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“What do you think it is?” Owen asked.
“I think the Dentons are fair. I’ve seen the way they work.” He glanced at the apartment. “Where’s Emma?”
“She’s at work. She’s working in administration for Maddox.”
“Oh, I had no idea.”
“You’ve not exactly been around a whole lot since you got your new family.”
Gabriel closed his eyes, taking a few seconds to get his temper under control. “You’re still my brothers, and I lo
ve you. We have a real chance here. Don’t you want to take that?”
“We do, which is why we’re heading out. The good thing about being seen as the scum of the world, people tend to talk, to show everyone else that they’re better than you,” Wyatt said. “We’ll be back with info for you. Make yourself at home.”
Within seconds he was alone in his brothers’ apartment, and he felt like the worst guy for accusing them. Wyatt and Owen had wanted to settle the score six months ago. To try to take something back for themselves, and he’d been part of it. Of course that had all changed when the truth of who his father really was came out. Now it was just one fight after another.
****
Three weeks later
Damian didn’t go looking for the rumors. Gabriel asked him to wait, and that his brothers were onto something. Instead, Damian focused on Ivan, and being around Mia. He didn’t want to leave her behind, and he found any excuse to make it back home every day, early. At night, he would spend hours watching her sleep. He’d always been a light sleeper, and he’d never needed more than a couple of hours to get him through. Since meeting Mia he hadn’t touched a drop of alcohol, and he’d been able to get his shit together. The guilt was still there over Betty, and he doubted it would ever go away. He didn’t love the woman, but he felt responsible for her. Uncle Stuart tried to help him, but like he told him, the woman he hurt was still alive. Betty had taken her life. Harper also visited often. He’d noticed that Lou, Harper, Ruby, and his mother came to the apartment spending time with Mia. They were helping him win her over. He loved being around Mia, just taking time to get to know her. Whenever she was in the kitchen she was always going through the cookbooks she had open, and she’d suck in the corner of her lip.
When they were sitting together watching television he found himself looking at her rather than the big screen. For the first time in his life, he knew what real happiness was. He didn’t need the sex, or anything else. Just being near her was enough.
At home was when he was at peace. Work, however, was nonstop. His father kept him busy with Denton business. A couple of their girls had gone missing from their brothels, and he’d been put in charge of finding them. The two girls didn’t have any family, and it made searching for them a difficult process. He had several of their guys looking into last known sightings in the police force, but so far, nada.
His gut was telling him something bad was going to happen, and it was linked to the divide that had been noticed in the Dentons. Even Damian had seen it. Landon was back, and instead of the brothers working together as they had been known to do, many of them, himself included, had chosen to work alone.
Damian was leaving one of the strip clubs that they owned when he got a call. He saw it was Gabriel.
“What’s up?”
“I found those two girls, and you’re not going to like it.”
“They’re dead, aren’t they?” he asked.
“Yep, and they’ve, erm, it’s not pretty, not by a long shot. These girls, they’ve been tortured for days. You need to head out to the warehouse at the docks. I’ve called the others. They need to see this shit.”
“I’m heading there now.” He climbed into his car, setting up the voice speaker so he could drive and talk. “Do you have any other news?”
“Yeah, a lot you’re not going to like. Do you remember Bruce? The friendly little soldier who worked for the Coltons and Dentons?”
“The fucker that died a few months back. Of course.” Bruce had been his mother’s bodyguard until they had all learned the truth of his treachery. He’d died, and good riddance to the piece of shit. However, he had warned them within seconds of his death that there would be others. Being a Denton, you always had enemies. It didn’t matter where they went. There was always someone wanting to rise up, to prove their worth.
“Well I think we’ve got someone who is willing to take us on to take what rightfully belongs to us,” Gabriel said. “I’ll see you when you get here.”
The call disconnected. Whatever was waiting for him at the warehouse docks, he wasn’t going to like. Damian had forgotten how fucked up his life had become since he’d come of age. Spending his time in the bottom of a bottle had numbed him to everything.
Since the moment he had proved himself, he’d been working for his father, fighting for his cause. He wasn’t the oldest Denton, but he also wasn’t one to ignore either. Many had thought they knew him, but he’d always had the upper hand.
His cell phone started to ring again, and he saw it was Mia.
“Hey, babe, what’s up?” he asked.
“Babe?”
He chuckled. “Trying something new. You know me.”
