Total Surrender (The Sinful 1)

“Yes,” Gavin admitted with a shrug. “And I’m thinking once my bosses find out that I’m the one who got rid of you, and your case against the organization falls apart without your deposition or testimony, there’ll be a nice promotion in it for me.”

“You’re crazy to think that’s how things will play out,” Theodore said, though his voice sounded weak and defeated.

Gavin swung the barrel of his gun toward the older man, a cruel smile on his lips, and Arabella made a small, desperate sound now that her father had grabbed Gavin’s attention. “Unfortunately, you won’t be around to see what happens or rat me out. And neither will Arabella. I’m not leaving anyt

hing to chance.”

Clearly irritated now, Gavin clenched his jaw. “So, who should be first to die? Such a hard decision.” He moved his pistol to Arabella, then glanced at Maddux, a malicious gleam in his eyes. “Then again, maybe not. You deserve to suffer, Wilder, and what’s worse than watching someone you care about die right before your eyes?”

A renewed rage pumped through Maddux at the reference Gavin was making, to the night he’d set the grease fire in his parents’ diner and Maddux had witnessed his parents’ deaths. It had been the single most excruciating thing he’d experienced in his life, and he knew that he wouldn’t survive the same fate with Arabella.

Maddux wasn’t going to take any chances with her life. Done with this fucker and his mind games, he made a split-second decision, and fueled by pure outrage, he rushed toward the other man. The surprise attack startled Gavin, and just as Maddux intended, the other man shifted his aim to him and pulled the trigger.

Maddux heard Arabella scream his name as an explosion of sound echoed in the room, and an excruciating, searing pain ripped through his right shoulder seconds before he tackled Gavin to the floor. He knew he’d been hit, but the adrenaline surging through his body masked the burn of flesh as he knocked the gun from Gavin’s grasp. The other man struggled, but he was no match for Maddux’s strength and weight as he secured his arm tight around Gavin’s neck in a choke hold until he finally passed out and went limp.

“Maddux,” Arabella said, a sob catching in her throat as she dropped to the floor next to him, though her hands and feet were still secured with the plastic ties. “Oh, my God, you’ve been shot!”

Rolling to his knees, he glanced down at the wet, red stain on his white shirt near his upper shoulder and winced at the agonizing, throbbing ache that was now making itself known. He wasn’t gushing blood, which meant a main artery hadn’t been severed, the wound wasn’t life-threatening, and once he got medical attention, he’d be good as new with a few stitches to add to the scars along his neck.

“It’s just a flesh wound. I’ll be fine,” Maddux assured her, and knowing he only had a few minutes until Gavin regained consciousness, he grabbed a few of the zip ties left on the table and secured the other man’s hands and feet.

“You could have been killed,” she said, the raw emotion in her voice causing him to stop and focus his attention on her.

He needed to get a knife from the kitchen to cut her out of the restraints, but the tears streaming down her face made his heart squeeze like a vise in his chest. He gathered her into his arms to show her that he was okay, that they were going to be okay. He held her tight as she buried her face against his neck, more grateful that she’d been spared when Gavin clearly intended to kill her first.

She finally lifted her head and looked into his eyes, hers still damp with tears. “If anything happened to you, I’d be devastated.”

God, he understood, because he felt the same way.

And then all that hell he’d been waiting for to break loose finally happened as a battering ram busted down the door. SWAT officers rushed in, guns drawn, ending fourteen years of pain, resentment, and Maddux’s thirst for revenge.

It was finally over.

Arabella paced back and forth in the hospital’s waiting room, feeling weary, exhausted, and utterly drained after the emotional roller coaster she’d been on the past few hours. After being kidnapped off the street, dealing with an unhinged Gavin, and witnessing the horror of Maddux getting shot trying to protect her, she wasn’t sure her heart could take much more. On top of that, she’d been a hysterical, crying mess as she’d watched law enforcement escort her father out of the house in handcuffs right after Gavin. As much as she loved her dad, she knew he’d most likely spend the rest of his years behind bars for the crimes he’d committed, and that was a harrowing thought to process.

She swallowed back another rise of tears that threatened to overwhelm her. It was such a sad, heartbreaking situation, and the next few months were going to be difficult as her father was prosecuted and put on trial and most likely found guilty for numerous offenses.

God, it was as though she hadn’t known her dad at all. Just the aspects that he’d wanted her to see, or the illusions he’d created to offset who he worked for and what he did for a living. But the fact was, there were horrible things he’d had a hand in, like the death of Maddux’s parents, and he needed to atone for those immoral choices he’d made.

As for Gavin . . . tonight, he’d racked up kidnapping and attempted murder charges to his long list of other felonies. He’d get his day in court, too, and she hoped when the time came, he received the maximum sentence. She never wanted to see him again in her lifetime.

While Maddux had been getting his wound stitched and patched up—thankfully, the bullet had entered and exited cleanly, just below the collarbone—she’d spent the past few hours in the waiting room being interviewed by two FBI agents who’d accompanied them to the hospital, answering what felt like a million questions about the night’s events. She’d given them her statement, they’d told her they’d be in touch, and when they were done with her and gotten an all clear from the doctor on Maddux’s procedure, they’d gone into his room to take his account of what had happened, too.

The two men had left about twenty minutes ago, and now Arabella was anxiously waiting for her opportunity to see and talk to Maddux. To look at him and touch him and reassure herself that he really was okay before she did one of the most difficult things she’d ever had to do . . . say goodbye and walk away from the one man she’d ever opened up her heart to.

She pressed a hand to the massive ache spreading throughout her chest, feeling as though a part of her was dying inside. The decision to leave Maddux was an incredibly painful one, because as much as she’d like to believe that she and Maddux Wilder could find their way to their own happily ever after, he’d never given her any indication that he wanted anything more from her than what they’d agreed upon the night of the ball. She’d given him her total surrender . . . and while it all should have just been a physical, sexual exchange, her heart and soul had gotten tangled up into the equation.

Beyond the brusque, callous man he’d been the evening they’d met, she’d managed to peel away enough layers to see a different side to Maddux. One who was kind and caring and gentler than she ever could have imagined. And so possessive and protective when it came to her. He’d like everyone to believe he was a gruff beast of a man, but somewhere along the way, he’d become her golden, shining prince.

She’d always known, from the very moment she’d offered herself for her father’s debt, her time with Maddux had been marked as temporary, and now there was no longer any reason for their relationship to continue. He’d taken her out of revenge against a man who had destroyed his family, and tonight, Maddux’s vengeance had been served and her purpose in his mission fulfilled.

Even if she and Maddux stood a glimmer of a chance at a future together, there was the bigger issue of all the bad blood between their families. Her father had killed his parents, and Hunter had made no secret of how much he despised her. As far as Maddux’s brother was concerned, she was guilty by the sheer fact that she was Theodore’s daughter. And after they’d lived for fourteen painful years with what her father had taken from their family, asking any of them to forgive and forget one of the most traumatic moments in their lives was something she’d never do.

“Ms. Cole?” a female voice called out, jarring Arabella out of her deep, agonizing thoughts.

Arabella glanced at the nurse. “Yes. That’s me.”

“You can see Mr. Wilder now.” The other woman smiled at her. “He’s in recovery while we process his discharge papers. I’ll show you where he is.”