AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I looked at him, relieved to hear he was going to explain things.
“My name is Blaise Hughes,” he told me. “You’ve been here under the protection of the Shephards and Salazars due to my order.”
His order?
“I’ve been told that you’re afraid the Mafia, who broke into your home and shot your husband, will come for you now that they’ve killed Churchill.”
I nodded once. Hearing him say the Mafia had killed Hill sank in deeper. I hadn’t known for sure how he had been killed. Yet he knew. Had King known the details and not told me? Was that his way of protecting me?
“That is the first thing we need to clear up. You are not a target for the Mafia. They will not kill you. They don’t want to kill you. The day when they broke into your home, they knew you were there and left you alone. Churchill Millroe was our only target.”
Our. I stiffened and replayed his words in my head. Had he meant to say our? Had I heard him incorrectly?
“You’ve been protected by the Southern Mafia,” he said, waving a hand, as if showcasing the room. “Churchill Millroe stole from us. From me. No one steals from me and lives,” he said, then stood up. “When you fled your home that day, King had been outside waiting to see what you would do. From you battered face he realized you’d been abused by your husband. So much so that you didn’t want to help him. Instead you chose to run. Take your chance to escape. I have a wife, Rumor. One I worship. She was mistreated by the only family she had once too. I don’t like men who use their strength to hurt the weak and innocent. Not to mention, if Madeline, my wife, found out I had left a woman in your situation and didn’t help her, she’d put a pistol to my head.” He smirked then, as if that was funny to him.
There were so many things running through my head at the same time that it was hard to focus on any one thing. And as much as I should be in shock right now, it all made sense. Everything this man was saying made complete sense. The things that didn’t add up, they fit. Except…Maeme. That didn’t fit.
“Churchill was stealing from several people, it seemed. He wasn’t a smart man. The Insantos gang is a powerful underworld drug trafficking empire. We stay out of each other’s way. Always have. Until now. They believe you can lead them to Churchill and their money. We’ve not shared that we tortured and killed him. As for their money, I am working out something that might end this without a war.”
Blaise walked around the desk and stood in front of it, crossing his arms over his chest. “You’ve been under the protection of the Georgia branch of the family. I live in Ocala, Florida, and control this branch, as well as the other Southern Mafia branches. I’m the boss. Everyone answers to me. Even King. That being said, I don’t want to take your control from you. That’s been done enough in your life. I’m going to let you decide now that you know who we are and how you got here. You can stay here. Move back into Maeme’s cottage and live there as long as you’d like. She’s taken with you. Claimed you as one of hers. Kudos to that, I might add. She’s a tough one to win over. Or you can go with me. You’ll be out of the line of fire. I can give you a job, help you get settled in your own place once this is done, and you can start a new life. Like I said, the choice is yours.”
I had read The Godfather. This was nothing like that. This man was young, and he was a boss? I shook my head, trying to make sense of all this. Why was I thinking about a stupid fictional book? This was my life. This was real. I had to focus.
King had lied to me.
From the very beginning, he had been lying.
I pressed a hand to my chest. The gnawing horror that everything with him had been a lie was worse than the deceit.
I knew he didn’t love me, but I had thought…he felt something. He cared.
He wasn’t my savior. He never had been. I had been a job to him. Something this beautiful, intimidating blond man had told him to do.
And Maeme…she was in on this? She had known? But then Blaise had said she had wanted me. She wasn’t acting. Could I stay for her? With King so close? Was what we had over now that I knew? Was he just going to go back to the women he beat and fucked?
“I’ve given you a lot to digest,” Blaise said. “Sebastian will take you back to the stables, and you can take your time. I need to leave here in an hour—my son has a soccer game this evening. If you haven’t made up your mind by then, the plane can be sent for you at any time. Just let…whoever you want to know that you would like to come to Ocala.”
He hadn’t said King. Was that his way of telling me my time with King was done? Why hadn’t King come for this? He had known what I was about to hear, and he had sent Sebastian to bring me. What was he doing that was so important that he didn’t care that I was going to learn he had been lying to me all this time?
Because he didn’t care. I had been a job. That was it. I’d been a job for him. Nothing more. If I had meant anything to him, he’d be by my side right now. Asking me to stay with him. Telling me that he had developed feelings for me.
“I’ll go,” I said, the words surprising myself as I heard them fall from my mouth.
But I couldn’t stay here. Not now. I’d miss Maeme. I’d miss Birdie. My heart wouldn’t recover for a long time, and seeing King would rebreak it over and over. I had to go. There was no other choice.
Blaise nodded and dropped his hands to his sides. “Very well. Go get your things packed up. You’ll be picked up in forty-five minutes out in front of the stables. We have to head to the airstrip.” He shifted his gaze to Sebastian. “Go with her.”
Sebastian stood. “Yes, sir.”
I glanced up at him, and I saw the pity in his eyes. The concern for me. He was truly worried about my feelings. I could see it there. Maybe someone other than Maeme had cared for me more than just being a job.
“Let’s go,” he said gently.
I followed behind him and kept my head down, not wanting to make eye contact with any of the others. They would all see too much. I’d been broken many times before, but never had someone wielded the power to crush my soul. Until King.
• forty •
“How much abuse could a heart take before it stopped?”
