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And I let them make me believe it. Until Vander. Until he taught me, I was strong.
Mike was just another monster destined to lose against me. I wouldn’t take pleasure in his death, but I wouldn’t mourn him.
“Makes it worth it. Joyce gave me a lot of money to help her get rid of you.”
My stomach rolled. I grasped my belly like I could protect my child from his words. From what he’d almost done to us.
“I’m assuming you killed her?” He looked at Vander for confirmation.
“That was me.” Angelo’s mouth twitched into a smile.
He and Cole reached the warehouse just in time. Storming in and shooting Joyce before she could take a second shot. She was another death I wasn’t mourning. Nobody would, because no one knew she was missing. Unsurprisingly, she didn’t have friends or anyone looking for her.
“So, it was all about the money?“ I asked the question I came for.
His expression was empty as he stared back at me. I didn’t know how I could have trusted this person to protect me. “For me. She was a crazy bitch who thought you were going to kill another of her sons.”
Just like she’d said. Her mind was so twisted she believed I was responsible for Mitchell’s death. She assumed I was a gold digger. A whore. It didn’t matter now.
“I’m ready.” I got what I came for. Questions answered, and my peace of mind. I would sleep better knowing they were all dead. Vander wrapped an arm around my waist again as he led me to the door.
“That’s it?” Mike called. “Don’t want to get your pound of flesh?”
“I don’t need to see more of you than necessary.” Vander gazed at me with so much tenderness and pride it was hard to breathe. “I know my husband will take care of it. He always takes care of me.”
I had the thing I’d been searching for my whole life. Someone to love. Someone who loves me.
I’d found it in an unlikely place. With a man I should never have wanted. A gangster. My former brother-in-law.
His love for me was forbidden. Cultivated over years of yearning. Mine was new and fresh. Found in accepting who he was and what I’d gone through.
I wasn’t empty anymore. I was full of our love for each other. Together, we’d taken the forbidden and made it a future.
51
Vander
My lips pressed into Grace’s hair. “You did great, Sunflower.” I inhaled the scent of roses that clung to her skin, letting it fuel me. “Now, go wait in the car.”
Her royal blue eyes met mine as she turned her head. Our breath mingled, and I leaned forward, kissing her perfect lips. Once, twice, I couldn’t get enough.
There was no fear or disgust as she gripped my jacket. As she held on like I wasn’t about to walk back in that barn and kill a man. “I love you.”
“Fuck.” I sighed, pressing our foreheads together. She could say it a million times, and it would still affect me. Still make my chest tight and my heart beat faster. Not to mention the way my cock went hard in an instant. “I love you too.”
The smile she gave me was a real one. The one I nicknamed Bliss because that’s how she looked; blissful. She got in the car and I closed the door before turning towards the barn.
Gravel and hay crunched under my feet. I tucked away my happiness, adjusting my arm in the brace as I walked towards death, but not my own. I’d once again beaten death.
Angelo leaned against the wall, and Mike was in the same position, kneeling on the floor. He swayed as he looked up at me. But that could be the lack of food. Or blood loss.
It wasn’t enough to satisfy me. I could’ve kept him for years, torturing him for what he put her through. For thinking he could betray me. For what? Money! Like we didn’t already pay him more than he’d ever need. Now, he wouldn’t have the chance to spend another dime.
“I have a question,” I said as I picked up an axe. It was heavy in one hand. I would be uncoordinated, but that was fine. “Who were you selling her to?”
He shrugged again, like he’d given up on his pathetic life. “Joyce arranged it.”
Fuck! That’s what I thought. It was the only reason we’d kept him alive this long. Grace was too traumatized to describe the man who’d tried to buy her. And I wouldn’t force her to relive that night when I could barely stand thinking about it.
