The charred estate is nothing more than crumbling stones, burnt bushes, and smoke damaged walls. All those memories, gone.
The firefighters are still putting out the smaller flames in the back of the mansion, calls and shouts echoing around us. Across the way, Lex sits in the ambulance as they close the wound on his head. It’s a small gash but he refused to go to the hospital to see it tended.
I glance down at the bandage on my right breast, wincing despite myself. All things considered, we got out with only a few injuries. Nico’s side is wrapped, the bullet a clean shot, and he’s already taking charge of the cleanup in the opposite direction.
Once the ambulance arrived, his guards showed up. Those who were loyal to Dom have already been taken away through Maeve and her men. Those who were loyal to Lex were helping pay off the cops who showed up at the scene.
I’m happy to see Tony there, directing traffic. I never doubted him.
Sitting on the lawn, I breathe through the pain in my chest and cough out the last bit of smoke. My body aches and I feel fuzzy, lungs hurting but I’m alive.
I can’t believe I’m here and alive. If I hadn’t believed in myself, that I wasn’t worthless, that I was strong enough, I’d be in that fire, abused and dead. Instead, I fought back. I’m here because Lex believed in me, and I took that and turned it into strength.
Maybe I just needed someone to believe in me, to show me I could be strong.
Maeve drops into a crouch before me. Her dress from the auction is long gone, now in a pair of jeans and a band shirt, two sizes too big. Her dark strands are whipping behind her like a dark cape but it’s her eyes that strike me.
No longer emotionless or dead, they’re full of fear, panic, and anger.
Grabbing my shoulders, she tucks the blanket closer around me. “How are you holding up?”
Since holding me from the flames, I haven’t seen my sister. She’s been off, helping Nico, giving orders. I’m sure bribing cops to stay quiet. Or threatening them.
Shrugging, I nestle into the warmth of the blanket. It smells vaguely like mint. “I’ve been better. Being almost killed is not something I thought I’d have on my bingo card this year.”
Her lips twitch as if she’s going to smile. “You get used to it.”
There’s a heavy pause as she smooths the sides of the blanket. It’s like she can’t help touching it, touching me, to make sure I’m really here.
She clears her throat, avoiding my eyes. “Did he…” she trails off. “Did he do anything else in that house, Sloane?”
Tears well in my eyes before I push the emotions away. Unimaginable fear, shame, but pride well in my throat.
I won’t give into the fear of what might have been. I’m here, I’m alive. I survived.
Sniffling, I look to the rose-colored sky, feeling the first rays of dawn against my skin like a beginning of a new life. “He tried. Then he got a right hook for his effort.”
Something dark crosses her face and my breath stalls. It’s almost demonic the way it warps her face.
She tucks my hair behind my ears gently. “You did good, kid,” she compliments quietly. “You fought back. You didn’t give up. You did really good.”
The praise in my big sister’s words undoes something in my chest, unlocking a part that needed to hear that. Ugly sobs rack my body and without another word, she wraps me into her embrace, rubbing soothing circles along my back. Like this is the most natural thing she’s ever done.
My hysterics turn into silent cries, but she doesn’t release me. Even as shoes crunch on the gravel before us and draws our attention skyward, her arms stay around me.
Killian kneels in front of us, flicking my nose like an annoying insect, something he’s done since I was little. “A stab wound and a gunshot? Someone’s showing her O’Brien roots.”
I can’t help the smile, because that’s high praise coming from the hitman.
Killian glances to Maeve, eyes hardening. “What do you want to do?”
“I fucking want him,” her words are cold, dark, chilling the air between us. “I don’t care if Nico has first rights. I want him, Killian.”
He inclines his head. “If they haven’t already killed him, I’ll get him.”
“If they have, I want the goddamn pieces.”
The killer leaves, and I look to my sister, curious. “What are you going to do to him?”
Maeve sighs, letting me lean onto her shoulder. She gently brushes a tear from my face, tucking the blanket around me again. Her black eyes look to the spot where Dom branded me. It’s as if she can see the tattered skin, the burnt edges through the layers covering me.
She’s haunted by it.
“You can get that removed,” she says, ignoring my question. “I can call a few doctors.”
Just like before, she avoids answering me. Only this time, it doesn’t feel like a slight, but a protection. She doesn’t want me tarnished by her misdeeds.
Maybe that’s always what her silence has been about. Protecting me from this world for as long as she could.
“I was thinking about it.” I swallow. “I could cover it with a tattoo.”
“Tattoo,” she muses. She nods as if she’s come to a conclusion. “Maybe even the De Luca infamous black rose. Considering you’re a De Luca now.”
Something like pain flashes through her eyes but it’s quickly swallowed. Every emotion my sister ever feels is there, if someone looks hard enough.
I’ve never cared enough to see it before. Too self-centered, too stuck in my own way, to really see someone else. To see other’s pain. If they didn’t give me the attention, the love I demanded right away, then I assumed they didn’t want me.
Maybe Maeve loves me, just in her own way.
“You married me to the De Luca family to save me, didn’t you?” I ask quietly. She rears back as if slapped. “You said Pops had a plan for me but now as the Captain, you got to decide. You married me to Lex to save me from something.”
My sister tries to open her mouth, but I hold up a hand. “It’s fine, you don’t have to tell me.” Standing, I keep the blanket wrapped firmly around my shoulders, Maeve following. “I don’t think I’ll ever forgive you. For forcing me to marry and taking away my free will. It’s the one thing I thought I’d always be able to do. Pick a husband. Decide when I was ready.”
Maeve slips her hands into her pockets and nods. “I know. I don’t expect forgiveness.”
I look over to Lex, who is nodding to whatever the EMT is explaining to him. He’s barely listening, watching me intently. His eyes sear me to the spot, making my stomach flutter with the love we share. A love I never thought I’d get.
“Just tell me,” I say, glancing back to my sister. “It was to keep me safe, right? Everything you did. You did for me, didn’t you?”
A tender look passes over her face as she nods. “Everything I always do is for you, Briar, and Collins. Always.”
That’s as close to an admission as I’ll ever get from Ace O’Brien.
Satisfied, we cross the lawn, as Killian appears at Maeve’s shoulder, jerking his head to the right. Hayes drags a bloody and burned body behind him.
He’s breathing, flailing even in unimaginable pain. One shoe is missing, his shirt is ripped and blackened from soot. There are burns all over his body, and his face is puffy from my hits.
I shudder. Dom. He’s alive, barely. But alive.
Killian and Maeve share an intense look, silently communicating in a way I’ll never understand. My stomach churns.
Wrapping me into his arms, Lex gestures to his cousin. “Nico gave him to you.”
“Took some persuading,” Killian replies, fishing out a cigarette. “But once he realized that Ace wasn’t taking no for an answer, and he didn’t need her as an enemy, he gave him up willingly.”
“I doubt my uncle wanted to torture and kill his own son.”
Maeve adjusts her stance, arms crossed as she looks to me. I can’t read her expression, eyes too dark and calculating. “Do you want to do it, kid? It’s your call.”
Torture and kill the man who tried to take me? Hurt me? Assault me?
I should be able to. Should want to do it. I learned to use a gun, stabbed a man, ruined my ex-best friend’s life for trying to get rich off my messes. I’ve stooped to some low levels recently in order to take control of my life and power.
Yet, I know I can’t do this. I’ve been touched by this life, but I’m not a monster. He deserves all the pain in the world. But it won’t be at my hands.
“No. I trust you to make him pay for what he did.”
The sinister smirk turns my blood cold. Oh, Maeve is certainly going to make him pay.
Without another word, my sister and Killian stalk across the lawn and shove Dom’s battered body into her G-Class. They don’t look back, and I don’t ask any more questions.
Sometimes, it’s best not to know.
An overwhelming sense of relief washes over me, and my shoulders sag against Lex. After this, no one will dare lay a hand on me or Lex.
“Your sister is terrifying.”
“Good thing she’s on our side.”
Lex chuckles, kissing the top of my head.
“Come on, my little menace. That’s enough blood and mayhem for the night. Nico has a hotel suite booked for us and I need to kiss every inch of your damaged body as penance for ever letting you out of my sight.”
My eyes twinkle, patting his cheek affectionately three times. “On your knees?”
“You need only to ask.”
