Chapter Twelve
Gideon Denton stared into the office. At first his father had placed Emma Colton in the basement without so much as a window whereas now she had her own office, security, a window, and even a coffee machine. He’d also supplied numbers so she could call any deli or takeout chain she wanted. This was all about her, and her desires. For so long she’d been living a shit life, and he was going to make sure that it wasn’t, not anymore.
Emma Colton was an innocent, and he’d been watching her for some time. The moment he realized that his enemy was in fact his woman, he’d been finding so many different ways to bring her into his family. Finding the link between Gabriel and Maddox, that had been a damn bonus. Learning the truth, he’d known that it wasn’t going to be easy. He knew there would be some trouble, and of course he only had himself to blame. All of his free time was spent keeping an eye on this beautiful woman.
Ever since he had met her there hadn’t been another woman, and he couldn’t even bring himself to go near anyone else. There were times that it was hard not to just claim her, but he refused to scare her away. After everything he had learned, he was determined to help her to live her life to the fullest.
“You’re working late tonight,” he said, placing a smile on his face.
She looked up and smiled. “Hello, Gideon. How are you?”
“I’m great. It’s getting late, and you know my mother loves it when you come around to eat on Sunday.”
She leaned back and groaned, gripping her shoulders. “I’ve gone all stiff.”
You’re not the only one, princess.
“Here, let me help.” He moved behind her, placing his hands on her shoulders, and began to massage them. Hearing her moan was reward enough. One day soon, you’re going to be moaning like that around my dick. Begging me to keep on fucking you as I spank your ass.
Damian was once a kinky bastard, but that was just a phase he was going through. There was nothing kinky about his little brother. Gideon rubbed her shoulders, and loved the peace that washed over him from touching her.
“That feels so good, Damian. You’re always so nice to me.”
“What are your plans for this evening?”
“Oh, shoot, I’m supposed to be going on a date,” she said, pulling out her cell phone, and showing him. “Brian, one of the guards asked me out on a date.”
He was aware of who had asked her out seeing as he’d been the one to ask Brian to do it. Everything had been going to shit, and even though he didn’t like the thought of Emma being with anyone else, he couldn’t make her wait for him. She would be his soon enough, and Brian was a good little soldier. He would give Emma the time of her life, but also make sure that she understood it was friendship only. “You’re not wanting to go?”
“Not really. I feel bad though. I really should go, right?”
“You can do whatever you want to do. Nothing is holding you to anything, and if you don’t want to go, then I’ll take you home.”
She flopped back, and he held his hands on her shoulders even as he was at the perfect angle to see her beautiful, plump breasts. Emma was a curvy woman, and she handled her curves well. If someone told her to go on a diet, she told them to fuck off. He loved her spirit, and she never seemed to need to please everyone else. She took pleasure as much as she gave it. She was hard working, and there wasn’t a thing he didn’t like about her. She was everything, and one day soon she would totally belong to him in every single way.
“I’ll go. It’s rude not to. I was looking forward to it, and then I started to freak out.”
“Why would you freak out?”
“What if he wants something? This is just a date, you know. This isn’t like coffee and sex afterward. I’ve not been on a real date before, and I wanted to. Then of course Wyatt, Owen, and even Gabriel were here earlier, and they were giving me all these warnings that included coffee meant sex. Dancing meant something dirty, and ugh, they’ve filled my brain with crap.”
Her brothers were his best friends right now. Even though he’d arranged everything, he liked that her brothers cared about her. She wouldn’t be alone on her date tonight either. He was going to follow, and keep a safe distance to make sure she was happy and to beat the shit out of Brian if she wasn’t.
Touching her cheek, he smiled her, loving the way she seemed to gasp at his touch. She wasn’t frightened of him, and for that he was thankful.
“I think your brothers worry about you. They want you to be safe and happy, as do I.”
“Thank you, Gideon. Really, for everything.”
“Also, if you kick a guy in the nuts, they tend to fall down, moaning a lot.” He reluctantly pulled away. “I need to go and finish a few things. Don’t work too hard.”
“I won’t. Thank you, Gideon. I love it when you come to visit.”
He left the office, and made his way down to changing room where he found Brian all alone.
The other man froze. “I’m just heading up to see her now.”
“If for a second tonight that woman is not having a good time, I will hold you responsible. You do not kiss her, or hug her, or touch her in any way that will have her worried about what your intentions are, do I make myself clear?”
“Yes.”
“Good. Well go, and have a good time.”
Gideon knew he scared Brian, and he didn’t give a fuck either. All that mattered was Emma, and right now he was okay with her seeing the world, and meeting people. One day soon though, she was going to be his, and when that happened, no one stood a chance.
****
Rick looked at the rundown apartment building, and whistled at how low Westbrook had sunk. He’d known where the sniveling little shit had been all this time, but he’d wanted to break the bastard. To prove to the man that no matter how much he thought he had the Dentons, there was no way he would ever take what was theirs.
“I miss you, Rick,” Mandy said. “So I booked a flight, and I want to be there with you.”
“What about Sarah?”
“She’s coming with me. She wants to talk to Landon, and I don’t think it’s something that can be said over the phone.”
“Does she intend to break up with him?” Rick asked.
“I think so. She’s not happy, and she hasn’t been herself in a while. She’s eighteen now, and she wants to go away, exploring, not stuck in some village waiting for him to come and get her.”
“I did warn the kid that Sarah was a free spirit. This is no surprise to me. I miss you, too, baby. There’s something I need to finish. Call you back in a few minutes?”
“Love you,” Mandy said.
“Love you, too.” He couldn’t stop the smile from spreading across his entire face, which always happened when he spoke to his woman. He loved her more than anything else in the world, and the past few months had been impossible for him.
The need to kill was always there. Only when he wasn’t with Mandy, that need changed into a fucking obsession. It was ironic because he was a damn good doctor and could kill people without them even realizing it, but he had a code. He only killed bad people and those that got in his way. There had been a few doctors over the years that had sneered at him or at Mandy that were lucky to be breathing. For those he had a book where he wrote down the pros and cons of someone dying. Of course just because he didn’t like the fucker wasn’t a big reason to fucking kill them, even though he was tempted all the time.
When it came to his family, to his loved ones, he would fight every step of the way to protect them.
Entering the rundown apartment building, he saw several rats running along the hallways, and he kept on walking, knowing right away where Westbrook was.
He entered a room, and ducked as the gun was fired.
“I knew you’d come,” Westbrook said.
“You should have known when you framed my family, and tried to take apart the Denton empire,” Rick said.
“It was worth a shot.”
Rick threw something, and a succession of bullets ran off. The fucker was panicking. He’d been picking off this man’s business for weeks now, and all he had on him was one gun.
Rounding the wall, he stared as Westbrook kept trying to fire his weapon. Rick took a step closer to the man, and pulled out a blade, and before Westbrook had even known what was happening, he slammed the tip into his thigh.
His screams were all Rick wanted to hear, and he was rewarded.
“Fuck!” And a long scream echoed off the wall.
“You know, you should have left my family alone.”
“This city was mine for the taking. You fucking bastard. You had no right to take what was mine.”
“This place wasn’t yours. It was never yours. This is Denton land, always has been, always will be.” Rick pulled the blade out, and stuck it in Westbrook’s shoulder. “You went after my family, and that is where you went fucking wrong.”
Westbrook cried out and then started to laugh. “You think you’re so smart. You don’t have a fucking clue.”
Rick grabbed him around the throat. “I suggest you speak very fucking carefully, or those next words will be your last.”
Westbrook laughed. “I didn’t act alone, and as you see, I’m very much alone.”
“Your point.”
“Ivan was with me, and he had his own plan. He hates the Dentons, especially as one of them took his little toy away, and his kid.”
Rick didn’t for a second like where this was going. He pressed the tip of the blade against Westbrook’s throat. “You will tell me this instant where Ivan is.”
“Where do you think he is? He’s dealing with a Denton and then he’s going to deal with that whore that left him.”
Sliding the blade across Westbrook’s throat, Rick took little pleasure in the death as his thoughts went to Damian. Out of all of the Denton men he was the only one that didn’t have a great deal of protection in that luxury apartment of his. He was open, he was exposed, and Ivan could get to him.
When the call went straight to answerphone, he cursed. Calling Maddox, he gave his brother the update, and then headed straight out to his car. They were all too far away from Damian. No one was close enough to reach him, and his nephew may already be dead.
At least the kids were not with Damian and Mia. He hoped that they could take care of themselves.
****
Mia giggled as Damian kept on tickling her.
“You need to stop. We’re getting water all over the place,” she said.
Damian stopped his teasing and kissed her temple. “God, I love you so much.”
“And I love you, but not when you tickle me.” She leaned back against his chest, and he wrapped his arms around her, holding her close. “This is so nice. I knew it would be but I like not having to keep our voices down, but…”
“But?” he asked.
“I miss our babies.”
“I know. I do as well. These are our special days.” She loved it when he held onto her. “Mia, I’m about to ask you something, and I don’t want you to freak out or anything.”
“Okay.” She looked up at him, and smiled. “Whatever it is, I’m going to say yes.”
He laughed. “I’ve not asked you yet.”
“Whatever it is I know it’s not going to be bad. I love you, and I trust you.” She kissed his cheek.
“Fine, I want anal sex!”
She burst out laughing just as he did. “I wasn’t expecting that.”
“I know. You should see your face. That’s not what I was going to ask you, and I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have made a joke about it.” He took her hands, locking their fingers together. “I want you as mine forever. I want to marry you, Mia.”
She looked at him and saw he wasn’t joking around. “You want to marry me?”
“Yes. I want us to raise our kids together, and I hope to one day have more children with you. I know I come from a crazy ass family, and it’s scary at times, and I don’t want you to ever be afraid. I promise I will do everything in my power to protect you. To love you for every single day of my life—” She pressed a finger to his lips and smiled.
“Don’t you think you should ask me? You’ve not asked me.”
“Mia Banks, will you be my wife?”
“I’ll think about it … totally yes!” She spun around, wrapping her arms around his neck, and kissing him. “Of course I will marry you. I don’t think I’ll ever forget this marriage proposal. You know with the whole anal sex talk.”
“I’m open to it if you are. I’ve not got a very big dick. I’ll fit.”
He grabbed her ass, and she burst out laughing. “I know exactly how big your dick is, and there’s nothing little about it.” She kissed his lips as her stomach let out a large rumble.”
“Ah, I see, you’re hungry now?”
“I’ve always been hungry, and I did start some food. Someone pulled me away to ravish me.”
“I gave you multiple orgasms. You know you loved every single one of them.”
“Yes, I did. I just wanted to be with you, and everything else could wait. That’s how I always feel about it.” She stroked his cheek. “I love you, Damian Denton.” She couldn’t believe how lucky she had gotten, and knew without a doubt she would never forget this.
Again, her stomach rumbled, and Damian laughed. “Let’s get you something to eat. We’ve got until late tomorrow, and then we have the kids. I’ve got a lot of plans to keep us busy, and I don’t want you to go without.”
He stepped out of the bath, and she followed him as well. Wrapping a towel around her body, she entered the bedroom, and Damian was already tugging up a pair of sweatpants. “Put this on for me, baby, and I’ll go and see the damage control.” He handed her one of his shirts, and she smiled.
“You just want to see me in your clothes.”
“Yeah, you look sexy, and when I wear them again, which I will, I’ll remember how you looked in them.”
She chuckled, and watched him leave. Entering the bathroom, she wrapped her hair up after drying it vigorously.
With the towel around her body she dried off completely, and put his towel on. Releasing her hair, she was about to grab a brush when the sound of Ivan’s voice made her freeze. Looking around the bedroom, she didn’t hear him, and she moved toward the door, hearing his voice clearly.
“You never expected me to know where you live?” Ivan asked. “That’s the problem with you Dentons. You always think you’re fucking better than everyone else, and you’re not. You’re all like us.”
She covered her mouth with her hand trying to keep any possible noise from alerting him that she was there. Glancing around the room, she saw the metal lamp shade, and tiptoeing across the room, she disconnected it, trying to be as quiet as possible. Ivan was in their apartment, and he was talking with Damian. Something told her that wasn’t going to be willingly.
Come on, Mia. Don’t be afraid.
Stepping up to the door, she sent out a little prayer, and hoped that the door didn’t make a sound as she opened it. Squeezing past, she winced as everything seemed to make a noise as she made her way toward the kitchen.
They weren’t in the kitchen but in the dining room. Ivan was near to her, and Damian was near to the entrance of the kitchen. His hands were up in surrender as he stared at Ivan.
“You think you’re a big man? Raping women and then selling them out. You got a problem that Mia wanted me, that she loved me.”
“That’s my kid she’s got with you, don’t ever forget that. I’m in her blood. There’s no way you’re ever going to replace me.”
She stared at the man who had been the bane of her life long enough. He held a gun that was pointed at the love of her life. She had been begging and praying for Damian ever since she was a little girl. Finally, after what seemed forever, she was happy, she was in love, and this monster was going to take it from her. She couldn’t allow that to happen.
Not again.
Before she even knew what was happening, she raised the lamp, releasing a growl as she whacked Ivan across the head. The echoes of a gunshot filled the air, but she ignored it. She was so intent on killing the bastard in front of her that she didn’t stop with her attack, constantly hitting him.
Damian held her close, his hands on her arms, holding her. They were both covered in blood, and she didn’t know how Damian was. She couldn’t recall anything but her rage, her need to keep on hitting Ivan, to make him stop.
Did he help her kill Ivan?
The sight of Ivan, dead on the floor—there was blood everywhere, and it couldn’t just be from her, could it? Damian was bloody, and so were his knuckles.
“Baby, I’ve got you. It’s okay. He’s dead. I’ve got you.”
Ivan was dead, and she turned into Damian. “I couldn’t let him hurt you, Damian. I couldn’t let him take you away from me.”
“He hasn’t, and he won’t. I promise. I was with you, right now. This wasn’t just you. He aimed the gun at you, and I stopped him, baby. I couldn’t let him hurt you again. I won’t let anyone ever hurt you again.”