AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I left her without her guardian. I made her pay for a crime not even her father was guilty of. I rejected her for doing what she had to in order to protect her little sister.
“Forgive me,” Father whispers.
The hate that’s been brewing inside me, a churning toxic brew, erupts. Before I know what I’m doing, his shirt is in my fists and I’m nose-to-nose with him. “I killed Skye’s father because of you!”
“I begged you not to!”
“Arran! We must go.” Ruslan tries to pry me from Father, but I’m too angry.
It’s only when my own fault in all of this hits that I release him. He begged me not to. It was me who couldn’t stop. Me who ordered the hit.
And I’m the only one who can fix it.
Gently, I release the tight grip on his shirt. I wrap my arm around his shoulders and place my chin on his head.
My chest made tight from the myriad of emotions slamming into me, I say, “Father, I’m going to give you what you want. I’m letting you go.”
As if he’s been waiting for those exact words, the tension in his body eases. “Thank you, son.”
I glance at my man. “Ruslan, will you take him to the car?”
“Come on, Clive, I’ll help you downstairs,” Ruslan says.
The moment they disappear through the door, Rowan comes to stand beside me. “Will you tell Noah the truth?”
I shake my head. “He didn’t want innocent blood on his hands. I won’t stain them with my mistake.”
“You’re handing him over in exchange for Skye and her sister, aren’t you?”
The answer comes without hesitation because it’s what I decided to do even before Father’s confession. I swore to protect her and failed. That won’t happen again. “I’ll give Gideon my soul if that’s what he asks for.”
22
ARRAN
“He won’t show up if you’re there,” I tell Luca when he insists on coming to the address on the outskirts of Philadelphia that I was given. “You have to wait far enough away that he won’t suspect you’ll follow.”
“But he has Sofia.” He tightens his hold on my car door, his knuckles turning white.
“He also has Skye and her little sister.”
“You’re not likely to make it out of this alone,” he argues. “Not if Gideon thinks you’ll just take your father’s place. You need backup.”
I peer out at the road that leads to where I need to go. We’re parked about a mile away. I’m in one of Luca’s Tahoes, my father sitting beside me. Luca, Ruslan, and Rowan rode behind us. The plan is to have them wait here. Close, but not too close. If either Skye or any of Gideon’s men come this way, they will act.
But there’s a good chance we’ll be taken to another facility altogether. And he’s right. The chances of me making it out alive are slim to none. I’m not stupid enough to believe otherwise. As long as Skye and Maisie make it out, I don’t give a fuck.
“If you don’t hear from them in an hour, start the search.” I tap the Maxton House ring on my finger. “Ruslan will be able to track the chip in it.”
Luca nods and pushes away from the truck. “Good luck.”
I turn to Father. “Are you ready?”
He shuts his eyes and sighs as if in relief. “Yes.”
Five minutes later, we arrive at a nondescript warehouse that any passerby might assume is abandoned. But I can see the technology being used as a clear indication that although the physical space might be empty, it is by no means abandoned.
I stop the vehicle in the back as instructed and wait.
