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“Do you really want to do this, Freddie?” Seb asks.
We have no choice. I have to protect my family at all costs. Ivy Penrose has come between me and my men once before. I won’t give her another opportunity to do it again.
“Yes, but we can’t tell Bram,” I say. “He seems to have developed an attachment to her. Ivy lulled us into a false sense of security, and now we’ll play her at her own game. Give me your phone, Seb.”
He sighs, looking like he wants to cling onto it, but he hands it over. He still has ‘Rose’s’ number saved from when the Killers Club lured him to the Royal Duchess for a meeting. It’s a long shot. They could have ditched the burner already, but it’s our best chance of contacting them.
I copy the number onto my phone and check that my VPN is enabled first—the last thing we need is the castle being stormed down. Once confirmed, I send a text:
The Dukes have something of yours. Let’s talk.
“Done,” I say as Seb and Callen watch over my shoulder. “All we have to do is wait.”
Ivy is a means to an end. She’s a trade item. A payment method. Nothing more.
CHAPTER 21
BRAM
Idream about the place I’m always running from. I try to wake up, but I can’t. Instead, I fixate on the flames ripping the roof off the building in front of me. I try looking away, but it’s impossible, no matter how hard I try. It feels so real that my cheeks heat from the scorching fire.
Next, the ground is pulled from underneath me, and the scene phases out.
I’m in the alleyway outside the pub again. Why do I keep returning here? I watch from above as my staggering figure stumbles out at closing time. Onlookers heckle, shoving me in the direction of my latest fighting opponent, who is equally hammered. He’s a local wrestler who has never lost a match. Until now.
Before the fight even begins, I dive at him. My fists act of their own accord. Even though I know this is happening in my head, I recall the crunch of his nose breaking and his heavy panting in my ear as he takes a beating.
“You’re going to kill him!” someone shouts, but I don’t stop.
The scene blurs again. All the colours twist, and I’m suddenly behind the wheel of a car, driving along a narrow country road. Overgrown tree branches hit the windshield. I’mcalmer. I’ve been sober for a week, although my desire to drink hasn’t lessened. I desperately crave it more than anything.
The shining moon illuminates the car in front of me as it forces another car off the road. The Ford Focus tumbles, and I turn up the radio to drown out the crunching metal as it somersaults.Darkness closes in, whisking me somewhere else.
Some time has passed. It’s later that same evening. I wipe sweat from my brow as I carry a naked woman from the spot where they discarded her. She clings to life, and all I can do is hope for the best…
Snapshots come. I can’t make sense of them. They move too fast. Then they stop. I hear a scream. My scream. A hot, metallic liquid fills my mouth. Blood. My blood. It trickles down my chin while Alaric towers over me, laughing. When I open my mouth, no noise comes. My silence for her life. A fair trade.
“Bram!” A woman’s voice pulls me back to reality. “Can you hear me?”
My eyelids open. A bedside lamp casts a warm glow over her hair, making her tresses resemble a setting sun. I flex my fingers, to confirm I’m awake, and realise that she’s holding my hand.
“It’s good to see you,” Ivy says. “I’ve been waiting two days for you to wake up.”
I squeeze her hand. It’s weak, but the best I can manage,
It’s good to see you, too. You have no idea…
“You know, most people try to jump out of the way of a moving bullet,” she says, squeezing back. “Maybe you should remember that next time. I thought a soldier would know better.”
I can’t help grinning. I’d do it again. We made it out alive. That’s all that matters.
At the end of my bed, someone else clears their throat to interrupt our moment. Seb stares at our interlocked fingers. The hurt in his eyes strikes me with guilt. I slip my hand out of Ivy’sgrasp, tucking it under the covers until I can find out more about what’s happened while I’ve been asleep. The last conversation I had with the Dukes involved an argument because they were holding her somewhere, and Freddie was going to find me a therapist. What’s changed since then?
“Since you first came around, you’ve been in and out. Callen’s been treating a nasty infection on your leg, but you’re through the worst of it now. The medication was pretty strong,” Seb says. “Are you thirsty?”
I nod. Ivy jumps into action, tipping a glass of water into my mouth. When she places the glass down, I spot a packet of custard creams next to it and crack a half-smile. They didn’t forget.
Seb notices me clocking them and says, “I couldn’t have you gaining consciousness without getting your fix.”
