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But that wasn’t true.
Silas loved me. Thinking about him brought clarity to my situation. I wasn’t alone. I wasn’t unloved. This was not my fault. And I knew in my heart, Silas would find me.
Brianna didn’t have anyone in her corner. But I did. I knew without a shadow of a doubt that Silas would find me, broken pieces and all, and he would make Darren pay.
CHAPTER TWENTY
Silas
I steppedout of my car in front of Darren’s new home. I was completely armed— as in, I had an array of weaponry at my disposal, and I was going to make this motherfucker suffered. Eden’s mother got off lightly in comparison to what I was about to do to her uncle.
It took me three days to track her, but only because she had a day lead on me.
I will never be so careless again.
Ultimately, it was my fault this happened. If the past had taught me anything, it was that you needed to not only take responsibility for your actions, but to clean up the mess completely. Leave not a speck of it unaccounted for.
My past is what brought us to this point. I fled with Eden to Italy because my mistakes had come back to haunt me here in the US. And while I was away from her, reconciling with my family, Eden used the phone I had left behind to check her email.
I’d been the one to make her mom disappear, and I’d kept that from her.
And while we would one day talk about the fact that Eden didn’t feel comfortable enough to call me before she fled to the Embassy to get back home, that was the least of my worries at this moment. Samuel revealed some disturbing things about the uncle—more so than what Eden’s mom had confessed. His lust had little to do with the age of his obsessions and everything to do with familial bond. He wasobsessedwith Eden. Just as he’d been with her sister. Just as he’d been their mother.
I would never again regret being banished to America. That was what brought me to Eden. I will regret, however, that I didn’t sneak back into Italy and check to make sure that my family had truly wiped out every person associated with that fallen syndicate. Because whoever was left alive was the reason my brother was taking our men into battle today alone while I was here dealing with this.
I approached the home warily, knowing that my rage was only surpassed by my sorrow. Samuel’s ability to hack a laptop camera had showed what Eden was enduring at the hands of her uncle.
And he would pay dearly for touching her.
Eden never failed to amaze me. She was stoic in her captivity, suffering through each assault with very little emotion. But what moved me more than anything was how she would pray every time her uncle left the room. And her softly utter pleas would haunt me for the rest of my days.
Hurry, Silas. Please hurry. I don’t know how much longer I can bear this.
Rage ran through me. I was like Death riding in on a pale horse. I didn’t bother hiding that I was coming. Let the world know.
I picked the lock to the front door in record time and entered the house like I had a key, casually closing the door behind me like I belonged there. The house was in disarray. It stank to high heaven. As I moved deeper inside, I saw Eden’s panties on the floor. The crust inside of them showed he had been using them to satiate his perverse desires.
I would take great pleasure in torturing him.
I navigated the home, leaving behind the common areas for the bedrooms. When I heard the sudden rattle of a set of keys, I pushed my body flush against the hall’s wall. The uncle didn’t even notice me in his vicinity as he licked his lips and smiled, too focused on his obsession to sense the danger in the shadows. Upon unlocking then entering the private room, I heard him speak.
“Have you missed me?” he seductively whispered.
“Leave me alone,” I heard Eden’s sweet voice reply, although empty and devoid of any emotion, as if she had resigned herself to her fate.
I grabbed my gun out of its holster, came through the open door, and bashed his head in. Blood gushed from his wound as he collapsed in a heap. I immediately dragged his ass over to the desk chair, threw him in it. After I holstered my gun, I pulled out the small bundle of cord tucked beneath the back holster strap.
“Oh god!” Eden cried; her eyes wide in horror as she clung to the bed sheet covering her naked body. “Silas? Is that really you?”
“Did you think I wouldn’t come after you?” I growled, tying the man with ease that came from experience. “I will always come for you.”
She rushed from the bed and threw herself in my arms. “You’re real! This isn’t a dream.”
“You are mine, Eden. Say it,” I demanded between kisses.
“I’m yours.” She looked up at me with her trusting eyes wide with panic. “Only yours.” She then released the sheet and practically climbed on me. “Silas,” she croaked. “I need you.”
“What is this, my little Eden? What are you doing?”
