in pain as he knelt next to her and he held her chin steady and looked at her. "Tell me who did it or you will regret my next actions.." He turns to look at me with an evil glint.

I don’t respond to him, not because I don’t know what to say but because my voice is caught in my throat. The way he looked at Rachel tells me that I will regret his actions. He leans and buries his nose on her neck, he starts to trail kisses on her neck to her ear where he turns to look at me. Smirking he sucks her skin making her wince with tears.

I tell him to stop but he doesn’t listen instead he begins to rub his hand on her chest. I hate the sight of this, I want to tell him but I can’t. So many thoughts come hammering up and the moment his hands land on her boobs; I blurt out "Alice." With a deep breath, I continue "Alice shot your brother. Now stop touching her."

"I knew it, that bitch was behind it." Aiden pushes Rachel; her head collides harshly against the floor. "Your phobia for guns won’t let you shoot him anyways." He stands up and whispers something to the bodyguard standing there.

I am about to speak when I hear Alice’s screaming. Oh shit! He’s gonna hurt her.

"What’s going on?" I ask but he doesn’t respond. "I said what’s going on?" I yell

"Alice is my sweetheart but if she makes a mistake, she will have to pay for it."

Oh God! I just made everything worse. "Let her go, it wasn’t her fault. Alice had no choice."

"And you will have no choice too. Enough of the drama. If you don’t choose between them, In the next minute. I will kill both of them." He says. There is no hint of a joke on his face. He wraps his hand around Rachel’s throat; choking her.

My eyes turned to John when I heard him struggle to rip out a scream; Jacob is electrocuting him.

"Your brother will not stop being electrocuted and your girl will be choked until you choose someone. Who is it that you will want to save Richie?" Aiden asks

Sweat beads down my forehead as I think of what to do. I turn my gaze to Rachel, she is brimming with tears, her eyes are swollen, she’s shuddering, and her whole motion craves help. My heart hurts to see her like this. I want to help her, I really do.

Turning back to look at John, I couldn’t help but notice how his bare chest is tattooed with nothing but scars. A look is enough to tell that he has gone through a lot. I can’t let him die; he’s my brother.

So many thoughts come crashing into my head and I can’t figure out what to do. I can’t choose between them, they are both family to me, and I hate seeing them in such a situation. This is hard, I can’t do this. It used to seem like Aiden telling me to bring Alice to him would be the worst thing ever, but now I realize it isn't the worst thing ever; this is.

I never thought I will be in a position whereby I have to choose between my fiancé and my brother. My gaze drafts to Rachel again, should I choose her? I think to myself. Aiden is still choking her and her eyes are mere inches from closing. I don’t want her to die but at the same time, I can’t let John die. I turn around to look at John; he is still being electrocuted and is dangling above an acid tube. I can’t let him die, I will never forgive myself if I do.

This isn’t part of the plan, I didn’t think John would be here. Speaking of the plan, I don’t think it will work, Aiden twisted everything. I made a mistake coming here, I shouldn’t have brought Alice and Jake here. I messed things up.

Groaning, I lash out and punch the nearest wall. All this is my fault, from the beginning of it. If I had protected Rachel like I’m supposed to, none of this would have happened and if I had not convinced Alice to come with me, she wouldn’t have been here.

Releasing a deep breath, I decide not to overthink things. I made a mistake and I will fix it. I don’t know what I’m going to do but I know that I won’t let Aiden win. I’m Richie Maranzano, I never lose. I am about to speak when Aiden races to me.

"10, 9, 8….." He begins to count.

Rachel’s attempt to scream echoes in my ear as Jake suddenly begins to call John’s name. Alice is also hurting, I don’t know what I’m gonna do. My heart starts to throb in my chest as time feels like it’s slowing down. A million emotions start going through my head. Anger. Sadness. Confusion. Shock.

I know I can’t do this, it’s impossible to choose between them. The pain of watching them get hurt was getting worse and worse. Each time I think of Rachel, Jake’s call for John fills me up and each time I think of John, Rachel’s screams hit my chest.

"5, 4, 3….." Aiden continues to count.

I don’t know what to do, their screams were getting unbearable and I just had to close my eyes to think. My mind couldn’t concentrate so I decided to let my heart speak for me. As Aiden calls out number 1, my heart speaks before my mind could agree with it. "Rachel."

"What did you say?" Aiden asks

I open my eyes, and with a single glance at her, I knew I chose the right thing. "I choose Rachel."