Total pages in book: 73
Estimated words: 71832 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 359(@200wpm)___ 287(@250wpm)___ 239(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 71832 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 359(@200wpm)___ 287(@250wpm)___ 239(@300wpm)
There’s only Carson. My husband.
“I hoped you’d come back,” he whispers, breathing my hair. “But I was prepared if you never did.”
“What would you have done?”
“Watched you. Kept you safe. Respected your wishes, even if it killed me every day.”
“You’re insane.”
“I’m aware.” He cups my chin and kisses me. “And you like it.”
“Yes, I do.” I hold him tightly, squeezing. “Carson?”
“Yes wife?”
“Can you do something for me?”
“Anything.”
“Please change this room back to the way it was before. It was much nicer.”
He laughs, which makes me laugh, and soon we’re tumbling into each other again.
Chapter 42
Carson
Two Months Later
Jan Minda kneels on the floor of my office, his head downcast, his hands folded in his lap. He looks old, sunken, his head balding, the bags under his eyes thick and heavy.
Behind him, his daughter Joanna sits in a chair looking frightened, her pregnant belly framed by both her hands.
“Do you know why you’re still alive?” I ask, staring down at the former Polish boss.
He shakes his head. “I watched you burn my family down around me, Carson Crowley. I watched you murder my soldiers, my lieutenants, my captains. Friends, brothers, cousins. I watch you raze my world, my life, everything I love, and I asked myself a thousand times when it would be my turn. Now I’m here, and I don’t know why.”
I smile slightly at the pain in his voice.
Fucker deserves it.
“You are alive only because my wife’s brother asked me to spare your life.” My eyes flit to Joanna. She looks surprised and one of her hands comes up to her mouth. “Do you know who my wife’s brother is?”
“Your friend, Iain Locke. The man that got my daughter pregnant.” He bows his head. “The reason this all started.”
“I understand why you did what you did, Jan Minda. You felt you were protecting the honor of your family. However, you overstepped when you decided to murder Iain’s entire line, including his sister. If you had come to me like a man, discussed things—”
“I went to your father.” His voice is hard and quiet. I sit back in surprise. Dad hadn’t told me about that. Anger flickers in my chest. The old idiot had a chance to avoid all this bloodshed and he didn’t take it? “He told me there was nothing he could do. He laughed in my face. It was an insult that I could not abide.”
I clench my jaw. “My father should have handled that better.”
“In this, we agree.” He raises his chin, meeting my gaze. “Where do we go from here?”
“Your family is finished. Your organization is either dead or on the run. You will renounce any ties to organized crime. You will retire outside of the city. And you will allow your daughter to be with Iain, if that’s her choice.” I glance at her, thinking of Ashlyn. “And it is your choice.”
She blinks rapidly. “Does he want to see me?”
“Very badly.”
She chews her lip, glancing at her father. “I’d like to see him too.”
“Then I’ll arrange it.” I stare down the former crime boss. “Do you accept my terms?”
He signs, shoulders slumping in resignation. “I have no other choice. If my daughter wishes to be with that man, I can’t stop it anymore. Too many people have died.”
“You should be among them. However, I think letting you live gives you more time to look closely at how your own actions led to their deaths. Think about that in your final years, Jan Minda, and if I ever hear your name again, I will make sure everyone you love is dead.” I glance at Joanna. “Except you.”
I stand, ready to dismiss them, when there’s a knock at the door. I hesitate, annoyed that anyone would bother me right now, but I tell them to enter.
Ash appears. She glances at Jan Minda, now climbing to his feet, and Joanna, still seated. If she realizes these are the two people that caused her so much pain, she doesn’t show it. “Carson. Something came up.”
“My wife,” I say, going to her. I can’t help myself. I kiss her cheek gently. “What’s wrong?”
She stands on her toes to whisper in my ear. “It’s your father. He took a turn.”
I stare at her, barely comprehending, before I look back at my guests. “The staff will escort you out. Joanna, I’ll make sure Iain gets in contact with you shortly.”
“Thank you,” she whispers.
I usher Ash from the room, back into the hall. She gives me a hard look. “That was him, wasn’t it? The Minda guy? And that’s the girl Iain got pregnant.”
“He was surrendering.”
“Looked more like he was offering his neck for you to cut.”
I smile and stroke her cheek. “I love your metaphors, darling.”
She bats me away. “Don’t get too excited.” Then she softens. “Your dad’s in bad shape.”
I nod tightly. Father’s been suffering for the last few weeks, each new breath like a panicked gasp. The doctors keep saying he doesn’t have long, but the old bastard’s clinging on to life and won’t let go.