"don't blame me, love made me crazy"

•••

"You have ten seconds, or you can kiss her goodbye."

Everyone was observing Andrew, waiting for his decision eagerly. Would he shoot Oliver?

I was going to die happy, and all because of the thief standing in front of me. He should do it, get our vengeance, even if it meant my death. I could feel his need to go through with it.

He met my gaze when I turned to look at him too, and I suddenly felt the tears streaming down my face.

Damn it.

I detested crying, especially in front of Andrew. He was expressionless as he watched me sob in silence. Christopher rested his finger on the trigger, and Andrew snapped his head towards him.

"Alright, alright," he stopped him, "Don't shoot her." He lowered his guns and slipped them into his holster again, "There, I put them away."

"On your knees," Christopher muttered, staring at him.

"Damn," Andrew smirked, "I didn't know you were interested in me." He chuckled, "You could have just been honest about it, you know?"

Suppressing the urge to laugh, I attempted to dry my face with my bare shoulder. I moved my hands again as they focused on Andrew, the piece of rope loosening even more around my wrists.

"I'm holding the key that separates this woman from Hell," he rolled his eyes, "Put the guns on the floor and kneel, or she is joining her mother."

"Jesus Christ, nobody can take a joke, huh?" Andrew slowly crouched, leaving both weapons on the ground.

"Put your hands behind your head and keep them there at all times." After what seemed like forever, Christopher finally removed his gun from me, and I let out the breath I was holding in relief.

"What about her mother?" Andrew suddenly asked. I widened my eyes in shock as Oliver turned to him, smiling.

"Oh," he said, "So she didn't tell you?"

"I-" I commenced.

"Don't; I want him to answer."

"No," Andrew replied, "She only mentioned she learned what she knows now from her mother."

"Out of curiosity," Oliver looked at him, "Do you think you know her?"

"I would like to say I do," he paused, "But by the tone of your voice, I probably don't."

"You are right, my friend," he laughed, "You don't know her at all."

Oliver grabbed a nearby chair and sat down, crossing his arms over his chest as he stared at Andrew, examining him for a long moment.

I bet he was loving this, having the Handless Thief beneath his thumb, absolutely under control.

"You remember the time when you began to gain fame, don't you?" Oliver asked, "You started using your code name and hired a crew for the first time."

His scars and freckles moved whenever he spoke, and it was difficult to decide whether he looked menacing or pristine.

"Of course I do; what about it?"

"That was when you had just started," he continued, ignoring his question, "We were both doing so well; until we separated."

"When you betrayed me, and?" Oliver looked at me, a smile creeping up his lips.

"Do you want to tell him, babe?" he inquired, "Or should I do the honours?" I remained silent, staring at both of them.

I knew I was not ready to tell Andrew about my past, but Oliver was about to do so for me. I was afraid of losing him, of losing this new truth I had made myself comfortable in. And Oliver was threatening to take it away from me.

I interrupted him before he could say anything. After thinking it over, I had concluded I would rather Andrew hear it from me than my ex. Hopefully, he would not take it too hard.

"Let me do it," I muttered, making Oliver smirk, "I will do it."

"Go ahead," he replied, "He's all yours."

"The truth is, Andrew, that," I stopped for a moment before deciding to rip off the band-aid as fast as possible, "Oliver and I were in a relationship after he double-crossed you until his imprisonment." I gazed at his brown eyes, trying to decipher his reaction, but his face remained indifferent.

Andrew briefly looked at the floor, rubbing the back of his head with his laced fingers before staring at me again. This time, his expression was a solemn one, his lips in a straight line.

"Okay, that's cool," he said, almost shrugging.

"Cool?" I repeated in surprise.

"Yeah," he reassured me, "You didn't tell me, so what? It's fine; I'll get over it." Fuck, he was angry, I knew it.

And I understood why. I had held onto this a secret for two years, but Andrew advocated for the truth with his employees. He disliked when we lied, and I had sworn to him I was not keeping anything from him.

"Because it is something I would rather not mention at all," I weakly defended myself.

"I get it," Andrew paused, "But don't you think I deserved to know?" He sighed, "He was my best friend at the time, for fuck's sake."

"I know, and I have been wanting to tell you the truth for a long time bu-"

"But what?" he laughed sarcastically, "You didn't trust me? Did I not give you enough time to tell me?"

"No, I-"

"Because I've been treating you with nothing but the most respect I could manage since the moment I hired you, Sabrina," he stated, "I never forced you to tell me anything, did I? Did I ever pry?"

I shook my head, trying not to choke on the thousand of sentences that were daring to come out to hurt him. I hated having him yell at me, and I wanted to inform him that this was Oliver's plan; to pit us against each other during a time we were supposed to work together to escape.

"You are right," I said, rushing my words, "I should have told you, but there is more."

"Oh great, there's more," he scoffed, "What have you been hiding from me now?"

A lot of things, but I am not going to list them all today.

"I was the one who put Oliver in prison," I confessed, closing my eyes, preparing myself for the impact.

"You did what?" he bellowed, "And you kept that shit from me?" I sighed, forcing myself to look at him.

His rough appearance made my heart break a little bit. Andrew's scalp was sticky with blood from the number of times he had run his hands through it; blood he had drawn to get to me.

"I know, and I am extremely sorry for doing so," I said, "I never meant to lie to you." In my mind, I was apologising for all the times I had wronged him.

"Then why didn't you tell me?"

"Because you never asked," I snapped, making Andrew chuckle.

"Oh, right, of course, I never asked," he said, "We both know you had a million chances to tell me the truth, Sabrina."

"I already said I was sorry," I replied, irritated, "It is a period of my life I do not like to discuss."

"Sabr-" Clapping interrupted our heated argument, making us both abruptly stop, searching for the noise's source.

"That was quite a show," Oliver said, smiling, "The passion and need you both have to be right is very entertaining."

"Sh-" I began to speak again until I noticed Christopher standing near me. His hand was slightly raised, and I knew what he meant by it, but I finished my sentence anyway, "Shut up."

If he was going to hit me, I might as well give him a reason to do it.

He moved towards me, and before he could reach me, Oliver stood up from his chair, throwing himself onto Christopher. They both struggled in each other's grasp as Oliver tried to get him away from me.

"Don't slap her again!" Oliver blurted out. They froze as soon as he said that, and I gradually turned to look at Andrew.

"What do you mean by that?" he dropped his arms from their position behind his neck, "You already slapped her, didn't you?" Complete silence took over the room. "Answer me!"

"So what if I did?" Christopher asked, "What are you going to do about it, huh?"

Before I could register his movements, Andrew had stood up and was pinning Christopher to the wall, his hands gripping his shirt as he held him in place with his body.

"Hit me," he said, "I bet she would love to see that." He motioned with his head at me, "Her boyfriend beat up a man in front of her."

"The thing is, Christian," he pronounced the incorrect name slowly through gritted teeth, "I know she doesn't consider you a man anymore."

In an instant, blood ran down Christopher's chin, the substance covering all of Andrew's fists once more. He managed to hit him again as Oliver and Theo, who had been standing in silence, pulled him off of him.

"Stop this shit!" Oliver snapped as they restrained Andrew, "Bring me more rope." The man nodded and instantly left the room. I turned my head to look at Christopher as he groaned, leaning on the wall and holding his face.

"Goddammit," he murmured, "The pretty boy does know how to throw a punch after all."

"Want to go again?" he asked, struggling against Oliver, "This time, I'll let you hit me."

"Shut the fuck up," Christopher replied, looking at his bloody hand.

"Oliver," Andrew said, no longer interested in him, "Why the fuck are you doing this?"

"Ah, she asked me the same thing," he gazed at me, "And now I will give you an answer." The man arrived with a piece of rope in his grasp, and soon enough, Andrew had his hands and legs bound. Oliver pushed him to the floor next to me before sitting down on his chair again, "Because I love her."

"No, you do not," I immediately answered.

"Believe me for once, will you?" he begged, staring into my eyes, "I never stopped loving you, not even when you deceived me." I began shaking my head. "I'm doing this because I love you."

"No, you do not love me," I repeated, "This is not love, Oliver; kidnapping me is not love."

"In my eyes, it is," he stated, scratching his buzz cut.

"Oli-"

"I would kill for you, Sabrina," he interrupted me, "I'm still alive because my love for you is the only thing that keeps me from leaving." He sighed, "I am living for you, and fucking hell, it's gnawing me inside."

I was speechless. The fact that Oliver was saying such things made me realise he truly is insane. He saw abduction as a way to prove his love for me and hurt Andrew in the process.

He was sick.

"I don't think you understand," he continued, "I'm so in love with you, I could kill you." I held my breath as soon as he said that, panic filling my body. "I'm giving you another chance to be with me; I'm asking you to come back to me."

"Well, I refuse," I declared, pushing aside the fear that had been accumulating along the night.

"Because of this guy?" he pointed with his thumb at Andrew, who had fallen silent after being tied, "I'm saving you from him."

"How the fuck is this saving her from me?" he hissed, "Kidnapping her was unnecessary."

"But, Andrew," a voice suddenly intruded into the conversation from outside the room, "This was extremely necessary." We both snapped our heads to gape at the open door, but it was too dark to recognise anything.

I heard a laugh, and from the dim hallway, a tall man stepped out. His icy blue eyes studied the scene before him as he smiled, making me want to push my chair backwards.

"I gave you a simple task, Boyd," Leonardo Moses turned to look at him, "So what is all this drama about?"