Four or Dead by G O A

Emma POV

“So, Emma those boys who were here, are they good friends of yours?” The therapist, Dr. Long asks.

I let out a huffed laugh.

“Not exactly. They bullied me for the last three years.” She furrowed her brows at my words.

“Really? They seem to care for you very much. They stood around you like they wanted to protect you.”

“Yeah, I have no idea what’s wrong with them. Is it weird that I feel safe with them even after how they treated me all those years? Like some kind of Stockholm syndrome or something?” I asked with genuine concern but my voice light.

She smiled.

“Although you may be at risk of such a condition, I don’t think that is the case here. I think you feel alone and for the first time someone is there and willing to fight for you, and you want that. You need that. Did they ever physically hurt you?” I let out a sigh and laid my head back on my pillow.

“No, never. They played a few pranks on me but they were mostly harmless. It was more like catcalling and teasing. The girls they hang around with are the ones who physically hurt me.”

“I see. So maybe even though they haven’t been kind before, you know they won’t hurt you. You may feel put off because they are acting differently from how they have in the past, that would make anyone skeptical.” She offered.

I considered her words for a minute and surprisingly it made some sense. I knew Leo before all this and I trusted him like I had never trusted anyone but I had been so ashamed of what my father had been doing to me that I never told him. Not that I didn’t trust him with the truth but because I didn’t want him trying to save me or see me any different. I just wanted to feel normal and being with him let me feel that even if it was only for a short time. If he rushed in like a knight in shining armor to save me I don’t know what my dad would have done to him. I was scared of him getting hurt because of me.

“I want to trust them because I don’t have anyone else. Their behavior has thrown me off…but somehow….it feels right. But what if after I leave here they turn around and treat me the way they used to? I don’t know if I could go through that. That feeling of being alone…” I said feeling tears welling up behind the mist of my eyes.

I hadn’t said anything yet, but my eyes had started to clear over the last few hours. I hadn’t said anything yet because I wasn’t sure if they were healing or if it was a temporary thing. Besides my mind has been swarmed with a million thoughts that it was the least of my worries. Of course, I wanted my eyesight back, but my fear of my father was the strongest thing I was feeling at the moment.

“We can never know for sure who people will turn out to be, which is why we have to take a leap and hope for the best. The world is like that, leaps of faith with no assurances. We may wish to know exactly what will happen with every choice and turn we make, but that just isn’t possible. So why not take a leap of faith, and if they disappoint you then you move on, but cut them from your life. You need to set boundaries for yourself that you will never let anyone cross, so you can protect yourself. Protect your heart but let people in just a little so they can see how great you are.” She said reaching for my hand and giving it a gentle squeeze.

“Now what I need to know is how you feel about your home situation. You told me what your father has done, and we both know going back there now isn’t safe for you. You are a legal adult even though you are still finishing school, so we can try and find you a woman’s group home for you. They provide a safe place with everything you could need. Would that be something you would be interested in?” I swallowed and considered her words carefully.

Asher said he wanted me to stay with them, but could I really do that?

“Is that my only option?” I asked her.

She shook her head.

“No, like I said you are a legal adult and can choose where you live, but I recommend going somewhere your father does not know about. Somewhere that has protection in case he does come around. We can try and request a restraining order for your father as well, in case he does find where you are staying.” I nod my head in understanding as she explains all my options.

“Isn’t a restraining order just a piece of paper? How is that supposed to do anything?”

him then you call the police,

back home. He could beat me so there was no way to call for help. I don’t see how such a thing could be any help at

bodyguards? It sounded selfish when I put it like that, but my options were so limited that this could have been my only choice. It’s like that old phrase says…out of the pot and into the fire. Except it would be the other way around for me since the Dark Angels were the lesser evil of the two. I guess my mind was already made up, now it was a matter of talking to them. Would the

Emma what do you want to do? What would make you feel safe?”

truth out loud even though the doctor wouldn’t

that was to make my father pay for what he did to me. To make all those dirty men pay for what they have done my whole life. I am broken, but I wouldn’t be the only one. It was time for me to fight, and I was ready to bring fire from the heavens to make it happen. The anger was pumping through my veins like a hot flame but I knew it wouldn’t be as easy as it sounded. I still had a lot of fear to overcome. Once the doctor left and assured me that she would sign off on me being released since

Leo POV

that moment on. The others followed me in Asher’s car, and we made it to the hospital in record time. My eyes met the

to say but

want to say something first.” She said and I nodded

it dawned on

see

still a little foggy but it’s a lot better. The doctor came in a little while ago and said it should keep improving, over the next few days. I

guys barreled into the room. She

here.” She said setting her

seat. We have business

glanced at each other, but we did as she asks and settled in to

want to bring down everything my father represents, and I want to do what I couldn’t do to myself. I want him dead. If the stories I have heard about you are true, then you are exactly the weapon I need. So, what do you say?” She asked looking at each of

Asher POV

Present

when it came to girls. Look at my thing with Andrea for example. On the outside, we seem like we belong together, but the truth is I have been tolerating her for one purpose only…to get information on her father. He and my father had been rivals since before I was born, and I was assigned to get close to the daughter to milk her for information. My father had big plans for acquiring her family’s company and all that it entailed. See my dad was the dark lord of this town. He looked like a legitimate businessman, but under all that he dealt with the darkest parts of this stuck– up town’s secrets, and I was the dark prince. I respected my father because he conquered and destroyed anything in his way, but I didn’t agree with it all. He loved my mother with a passion that many people could only hope to find, and she was his light. Then some drunken and high blue blood got behind the wheel of his million-dollar birthday present and killed her. That guy lived with just a broken leg to show for what he had done, and his family’s lawyers buried us in legal hell to let him slide. Back then my father was no one special but you would be surprised what vengeance can push someone to do. My father left a trail of blood behind him to take his place as king of the underworld of this seemingly perfect town, and he groomed me from a young age to do the same. Some may think a man willing to kill for revenge would be a crappy father, but my dad wasn’t. He treated me well and made sure I wanted for nothing. I was a part of his world since I was a child but in truth, I wouldn’t have chosen this life if I hadn’t been raised in it. I was the dark prince for the simple reason that it was the life my father molded for me. He even set up a comfortable house for me and the other boys. Logan, Jayden, and I had grown up together and they had both lost everything. So, my father pretty much adopted them and when we were old enough, he gave us a house of our own. That was the summer we met Leo, and he had a story of his own. His father and mother kicked him out that summer because he decided he preferred fixing cars in our garage to a stuffy office job in his father’s firm. They wanted him to become a successful lawyer, but my guy fell in love with metal and grease. So needless to say, his parents were having none of it. That’s how the four of us ended up bunking together in my ridiculously big gift of a house. The boys were happy to become a part of my father’s business as well, and that kind of work kept us extremely comfortable. We also ran our own garage and made good money in that aspect as we ll. So, when Emma said she

is that girls call it?

huh? How can we help?” Logan asked with a

own that we were only now seeing. Who wouldn’t, after all, she has endured, but I admit it was a damn

his perfect life. Then when he has nothing left, we let him choose…life with nothing or death.” Emma

been creating a darkness in his daughter that would turn against him with a desire to kill. This was the last straw, and her beast was out

else?” I asked her. She turned to me and my heart fluttered at

Every single man that laid a hand on me.”

a good revenge plot! When do

of here. I feel too vulnerable here. I may want to get revenge on my father, but here he has an advantage. He could come for me at any time and there

I nodded.

plan this out carefully, and

you are nowhere close to trusting us yet, but would you consider coming to stay with us?

him a smile sweeter

of you, but I need you…so I’m in.” Leo smiled at her like a love-sick puppy while the rest

we take