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My breath catches on a lump in my throat and as the grief comes up and hits me, heavy sobs begin to overwhelm me.
I cry into Colton’s chest and he holds me impossibly tighter, resting his chin above my head. I only knew Maryne for a month but in that time, she became so much more than just a supervisor, she was like another mother to me. I can only imagine how hard this is hitting Colton.
Maryne’s been the only motherly figure in Colton’s life since his own mother left a few years ago and even before then, she was probably still the only motherly figure. After what I saw at the funeral, I doubt Laurelle Carrington has a maternal bone in her body. If anything, it was probably a competition between Charles and Laurelle as to who could be the shittiest parent.
It all becomes too much and as I watch the men storming through the mansion and wreaking havoc on the staff, my knees buckle and I sink to the floor. Colton drops down with me, refusing to let me go as he watches the screen closely, removing all traces of emotion from his face.
“It’ll be over soon,” he promises me, his hand roaming up and down my back. His tone doesn’t match his words and the lack of confidence leaves me wondering if he’s even talking to me. It sounds more like he’s trying to convince himself.
Ten minutes turns into twenty and then thirty as I watch the men get more agitated. Someone checks the garage and checks for Colton’s Veneno, making sure he’s even on the property. I watch as they go back and forth in front of the coat closet that mom hides in and every time they do, my breath catches. I can not lose her. She’s the only blood family I have left. Without her …
Shit.
The same brother who had shot Maryne walks past Harrison at least ten times, smirking at her lifeless body, and every time he does, my body stiffens with the need to grab one of the many knives in that kitchen and slice it across the fuckers throat. I’ll be more than happy to be the one smirking then.
Harrison flinches and holds Maryne tighter and I watch as every time the brother steps out of the room, Harrison drags her body further and further away.
Colton stiffens beneath me and I follow his line of sight to the next monitor to find two of the brothers searching through the bedrooms. One goes through the bedroom I had used when I first arrived here while the other recklessly searches through mom’s old room, trashing it as he goes.
They quickly realize that there’s nothing in there and move onto Colton’s bedroom.
Within mere moments, they figure out whose room they’re in and they spend a little more time tearing it apart. They go through his private things, checking over papers, and scanning through any documents they can find. But they won’t find whatever it is they’re looking for. Colton’s not stupid and Charles certainly didn’t teach him to be careless with anything important. It would all be hidden away and seeing as though they haven’t found Charles’ office, I’d dare say that everything is safe.
They spend ten minutes tearing his room to shreds and I find myself glancing at the time in the bottom right corner of the monitor. It’s well past ten at night and we’ve now been in here for forty-five minutes. Where the fuck are the police?
This should be over. They should have shown up here ten minutes after the brothers first stormed the mansion, the DeCarlo’s should have been carted out of here in either handcuffs or body bags, and they sure as hell should have had this dealt with before Maryne was shot and killed.
The two brothers move from Colton’s room, continuing to make their way down the hallway and closer to the panic room. They trash everything as they go, tearing priceless artworks off the walls and shooting holes through the family members’ faces as they come across their portraits.
Colton’s eyes darken with every step they take. I’ve never seen him like this before. His eyes didn’t even look this haunted when we stood in his father’s office, staring at his dead body. It’s only moments before he snaps. There’s only so much patience one man can have.
The brothers move into the room that Colton had only dragged me into a short forty-five minutes ago, the room that hides the secret door.
Colton goes stiff and the silence in the room becomes eerie.
We watch them make their way around the room, tearing shit off walls and destroying everything that the Carrington’s have built over the years. Colton curls my head into his chest so I don’t see the screen and holds me as still as a statue. “Shhhhh,” he whispers so softly that I barely hear him.
