AllFreeNovel
Share Us
The driveback to Glitz was quiet, but with Thomas, it was a comfortable silence, not one that needed to be filled with mindless chatter or reliving the excitement of the past hour.
I was glad that I could take care of myself. Even more glad that Thomas was at my side.
Our speed slowed considerably as we entered the Green Zone. I opened my eyes, really opened them, and looked around at what I saw.
“Thomas, this place is a shithole. What happened?”
“Cops won’t come out here,” he said and pointed to a group of teenagers selling dime bags. “Those kids over there are just trying to eat. Pay their bills. Sad.”
I let out a pained groan as I took in the teenagers selling dime bags even though they knew they weren’t supposed to. There were whores on the street selling their wares instead of inside the brothels set up for this work. All around were signs that the Green Zone was my biggest failure.
My biggest disappointment.
“Do you think we can clean it up?”
“Sadie, I think you can do anything you want.”
Back in the day, I had big dreams for the Green Zone to be the literal fucking Switzerland between Glitz, Vegas, and Mayhem.
Neutral.
A place where anyone could come to satisfy their cravings, their vices, without worrying about fighting. In this zone, bikers and gangsters could gamble side by side. They could talk shit over drinks, watching professional dancers and hookers shake their asses without worrying about retaliation.
But that hadn’t happened, had it?
No. Because I got too greedy in my fervor to save my family.
When we arrived back at Ashby Manor, the media circus had disappeared. Thomas’s plan for me to disappear had worked. When I didn’t show up, the reporters slid back under the rocks from whence they came.
I went to my parlor to think. I needed to plan what came next for me. I needed to find something to fulfill me since I was done with my previous vengeance.
Ihoped.
There was too much shit to do and not enough time, so when the siren song of booze called my name from the bar cart in the corner, I shook my head and went into another room. I needed to be clear-headed to get through this next part. I wasn’t Colm, and I wouldn’t be taken down because I couldn’t stop gambling, couldn’t stop drinking and taking unnecessary risks.
I was stronger than Colm.
Always was.
Thomas’ words rang in my ears as I sat down with my laptop and planned. “You always were stronger than him, Sadie Rose. Stronger even than the old man, and you know how much he meant to me. You were the only one who didn’t know it.”
When he first said those words to me at the ripe old age of nineteen, I thought he was just throwing out a line hoping I’d let him fuck me.
He said them again when I reached thirty, and I ignored them, too hardened to accept their kindness, too cynical and broken to believe them. But now, older and wiser, I realized that Thomas had seen what nobody else had.
The real me.
So I kept those words close to my heart while I worked and planned. I held on to them like the lifeline I needed if I was going to beat Agent Beck at her own game, tie up loose ends, and transform the Green Zone into what it was always meant to be.
CHAPTERTWENTY-ONE
Sadie
I woke up the next day feeling like I had a purpose as the sun filled my room with light and warmth. I hadn’t felt like this since I brought Jasper home from the hospital, knowing he was totally dependent on me and needed me to take care of him. To guide him and teach him until he became a man.
I sat up in bed, seeing my lavish surroundings with new, clearer eyes. What good was all this luxury and all this money if it didn’t help me achieve the goals I’d set out for myself so many years ago?
It was up to me to pursue those plans, which was precisely what I intended to do today. After a long shower, hotter than it needed to be, I dressed carefully in a black Chanel pantsuit with bright red kitten heels. It was just the look for today’s agenda.
