Forgive Me

Chapter 19

Joey's POV...

"Calm the fuck down!" Cory yells at me as I continue to throw everything at them. It's been thirty minutes and despite me trying to push past them, they won't let me talk to Rose.

"This was a setup, you purposely made sure we were separated so he could bully her into marriage!" I accuse Cory and he gives a sheepish smile before holding his hands up in surrender.

"Look, this was going to happen whether you agree with it or not. You can't get mad because-." I interrupt his pathetic excuse of a speech by throwing a shampoo bottle at him before trying to charge past both Max and Cory.

"Just. Stop. Fighting. The. Inevitable." Max huffs as they both block the closed door with their big body asses. I'm two seconds away from swinging and I don't give a shit about the outcome. Win, lose, or fucking draw, I'll make my way to my best friend.

"Joey, you are a part of this family now. You work for Elian, and your loyalty to Rosette is admirable but your life isn't yours anymore. You're either with Elian or you're against him." Cory says as he pushes me back and I glare him down.

"What good are you to Rose if you're dead? Be wise, Jason is the best candidate." Max says with the same gloomy ass expression and tone he always has. I ball my fist, the urge to smash his face into the ground almost knocks me off my feet.

I watch as Max lowers his eyes, most likely to my bald fists and he raises them back up to mine. His eyes are so dark, so empty and evil. Someone so small looks like bad news. It irritates me.

"You wanna hit me? Huh? Do it then big shot. Take a swing, I dare you." He says lowly. Now I have to hit him. He's trying to challenge me in something he thinks I'm weak in. Fine.

"Fuck you!" I yell before pulling my fist backward and then with all my might, I swing it forward to my target. However, Max grabs my fist and out of nowhere, a hand collides with my left cheek,  then my stomach, and somehow he manages to sweep my legs off the ground.

The air is knocked out of me as my back hits the hardwood floor. The pain shoots through it and I gasp from both pain and the need for oxygen. Did I just lose? They had to have jumped me. No way did Max handle me alone.

"You need to get up. Rose will want you out there for dinner. Make sure you don't interfere or else." The demon says before the sound of the door opening and closing fills the air.

"He shouldn't have done this before training. We'll fix you up an ice bath after dinner. You'll have to be ready for training tomorrow." Cory says and I want to punch him for making it seem like I'm happy hurt. I slowly get up, ignoring every red flag in my body.

"Let me out." I bark.

Rosette's POV...

"Good, that's all I needed to hear Ro. I knew you wouldn't let me down again. I need you to sign these papers." Jason says as he walks away from the door.

He pulls up his shirt a little bit, exposing a wad of papers. He pulls them out from his jeans and hands them to me. He then reaches into his jeans pocket and pulls out a pen. He came prepared... Did he assume I would say yes?

"Hurry, we are already late for dinner. Just sign on these lines and we'll be good to go." He says in a rush. He must feel super hungry, I feel that way too. I nod my head and look down at the paper, I can just read it quickly.

"Ro, it's just papers for us to be married. Nothing can go wrong with that. I'm here to protect you, not screw you over." He says with a tone that is mixed with hurt and offense.

"S-Sorry, you're right. I trust you Jason, I'll just hurry up so we can get dinner." I say as I scribble down my signature as best as I can on my lap. Once I finish signing, Jason snatches the paper from my hands and leans down.

"Emily would be so proud of me. Her justice has been served." He laughs. Her justice? What is he talking about? I open my mouth to ask that very question but he just taps my nose with his index finger and walks away, laughing.

Jason's POV...

"Wow, she actually signed the papers. I thought she would be smart enough to read them. I'm a bit disappointed." John sighs as he goes through the papers of what his daughter unknowingly agreed to.

"Well, she tried but I told her to just trust me and she actually listened." I chuckle and he chuckles as well before clapping me on the back.

"The wedding should be next week. Enough time to get her a dress, pick a venue, and invite her old friends." He says as he dances to a tune in his head. I smile, despite disagreeing with his words.

"Well, lucky for you, I already got those things together. I have the most unique and special wedding in mind. This wedding will be the wedding Rose remembers for the rest of her life." I smile as the words leave my mouth. Emily will be so proud.

Joey's POV...

"Dinner was great, I did not picture meatloaf being so elegant," Rose says as she lays next to me on my bed. I haven't spoken a word to her since coming back to the mall and I know she feels worried about it.

"The mashed potatoes were." I slam my fist on the wall, interrupting her pointless ramble that is only the filler for the real conversation that needs to happen.

"Cut the shit Rose. I know you did something you're not sure was right. Your body language has been off ever since you came down to the table." I say with a voice so low, that it scared me.

"I accepted Jason's marriage proposal. I-If I didn't, he would have left and everyone would have lost hi-." I quickly turn my head to face her. I made sure she felt the disappointment in my eyes.

"Who are you fooling? We both know it was more than just that. Don't use his reasoning to hide behind the truth. You accepted the proposal because that was something you felt should have happened in the beginning." I accuse and she confirms it by shoving her face into the pillow.

I continue to glare at her, hoping my glare gets through her thick skull. But my plan changes once she turns her face to look at me. Her red eyes and nose make me pull her onto my chest.

"Why couldn't she back off? Why did we have to fight so much? I feel so distant from her... I-." She sobs and a little hiccup interrupts her. She breaks out into another sob and smothers her face on my chest.

"It wasn't the way I imagined it would be. He just asked me and then had me sign papers. He is marrying me because he feels like he has to. I don't want that type of marriage... But, he was so angry with me..." I kiss her on the top of her head to calm her down.

"Don't worry about the negatives, let's focus on the positives. A positive can be anything... Like... Oh, you got a guy with muscles!" I say with some enthusiasm. She cracks a smile and I smile at her in response.

"Right, and I know him. Some others would be... He smells nice, he's tall,  and he is older than me." She playfully swoons, her eyes aren't letting those tears drop anymore and I feel at ease.

The room grows silent and I watch her as she turns on her back and stares up at the ceiling. She's overthinking for sure, probably about the decorations for the wedding.

"Do you think she'll haunt me for this?" She whispers and I don't hesitate to shake my head. Going by the stories she told me, her sister wouldn't have the right to.

"No, and even if she did... Who do we call?" I sing dramatically and I watch as the side of her lip curls up.

"Ghostbusters!" She sings back before we both erupt into a fit of giggles.