Violent Ends (The Denton Family Legacy 5)

“Then that’s already done. We should get married.”

She sighed. “Go to sleep. We’ll talk in the morning.”

He wasn’t kidding. The sooner he could get his ring on her finger and his baby in her belly, the better.

Chapter Five

“Leave me the fuck alone!”

Emma jerked awake at the sound of the agony in the person who was begging. She turned toward the door where light filtered into her room. Everything came to her in an instant. Gideon’s confession, what had happened to Sarah, Landon’s girlfriend. All of it.

Pushing the sheet away from her, she padded toward the door. Gideon wasn’t in the room with her.

Biting her lip, she opened the door a little and saw what was going on. Gideon was holding Landon down. In fact, most of the Denton men were there, including Gabriel. They each held onto Landon, and in his hand was a knife. She saw the blood trailing down his wrist, but the cut didn’t look too deep. No blood had gotten to the floor. Across the hall she saw Tamsin standing in her doorway. The younger girl looked so pale.

“I just want to die. Let me die.”

“You’re not going to die,” Maddox said.

“You don’t know what it’s like. You don’t have to deal with knowing your woman’s not there anymore.”

Someone managed to pry the blade from his fingers, and as they did, Landon curled up in a ball and started to sob. She’d never seen anyone break down so fast. From all the times she’d seen Landon, he’d been like a cocky teenager.

Always sure of himself.

Always ready to fight whatever battle came his way.

“It’ll get better, son.”

Something shifted, and with the speed of what seemed like a panther, Landon was on his feet. In one swift move, he had his father up against the wall, his arm across his throat, holding him still.

“Let me die, you piece of shit. You don’t get to decide this. This is my life, and if I want to end it, I fucking will.”

While he continued to strangle his father, he didn’t see Gabriel coming up behind him, and in the next second, the needle went into his skin and whatever they’d pumped him with worked.

Landon slumped, and Gideon was the one to catch him.

Jacob shook his head. “This isn’t going to be easy.”

“We’ve lost him,” Gideon said. “You all just don’t see it.”

“He’ll get through this,” Maddox said. “He has to.”

“Why, already got a plan in place there, Daddy-o?” Gideon asked.

“He doesn’t have to kill himself to make a point. Sarah’s gone, but there are other women out there.”

Emma watched as all the brothers turned to the father, the look of shock on their faces clear for her to see.

“You’re being serious right now?” Jacob asked. “He just lost the only woman that will ever mean anything to him, and you think it’s going to be easy making him marry someone else?”

Emma didn’t have a clue how he’d been able to make that leap, but one glance at Maddox, and she knew Jacob was right.

Maddox shrugged. “There’s nothing for him to lose now and everything for the Dentons to gain. Marriage is the only solution here. He’ll find focus in doing what is right for the Denton name. We all know this legacy is for us, and Landon has lost his woman. It’s only fitting that he’ll help the name in some way, just like his sister.”

Emma looked toward Tamsin, and she saw the rage inside the young girl. Slowly, she backed away and closed the door. She wondered if Maddox even knew his little girl had seen him.

“Put him in his room,” Maddox said. “I’ll get the cuffs.”