Eli's POV

Day's. Day's had gone by without Clare so much as glancing at me. She dropped out of theater like we had planned, only now it was to get away from me instead of be with me. Seeing her with Aston made me physically ill, I wanted to tear him apart. Not only was he causing trouble where Clare was concerned, but he had been interfering in business as well. Everytime we went to pick up a shipment we'd only find box's of random things like bug's, dirt, and even blood. The connect was never around, and Sean was convinced it was Aston messing with us. Sean came up with a plan to kill Aston, in the middle of the night, him and all his gang.

"No way Sean, Clare is in his gang now. That's way too dangerous she is going to get hurt if we do this." Sean and the rest of the guy's sat in the living room loading gun's, the girls were out shopping unaware of Sean's plan. I momentarily noticed Vince's shaky hands, he had been struggling since he found out he killed Clare's brother, and he had been popping all kinds of pills none stop. "Sean look at Vince, he isn't fit to even do this. Can you stop playing with those things and talk to me! Somebody!"

Sean put the gun down on the table, and looked at me angrily. "What! What do you want me to say Eli, this has to be done. Now. We've waited long enough to strike, if we don't do it now we're all going to be killed. It's him or us, and I choose him."

I looked at him in disbelief, "Do you not care about her at all?"

Sean's eyes softened, "She betrayed us, we don't forgive betrayal Eli, and you damn well know it. I'm sorry that you were tricked into falling for her, but you have to let it go. Are you with us, or not? Don't forget who your family is."

I looked at the floor, not knowing how to answer the question. It should have been easy to say I'm with you, that has always been my answer to him, but I loved Clare now. "How do you even know where he is Sean, Clare never found out for us."

Zig stood up, sliding his gun into his back pocket. "We know because I followed him and Clare last night, it was time we took action."

I gulped, "Clare? She's staying with him."

Sean nodded, "Do you see now Eli? She's a snake, she never cared about any of us." I felt like my heart had fallen out of my chest, I didn't want to believe Clare was really with Aston. I had been holding out hope that there was some explanation, that maybe it was part of her FBI mission, anything but what it seemed to be.

The door swung open and Emma and Bianca came in. Emma's eyes focused on Sean's gun, "What are you doing with that?"

Sean sighed heavily. "Emma. I have some business to take care of tonight. Bianca and you will stay here."

Emma wrinkled her nose in confusion. "Busines? What business, Sean?"

Sean gritted his teeth. "Aston business."

Bianca stepped forward shaking her head, "When are you boys going to stop hiding things from us. The whole story, I want it now."

Sean nodded, "Fine. We are going to kill Aston tonight, him, and all of his gang."

Emma dropped her shopping bags, "Clare?" She turned her head to face me. "Eli, how could you."

Right then and there I knew my decision. "I have no part in this Emma. I won't kill her, I can't."

Sean stood up in a rage, kicking the coffee table over. "We will do what I say! When I say it! Clare is the enemy, Clare is helping Aston keep us from making money. Clare tried to destroy this family!"

Emma walked over to Sean, staring at him with tears streaming down her face, before slapping him. "You are destroying this family, you are Sean! I don't even know you, you don't speak to us this way, order us around like we're below you. You certainly don't make plans to kill any of us, which is what you are doing, because Clare is one of us. All of you can pass judgment on her, but before you do think about yourselves first. We have all done things, bad things, all Clare did was her job. She couldn't even follow through with it though, because she loves us. Have any of you taken a moment to think, if Clare wanted to destroy us she could have easily given Aston, Or the FBI for that matter, all the information they needed to take us down. Clare hasn't sold us out, not to anyone. I don't think she is in his gang, just to be in it. She's trying to take him down, for us. I know in my heart, that that's what she is doing. If any of you harm a hair on her head, I'm gone. I promise you Sean, I'll leave and I will never come back."

I walked over to Emma's side. "I'm with her, if you do this I will leave, and I will kill you before I go." Bianca and Zig followed my lead, refusing to hurt Clare as well. It was just Vince standing by Sean now.

Vince took a step away from all of us, scratching his head crazily. "Man, yall fightin. Y'all are acting crazy. We shouldn't be hurtin Clare, I hurt her. I hurt her enough, man. She didn't deserve any of it, that boy didn't deserve it!" Vince dropped to his knees sobbing, he was fucked up, but his pain was real. We all knelt beside him at once, wrapping our arms around him as a unit. His needing of us made us forget everything else, If only for a second. Vince lifted his head out of his hands, and looked at Sean with tears rolling down his face. "Don't make me hurt her no more please."

"Sean pulled Vince's head into his chest. "Ok. Ok brother."

I felt relief in an instant. "Really Sean?"

"Yeah Elli, you're all right. Clare loves us, and we love her. She is still family."

I couldn't help but smirk. "So what now?"

Sean smiled. "We're busting her out of that bitch, and brining her home where she belongs.

Guest 1:I hope you can understand a little better now why she went back to Aston! Thank you for your review :)

Guest 2: Thank you for the review! I'm sorry you felt it was too quick, but I hope you can understand Clare's desperate need for family since she doesn't have one of her own anymore. That was a big part in why she forgave them quicker, rather than well, not quick lol. She needed them.