Diamonds or Dirt?

Chapter 22: Cut Off

Toby's POV:

Cast out. Removed. Banished. I will never see my family again. My mom, my brothers... I'll even miss my dad. How could he do this to me over one girl! Sure he has warned me before but I never thought he was serious! What am I going to do now? Where am I going to stay? How am I going to live?!

All of these thoughts were rushing through my head a million miles a hour driving away from that party. I can’t believe Rylee showed up! I especially can't believe she brought him! I know Sam has never approved of my... lifestyle... but I didn't think he would have the nerve to steal a girl away from me!

He betrayed me almost as much as she did! I figured she would be perfect. She is quiet and pure but with a wild side. I just needed to break her... but Sam didn't give me the chance. I was going to marry her. She would be the perfect wife and mother. She wouldn't argue, my mom would have loved her, and she was absolutely clueless... until Sam clued her in.

She could have had a great life, and now both of us will suffer. I will never get to see my family again and she will live a life as a poor farmer’s wife. Sure I got the worst end of the deal but at least she will feel some pain from this.

Throughout my internal rant I didn't realize Cierra was there. When I finally come back to reality I realize she has been holding my hand the whole time. Her small hand is being crushed by the death grip i have on it so I loosen up and look over at her. Her face is a mix of worry and relief. She smiles sadly at me before giving my hand a gentle squeeze.

I squeeze back and I can feel her relax. A feeling floods through me I have been holding back for years. I look at Cierra and something has changed. I don't just see her as some girl I sleep with. I finally see how pretty she is. I see the way she looks at me. I feel something other than just lust for her. I feel like one day it might mean more.

The rest of the ride home is quiet. Neither of us knows what to say. When I pull into her driveway I turn off the car and lean back against the seat. I can feel Cierra watching me.

"Toby, are you okay?" She asks quietly.

"I just had my title removed and I am never allowed to see my family again! How do you think I am?" I scream at her before burying my head in my hands.

"Toby, I know you are mad but you will not take this out on me. I am here for you, but I am not your punching bag. You can come inside when you are ready to act like a civilized person." She snaps and gets out of the car slamming the door after her.

I lean my head back against the seat mentally beating myself up for what I said. I know it isn't right for me to yell at her. She hasn't done anything wrong. None of this would have happened had I never met Rylee. That girl is poison.

She ruined my life. She stole my family. She ruined my reputation, and what happened to her? She got the boyfriend she wanted. How is that fair?

I shake off all of these thoughts and get out of the car to apologize to Cierra. I go inside and find her in her room sitting on her bed reading facing away from me. I quietly sneak up behind her and wrap my arms around her making her jump.

My lips brush her ear and I whisper "I'm sorry I was such a jerk, could you ever forgive me?"

"Of course I forgive you. I've seen you angrier than that before, but you have never yelled at me. I don't like it and I won’t put up with it. You aren't a Prince anymore and you will have to learn to deal with it. "She says turning to look at me.

"I'll try to be better. I promise." I tell her pulling her tighter against me. We sit like that for a long moment just enjoying being close to one another before Cierra pulls away.

She turns around to face me and smiles wickedly. She pushes me back against the bed and crawls on top of me. "So Toby" she says with an evil gleam in her eyes, "since you no longer have a house I would like to offer you a place to stay... but I have one condition."

"Name it." I say my heart beating faster. She better talk fast because my self-control is starting to break.

"For one night you don't get to call any of the shots. I have complete control." She says looking me right in the eye and running her finger up and down my chest.

I shake my head and barley stutter out "Y-y-yes" before her lips crashed into mine. As I promised I did everything she asked for the rest of the night and when I finally fell asleep it was with a smile on my face.

***

I jolt awake remembering the words my own father had said. I sit up and try to calm my rapidly beating heart. I look over at Cierra who is still sleeping peacefully. I carefully slide out of bed and kiss her on the forehead before sliding on a pair of sweat pants and going into the kitchen.

I search around for a bit before deciding that she has nothing to fix for breakfast and I throw on a jacket before grabbing the keys and heading out the door. I drive to the nearest coffee shop and buy 2 coffees and some muffins. On my way out the door i run right into someone when I turn to apologize I come face to face with Kyle.

"Toby." Kyle says like it’s a curse word.

"Kyle." I say nodding at him. I start to walk past him when he grabs my arm and pulls me over to the nearest open table.

"Kyle, I'm sorry for what happened to your brother, but really it's his own fault..." I say trailing off as his eyes get a dangerous glint in them.

"HA." He laughs loudly, "You think I'm angry because my brother got sent home? No that's not why I'm angry. I'm angry because of what you did to Rylee. Cheating on her is one thing, but hitting her. That is going too far and if you so much as lay a hand on her again your face won’t be as pretty as it is now." He growls at me.

I choke back fear as I look at him I nod and say "Understood."

"Good." He says "Now you can go." He says nodding towards the door. I grab all of my things and practically jog to the car.

As soon as I walk through the door to Cierra's house my phone goes off so I set the food down on the counter and look at the caller ID. It reads DAD. I swallow hard before answering.

"Toby, I'm giving you until tomorrow to get all of your things out of your house and you will have 24 hours that you can contact your mother and brothers. Whether they want to talk to you is up to them I will not stand  in their way. Goodbye." He says successfully crushing any hopes I had of talking to my family after today.

I put my phone away and go to wake Cierra. Her sleeping form makes me smile. Maybe life not being a Prince won’t be so bad after all.

_______________________________________________________________________________

I am so sorry I havent updated in forever! I hope you can forgive me! With it being summer vacation my schedule is kinda crazy but I will try to update again soon! Sorry for the wait!