Enjoy!

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Marcia

Ashton slammed the front door open and I followed him inside close behind. "Where is he!?" He yelled at George, who only pointed in the direction to the study.

He ran towards that direction and I followed him. Just before he opened the door I pulled him to a stop.

"Wait a second." I spoke up gently, not wanting to set him off.

"What now Marcia?" He asked me irritated.

"Look, your best friend is in there, he has his own reasons for leaving. I understand that you don't agree with them but you have to see things from his point of view. Let him talk and if we can't change his mind, then we'll have to let him go." I told Ashton while looking into his eyes.

"But Marcia-" He started but I placed my finger on his lips.

"He deserves happiness too." I whispered and stood on my tippy toes. He leaned down and gave me a gentle kiss.

"Come on." He whispered and opened the office door.

The first thing I noticed was Landon was on the couch with his hands on his face. We walked towards him and I sat beside him.

"Hi Landon." I whispered and gave him an awkward hug.

He glanced up and his eyes met with mine. I took in his tear stricken cheeks and swallowed a lump in my throat. He hugged me and started crying silently on my shoulder.

"Please understand that I just want something like you have with Ashton." He whispered for only for me to hear.

"I understand Landon, and I support you one hundred percent, whether you want to stay or go." I told him with a smile. I wiped off his tears with my thumbs and kissed his forehead.

He felt Ashton's gaze and snapped his eyes at him. "I bet you're disgusted with me." He mumbled averting his gaze.

"I'm not. I always knew you preferred guys, I was just waiting for you to say it. The only thing that threw me off was when you called telling me you wanted to leave The Family." Ashton replied sitting across Landon with an unknown expression on his face. Could it be sadness?

"How did you know?" Landon asked, ignoring the last part.

"I remember the way you would look at Christopher back in eighth grade..." Ashton trailed off with a smile forming on his lips. "What I don't understand is why you want to leave." Ashton stated and Landon sucked in a breath.

"I don't want to go through the same humiliation Xavier went through." Landon said and I stiffened next to him. Xavier as in my uncle's husband?

"Yes." Landon nodded and I covered my mouth. Fuck, I said that out loud.

"Xavier used to have George's position when we were children. He was in charge of the entire security squad, he was supposed to marry a girl from any of the families. Later on he announced he was dating someone from your family, of course everyone was static. One night when he went to meet up with her, some of the guys decided to follow him to know who the mystery girl was. When he returned home he was jumped by the entire squad and his rank was removed. Our parents were unaware of this at the time, and didn't get the chance to stop any of it. He was taken to a holding cell and left bare..." Landon trailed off choking on a sob.

"You don't have to tell me what happened to him, just know that I won't let anyone hurt you." I let Landon know, wiping away my tears.

He took a deep breath and continued speaking. "They forced him to be with a woman, they punished him for something he couldn't control. I don't want to be humiliated like him, I want to leave before I suffer his fate." Landon cried on my shoulder and I stiffened when Ashton's face turned cold. He stalked towards us and dropped on his knees in front of us taking a hold of Landon's face in his hands.

"The people involved in that terrible act are dead Landon, you don't have to worry about any of that happening to you. As kids you stood by my side and now I'll do the same for you. You're my best friend, and your preferences don't change who you are including what we've gone through. If you walk away, I'll walk away as well, we both know I can't deal with this alone. But if you stay, I will harm anyone that interferes in your happiness. " Ashton's voice cracked at the end, lowering his gaze.

"Twenty years ago I promised I would always stand by your side, and I plan on keeping my promise." Landon mumbled and then sniffed.

I pulled him closer and rubbed his back. "Ten years ago Xavier married my uncle, and they live a very happy life. They're even thinking about adopting." I whispered to Landon and smiled when his eyes lit up.

Ashton stood up and sat next to Landon. Moments later I heard knocking on the door, and Michelle's head popped in.

"Did you guys convince him?" She asked with a large smile. Landon nodded and her gaze landed on me.

"Want to come to the market with me?" Michelle asked me and I shot off my seat. Anything to leave these two alone like they deserved.

I walked hastily towards her and followed her outside to her jeep. "Take George along!" We heard Ashton yell from inside and Michelle rolled her eyes, while I groaned.

We climbed in and George followed behind in an SUV with four other men. Ten minutes of Michelle's terrible singing, we made it to the market. Michelle walked straight to the vegetables while I glanced at everything around me.

"I want to cook dinner for Landon, keep his mind off things you know." She sighted while picking potatoes.

I nodded and helped her pick out more vegetables. We moved to a different stand and George stood a couple of feet away from us, grabbing a few tomatoes. "We need to leave now, it's not safe anymore." He whispered and paid for the vegetables. Michelle and I followed a few steps behind, pretending to be in a conversation.

I felt my blood run cold when I heard a loud bang a few meters away from us. George turned around and acted as my shield. "We need to use the east entrance!" He yelled and tried to run behind me. People all around us began to scream and run, pushing and shoving anyone in their path.

I stiffened when I heard another shot go off and felt George slump next to me. I raised his arm but his entire body fell lifeless on the dirty floor. I released a blood curdling scream and fell to my knees. Dark red liquid oozed from his neck and I shuddered.
I tried to perform CPR but was on the floor for about three seconds before I was picked up by two men. "Mrs Ferrer, we need to leave, there's nothing that can be done to help him." One of the guards told me while he shielded Michelle. The other two guards flocked our sides while we reamined low.

All around me I could hear screams and shots going off. We successfully made it outside, and by successfully I mean we were shoved to the ground about three times. My knees were completely raw and I was covered in George's blood. One of the guards oepened the SUV doors, Michelle and I were quickly shoved inside nicely.

The driver opened the door but after half his body was inside, his blood and chunks of his cranium soon covered the windshield. The guard on the passanger side took the keys from his grasp and pushed his body out. He reluctantly drove away blindly as fast as possible.

While I was too stunned to even move Michelle dialed Ashton. I had a knot growing in my throat and every second that passed by I felt it growing. Without warning the tears started to flow and through blurry sight I glanced out the back window. Two cars were tailing us and they were getting closer.

To our relief the gates opened for us and the driver stepped on the gas, heading to the house. I felt completely useless, I didn't even know who attacked us and now two great people were dead thanks to our lack of knowledge.

Ashton ran outside with Landon trailing behind him, both looked ready to kill. Tyler, one of the guards, helped me out and placed his arm on my back for support. "Thank you." I whispered knowing I would collapse if he let go. My body felt too heavy for me to stand on my own.

Ashton stopped in front of me and picked me off the ground, shouting orders left and right. He ran inside with me still in his arms and laid me down. "Are you hurt?" He asked me and I shook my head. Was I hit?

"He's dead Ashton, they're both dead." I cried while rubbing my bloodied hands on my shorts.

"I was the one who the bullet was intended for, and he saved me. I didn't even get to say thank you or goodbye, it killed them instantly!" I cried out letting my anger take over.

By the sounds coming from outside I knew the ones responsible were still present. I shot off my seat but Ashton saw my intentions, successfully blocking my path. It made me even more furious.

"Move Ashton." I seethed but he shook his head, a frown forming on his handsome face.

"I'm not moving, sit down. If you go out there you will get yourself killed and they both would've died for nothing." Ashton gave it to me straight and I continued shaking in anger.

I covered my ears and started screaming. I had finally snapped. Seeing two men get killed just to protect me had done it. They didn't even care that it was a public place, they went for it. I wasn't aware I was screaming random things until Ashton covered my mouth. Silence. I was alone with my thoughts and my heart beat.

Asthon pulled me into his arms and whispered what I guess were sweet nothings into my ear, trying his best to calm me down. Michelle kneeled in front of me, her lips moved but I didn't hear a single sound from her mouth. She pressed a hand on my abdomen and something red coverd her thin fingers. My legs felt completely numb and the only sound I could hear was my own beating heart. She began to panic and the only thing I could think of doing was giving her a large smile. My vision began to blur until dark spots took over, suddenly my body felt even heavier. I let the darkness consume me, taking me in deep.

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I know this chapter is shorter than the last but it's how I intended for it to be. If there are any mistakes, I will go back and fix them.

I will be starting a new story, and I will be updating How I Fell For Matt Stymest as well. Hopefully I will be able to update this story by next week.

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