He slammed his lips down on hers, silencing her.
She wrapped her arms around his neck, feeling him so close. She had no idea love could be like this. It was the kind she used to dream about as a young girl when she didn’t think love could be bad.
“I’m never letting you go. Never.”
“Good. I don’t want you to. I love you more than anything in the world, Gideon. I belong to you.”
He took her hand, and together they walked down the beach heading toward their villa. Their honeymoon took some time to get there, but it didn’t matter. They were together, which was how it was supposed to be.
****
Landon smiled as he watched Tamsin. She wore a plain white dress, her hair pulled back with a single flower in it. For the first time in so long, she looked happy.
The moment she saw him, she tensed. He stayed leaning against the car though. She didn’t try to run from him.
She walked toward him. “Hey,” she said.
“Hey.”
“Are you here to take me back?”
“Not a chance. I wouldn’t do that to you. I got your details here. I figured I’d see you one more time before I hit the road.” He held out the envelope he’d gotten from his guy.
She took it.
“How are you finding life, Tanya? You happy?”
“I am. I’m living with a woman who owns the diner. I’ve enrolled in school here. No one knows who I am, and I get to walk home every single day. I work at the diner to help pay my keep. It’s … amazing.”
“I see the real happiness in your eyes. You’ve got to learn to be careful though, Tam. The Savonas will keep looking. They’ll breeze through this town, and if they find you before our brothers, it’ll be bad news.”
“I’m not going to be stupid. You don’t have to worry about that.” She glanced around them. They were off the beaten track, so no one could see them. “What’s going on?”
“I killed Dad.”
“You did?”
“I had no choice.”
“Why didn’t you have any choice?”
“He killed Sarah. He organized it all. Selling you was also part of his power shift, Tam. Don’t be sad for him.”
“I’m not. He changed. He wasn’t the same person we knew.”
“The only problem is, there’s a possible bounty on my head.”
“What are you going to do?”
“I’m not planning on ending my life. Not even close. I’m heading out. See where life takes me.” She didn’t need to know that he intended to steal the Castillo daughter. To take her, to hurt her, and to make them all pay for Sarah being taken from him.
For now, he just wanted his little baby sister to look at him with that smile that soothed him. The one that told him he wasn’t an animal.
She rushed toward him, throwing her arms around him. “Thank you so much, Landon. I’m so happy here.” She stepped away, cupping his cheek. “I hope you can in some way find the same happiness that I have.”
He didn’t say a word, watching her go instead. She held the documents close to her chest. He’d come and check in to make sure she was never hurt or wanting for anything.
His little sister would have a good life.
Of that, he was determined.
Climbing into his car, he took off, not looking back. He had plans to make.
No one would steer him away from this path.
Picking up the picture of his intended victim, he smiled. She looked so calm, so happy. Soon, he intended to take all of that away and make her life a misery.
She would serve him well.
His father had taught him everything he knew, and besides, his soul was empty now. Any kind of happiness he could have experienced was gone.
Pocketing the picture, he headed to where she’d be.
****
“If Dad finds her first you know you won’t get a chance with her,” Connor said.
Mason stared at his brothers. Connor and Reese were both staring down at their phones.
“He’s not going to find her.”
“How do you know? You saw the way he was looking at her over the dinner. Sick fuck that he is.”
“We’ll find her, and we’ll protect her. She won’t know our father’s touch.”
“How can you be so sure?” Reese asked.
“Because I’m the one in charge here. I know all of my father’s moves, and I won’t let him hurt her or any of you.” From the moment he discovered the truth of his father’s acts against young girls, he’d been fighting to take the reins. With the union with the Dentons, even at the cost of his freedom, he’d thought his time would come.
Now Tamsin was gone.
Maddox Denton was dead.
A new era in the Denton line, and Mason knew the only way for him to seize power was to take Tamsin, to make her belong to him. Of course, he didn’t want a young girl. He’d have to wait. When he found her, he would keep her in his sight and only when she was of age would he take her for himself. It was the only way to get rid of his father and to form a share of power with a Denton.