“Good boy,” Rick said. “Now, you’re going to go to Westbrook and to Ivan, and you tell them that Rick Denton is coming to finish what he started!”
****
Mia rushed into the bedroom to find Damian standing there. She’d heard him arrive, and had been with Martha and Reese at the time. Charlotte was taking care of them. Seeing him standing there in his suit and just looking like himself, she rushed toward him, throwing her arms around his neck.
“You’re back.” He held her tightly, his mouth pressed against her neck. She closed her eyes, basking in his arms wrapped around her. “I was so worried.”
“I’m out, but it’s not over, not by a long shot.”
She pulled away, and he cupped her cheek, staring into her eyes. Mia stared into his brown ones, and then she looked at his neck, and at his shirt. “You’re covered in blood.”
“We didn’t kill those girls.”
“I know. They, erm, they showed the bodies once. I think they’ve stopped showing them now, but I recognized the damage that had been done.” She frowned. “There was a woman a couple of years ago. She had the same marks and stuff. She was dumped in a park near where I lived. I told the lawyer, and Lewis, all of this information. I hope it can help.”
“I can’t keep this shit from you. I wanted it to be different, but like all things that is related to my life, it’s fucked up. I’ve run myself a bath.”
“I can sit with you. Let me know when you’re decent.” She was just so happy to have him back. The past couple of days had been the hardest of her life. She had found herself waking in the middle of the night, and missing his presence. He didn’t know that she’d caught him watching her sleep. Sometimes he fell asleep, and she would lie in the bed, watching him.
When it came to Damian he inspired feelings she had believed were dead. She would stand in the shower, washing her body, and she’d touch her shoulder or her stomach where Damian had touched or grazed, and she’d feel a stirring, a tingle that awakened her entire body, making her want his touch again.
She waited for his call, and it came seconds later. Entering the bathroom, she froze as she caught sight of his naked body. She had known his was a large, muscular man, just not as big as he actually was. His shoulders were large, thick, and there were several tattoos up and down his arms. Her mouth went dry.
Feeling like a moron, and getting aroused just by seeing his naked chest, she forced herself to take a seat. Rubbing her hands together, she smiled.
“You like what you see?” he asked.
Her cheeks heated. “Please, don’t.”
“It’s nice to know that you like what you see.” He winked at her. “I certainly love what I see. Love it when you wear jeans.”
“Why?”
“It shows your ass off to perfection. Whenever I see you bend over, it’s hard to not just stare.”
“Because it’s huge?”
“No, because it’s sexy as fuck, and makes me think of doing stuff that you’re not ready for.”
Her pussy grew slick, and she pressed her thighs together, licking her lips. “Wow,” she said. “What makes you think I’m not ready?”
“Ivan.”
“He doesn’t get to control me, Damian. I’m a big girl.” She felt his gaze slide down her body. “We can come back to this. You wanted to tell me something.” They needed to stay on track before she lost herself. There was a lot of shit happening all around her. Now wasn’t the time to think about her personal needs.
Needs she had thought had long gone.
“The Dentons are a name that instills fear in a lot of people but also a lot of respect. We’re in drugs, women, money, and anyone who wants to set a business up in our city, has to come to us. We control everything, and we get our cut. You once asked me if I’d killed anyone, and the answer is yes. To be a Denton, you have to prove your worth. I’ve fought, I have killed, and I have done a great many things for my family, and to make the world safer, in a way.” She had figured most of this out. “The thing is, there is a curse or a legacy. It’s known as the Denton family legacy. There is a great deal of speculation about it. Some think it’s a pile of bullshit. Others believe it’s our weakness, and I guess in a way they are right.”
“You have a weakness?” she asked.
“The moment we see a woman, the woman that is meant to be ours, we know. She is the woman we will love, desire, respect, and just be devoted to. I know to a lot of people that’s far-fucking-fetched, but guess what? It’s the truth. My brothers, Jacob, Abel, Oliver, and even Landon have gone through it. My father feels it for my mother. I never felt it for Betty, but she was aware that there would be a woman out there I loved more than anything else in this world.” He paused, and she watched as he swallowed. “I never lied to her. I always told her the truth. It didn’t matter though. It wasn’t enough. I could never love her like she had seen my brothers love their women. She wasn’t mine, and I accidentally knocked her up, Mia. You think I’m a good man, and I try to be. I fucking try, and I’m not good. I’m like Ivan. The only difference is I wouldn’t rape a woman to get what I wanted.”
She was shocked as she averted his head, and he wouldn’t even look at her. He rubbed at his eyes, and she just knew that he was crying. She really didn’t have a clue what to do. Men didn’t cry, did they? They never showed weakness, and yet Damian started to cry, snot-nosed ugly crying. His sobs filling the room, and breaking her heart, bringing her own tears to the surface. Unable to watch his pain any longer, she went to the bath, and climbed in, not even thinking what she was doing, and just knowing she had to do this. Straddling his waist, even though he was very much naked and she was dressed in jeans, she wrapped her arms around his neck. This was nothing sexual. Even as tears slid down her cheeks, she held onto a sobbing Damian. She felt the guilt coming off him in waves, and it broke her heart to see him this way.
“It’s okay. I’ve got you. You’re fine. Everything is going to be fine.”
“I thought she could handle it, Mia. I really did. I didn’t mean to get her pregnant, and I didn’t give her false hope either. I was real with her.”