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Chapter Sixty-Two
RORY
It’s been a few days since I said goodbye to my brother. My men promise to check on him all the time and will only tell me if there’s a major issue to allow me closure and to keep my distance. That night, I cried myself to sleep wrapped in their arms with Mischief between us. It hurt so badly, I felt like I was breaking apart, and they were the only things keeping me together.
The next day was hard too, but I got up and forced myself to work, even if I cried in Maddox’s arms at dinner. The next day it was a little easier, I didn’t cry at all. And the next day was a little easier too.
I guess they were right—time heals all things, and deep down, I said goodbye to my brother a long time ago. This was just severing that final string. I can’t be sad all the time, not with my loves around. They make me laugh, they keep me occupied. They give me a future to look forward to.
A future, which means completely letting go of my past. I always had one foot in this world, in moving on, but one big object that’s hindering my progress is the trailer. It was my home for so long, my refuge, my safe space. Now it’s time to say goodbye to that too. The woman who was created there is still here, but she no longer fits in those narrow halls.
I get up early the next day, feeling determined. Rogan left early to grab a flight. He’s in New York all day in meetings. Alistair is snoring in the bed with Mischief in his arms, and Maddox is working out. I quickly slip into comfy clothes—a long sweater and some leather pants and boots—grab my shades and my keys, and head to the garage.
Once on the road, I stop at Starbucks for a coffee and a pastry, eating it as I drive down familiar streets, changing from the rich and the skyscrapers to the forgotten and worn. Pulling into the trailer park, I feel like a sore thumb. Curtains twitch, and the people sitting outside gawk. I shrink under their gazes. Once, I fit right in, but not anymore. It’s not the money, fancy clothes, or car…it’s me. I don’t belong here, I belong with my men.
When I pull up outside the trailer, I stare at it for a moment. The metal siding is missing in places and rusted in others. One window is boarded up, missing for years now. And even though it’s old and shabby, it still holds fond memories for me. Sighing, I throw my shades onto the passenger seat, drain the last of my coffee, and grab the boxes I managed to find from the back seat. At the front door, I have to ram my hip into it to get it to unlock with weeks of no use rusting it up. Once inside, I crinkle my nose at the smell, so I decide to open all the windows and keep the door propped open. It may not be mine anymore, but it will do someone some good.
Someone like I used to be.
Picking up the mail, I leaf through it before discarding what I don’t want and keeping what I do, then I get to work. I blast tunes on my phone and roll up my sleeves and start packing away all my belongings. Most will be donated, but some I plan to keep. Then I get to cleaning and stripping away years of memories and clutter.
An hour or so in, I’m sweating and in desperate need of another coffee and some orgasms when I straighten my aching back. A noise has me spinning to find Donny leaning against the door with a grin.
Shit.
I back up into the wall before clearing my throat. Fuck, rookie move leaving the door unlocked. I’ve become so accustomed to the apartment and the safety of the Dixen brothers, it didn’t even cross my mind. “Hello, beautiful,” he greets, stepping in and shutting the door behind him. “I’ve been waiting for you to come back.” His head cranes around before his gaze lands on me. “No bodyguard this time, huh? Good, we have a debt to settle, and I owe you for our last run-in.”
My hand goes to my pocket before I remember my phone is on the counter. I’m alone, and no one is coming for me. But long before I needed the Dixens’ protection, I had myself, relied on myself. I’m not afraid anymore. Donny might have seemed big a month ago, like an untouchable force, but now I know he’s just a lowly fucking pusher. I won’t cower before him, and I sure as fuck won’t let him touch me.
He strolls over like he expects me to bend over and let him fuck and beat me. He has another thing coming. I was an okay fighter before, but after training with Maddox for a while… Yeah, I’m fucking good. And I have the same inner strength I always did, the ability to never fucking stay down.
His hand lashes out, and I duck under it, slamming my fist into his side. He grunts and stumbles, his eyes widening. I used to be scared to react, scared of the anger inside me, of the capability I have to survive, but now I embrace it. “You little bitch,” he hisses, spit flinging all over my face. “You’ll pay for that.”
“No,bitch,” I taunt. “You will. Don’t ever fucking mess with me again.” I bring my knee up, connecting it with his crown jewels. He bends over with a howl, and I slam my knee into his nose, busting it before grabbing my knife from my boot and pressing it to his neck. Fisting his greasy hair, I yank his bleeding, red face up. “I will cut you, do you understand me? I’ve killed before, I’ll do it again, and I won’t get caught. Know why? I fucking run this town now, bitch, and you’re nothing but a stray rodent that needs to be exterminated.”
“You wouldn’t dare,” he wheezes, and I decide to follow through on my threat. This way he can never come for me again. I’m doing the city a favor.
Grinning, I slit his throat without a second thought.
He falls back as I push him away, watching the gaping smile across his jugular as he fights to breathe. Blood bubbles on his lips, and even more drips down his neck to his chest as his meaty hands grab it in an attempt to stop the flow. Licking my lips, I watch him drop to his knees, his eyes wide as blood pours between his fingers and down his body to the floor.
“Who’s the bitch now?” I grin and watch as he falls forward, face-first into the carpet. Donny continues to bleed, barely breathing as the puddle grows around him. Eventually, his breathing slows, and with a rattle, he stops breathing altogether.
A groan has my head jerking up. I was so busy watching him die, I didn’t hear the door open or Maddox come in.
“I came to help you pack, but it seems like you don’t need any.” He chuckles as he steps inside, ducking to fit. His dark eyes rove over the dead body and to the knife in my hand. “Clean that off and take it with you.” I do as I’m told, and when I turn back, he’s there. He cradles my cheeks and drags me into a searing kiss.
“Fucking hell, you make me hard,” he whispers into my mouth. “Leave the body, I’ll deal with it, come on.” I watch as he takes the boxes to the car, and with one last look at the place, I step outside with him.
I was going to sell the trailer, the sign sitting in my car, but with the blood and the body… Yeah, not a good move. So instead, I grab a lighter and turn to Maddox with a grin. It’s not his mess to clean, it’s mine. He smirks right back at me, dragging his tongue along his lips. “Do it, burn it all down.”
So I do. I throw it inside and watch as the flames catch, burning down the last thread linking me to my old life. Maddox watches the entire time with his hand in my back pocket, squeezing my ass before he leans down and bites my ear. “Want to play with me now, pet? I’ll even let you use the knife.”
I can’t help the moan that escapes my lips or the clenching of my pussy.
“Hell yes.”
