Violent Ends

“I’m taking care of business, isn’t that right, Daddy?” Landon gripped the back of his father’s head, pulling it back, exposing his neck. The blade was still pressed against it. One wrong move and that blade was going in.

“Fuck you,” Maddox said. “Kill him. He’s gone mad.”

None of them reached for their guns.

Landon threw his head back and laughed. “Oh, I’ve gone mad; good one, Dad. I like that one.” The laughter died, and he bent down, his lips against Maddox’s temple. “I’m exactly the kind of monster you bred, Dad. Damn, your neck looks all old and wrinkly. I wonder if I should use a dull knife. Make sure you feel everything as you bleed to death.”

“You’ll never do it. You’re a fucking pussy.”

The smile was back.

Gideon didn’t know if their father had a death wish or what this was all about. Clearly, they had all underestimated Landon.

“I know where Tamsin is,” Landon said.

“What?” Jacob asked. “Where is she?”

Landon tapped his nose. “It’s a secret.”

“What the fuck, Landon? This is no time for games.”

“She’s safe wherever she is. No one can get to her, and I imagine she’ll have a lot better life than being the pussy and ass of the Savona men. You’ve got nothing to worry about.”

“We’re your brothers,” Jacob said. “This is not how to do things.”

“When you see the mess he’s caused, the deals he already has in place, you’ll thank me for hiding her. She needs to be kept safe. He promised her she’d be safe. I’m just making sure she is. No matter her attitude, she deserves a life away from all of this. Away from the blood, the pain.”

“I’m sorry about Sarah,” Maddox said.

The words were so surprising that even Gideon was impressed.

Silence fell in the warehouse, and he watched as Landon stared at the man he held a knife to.

“You’re sorry?”

“Yes, I’m sorry. I didn’t know what to do. You’ve always been so volatile. When Rick called me to tell me what had happened, I panicked. I couldn’t have you flying to England to her funeral. You wouldn’t have survived it.”

Landon stared at their father, and Gideon waited.

The blade never once faltered.

“You would have let me go to Sarah’s funeral?”

“Yes, so long as you didn’t go mad.”

Another few minutes of silence.

Gideon didn’t know what the fuck to think. He had mixed feelings. He wanted Landon to slide that knife across the bastard’s neck, to end his miserable life. The bastard had put his hands on Emma, intent on hurting her, and he didn’t want that man near his woman. Not now, not ever. He loved his brother. Killing their father was a death sentence. He didn’t want Landon to die.

Not now.

“I know the truth, Dad,” Landon said.

This made Gideon stop as the color drained out of Maddox’s face.

“You should really learn to clean your office. After dinner when you were dealing with your guests, I went in there to look for the details of the man who was accused of killing my Sarah. I found what you did.”

“What did he do?” Jacob asked.

“The man that is sitting in jail didn’t kill her. Dad organized it. Sarah was coming out of the doctor’s. She’d gotten sick, and it had been a routine checkup. She stood at the side of the road. Dad paid fifty thousand pounds for him to push her. That’s all it was. Just give her a simple push.”

“You arranged for her to be killed?” Jacob asked.

Maddox said nothing.

“Why?” Gideon asked.

“Because he needed a son to marry the youngest daughter in the Castillo family, isn’t that right, Dad? You can’t exactly make bargains and deals without someone there to push in their direction. Sarah was merely in the way.”

“What the fuck has been happening?” Jacob asked.

“His reach and pull have been greatly shifted. The once-powerful Denton name no longer has its reach. He’s grasping at everything he can. The Castillo and the Savona each own the cities that surround us. They are both powerful in their own right. Combine together within marriage, and they are a force to be reckoned with. He wants more power. More control. It would all be within his grasp. Sarah paid the price for his … desperation. She’s gone because he wanted to sell me off like he did Tamsin.”

Gideon felt a lump in his throat as he stared at his brother. Landon shouldn’t have to face this.

Not now.

Not after everything.

“I’ve got nothing. All of my happiness and love died with Sarah. I’m empty inside. I’m already dead.”

Just like that, Gideon watched as he slid the blade across their father’s throat. No emotion. No remorse.

Nothing.

Empty.

None of them made a move to stop him.

Landon moved to face their father, who struggled to breathe.

The blood was seeping out of his wounds.

“She was everything to me, and just so you could keep the Denton name moving another day, you ended her. She didn’t deserve that. I was going to marry her. Share my life with her. I loved her more than anything in the world. You think that bounty keeps you safe. I’ve got nothing left to lose. I win, old man.”