His Chosen Bride (Perilous Series)

Farewell Friend

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.