Violent Ends

If she gave even the tiniest hint that she was bored, he looked panicked. It didn’t exactly make for a good date, and she often found herself wondering if he even wanted to be there.

So, the next time he’d called, she’d simply not responded. It had been a lot easier for her. There was no point dating someone she no longer felt comfortable with.

“You okay?” Owen asked again.

“Yeah. I’m going to head out. I saw a new pizza place. You guys want something?”

“Why don’t you order in?” he asked.

“Nah, I don’t want to do that. I’d like to have the fresh air. You know, just stretch my legs.” Be alone out of the apartment so I can think.

“You want some company?” Wyatt asked, suddenly appearing in the doorway.

“It’s all good. Believe me. I can go and order a pizza without anything bad happening.” She dumped the rest of her coffee down the drain and grabbed her bag off the back of a chair. “Honestly.”

“I don’t like this,” Wyatt said.

“Yeah, well, we can’t stop her.”

She chuckled. “Go and enjoy your game. I’ll go and get us food.”

She headed toward the door and didn’t give them a chance to argue. The moment she cleared the elevator and was out onto the city street, she took a deep breath. She’d done it. Glancing left and right, she rushed across the road, feeling a sense of freedom.

Every now and then, she kept checking behind her and couldn’t see anyone following her.

She headed into a bookstore and went straight to the travel section. For the past year she’d been thinking about it a lot. Her family was all dead, apart from her brothers. They were living and enjoying their place in this new world that had been opened up to them. She was no longer in a place where she was at risk of being sold off to the highest bidder. Her life, her freedom, it was all relevant now. At first, she’d been hesitant to embrace this new life, to allow herself to believe that she could be free.

Time was running out for her to take this chance.

A fresh start away from the city. Away from this horrible life.

She was under no illusions about the Denton family. They came from the same walk of life as she did. They controlled the city, and since they’d taken back power over a year ago when their enemies threatened to take their crown away, they’d come back stronger, meaner.

Even the basement hadn’t been free of the kind of damage they could do.

What she did know, as she lay awake night after night, was she didn’t want to stay here. This life, it wasn’t for her. It would never be hers, and when she could, she wanted out. Running her fingers across the titles, she found what she was looking for. A villa in Italy sounded ideal, but a small place in the Dales of England, or just a quiet place near the ocean. She didn’t need anything big or elaborate, just a life away from what she’d known.

****

Gideon took great pleasure as he slammed his fist against one of the rats they’d been locating this past year. It hadn’t surprised him the sheer number of their traitors, but he certainly enjoyed punishing them. One by one, they had all fallen, where they wanted the Dentons to fall.

Too bad he wasn’t willing to go away that easily. He was a Denton, and as such, it meant he didn’t go down, not without a fight and a lot of blood spilled.

Over and over, he hit the bastard that had thought he could tell their secrets. Only when he wasn’t breathing anymore did Gideon stop.

“Was that really necessary?” Gabriel asked.

Gideon stared at his brother. He’d been the one to figure out the truth of Gabriel’s parentage. “He was alive, and now he’s not. I don’t see a problem.”

Gabriel checked the time, and he smirked.

“You got somewhere to be?”

“I got a call from Owen. He’s worried about Emma.”

This got his attention. “Why?”

“She was acting strangely. She dyed her hair, and she’s been out of the apartment for over an hour.”

“She’s a young woman. I’m sure she’s fine.” He wiped the sweat from his brow and grabbed his cell phone. So long as Emma took her bag with her, all it took was his code, and clicking on the correct app, and he found her.

She was sitting in a café about a ten-minute walk from her brothers. All they had to do was leave the damn apartment, and they’d have found her.

Closing his cell phone, he looked at his brother. “You good to clear this up?”

“Do I look like a maid to you?”

“Nah, I like my women in far less clothes, but I think a mini skirt will really suit you.”

“Fuck you, Gideon.”