Page 35 of Red

Zeev looks at me, his eyes are filled with so much emotion. I’ve never seen him drop his guard fully. Words I never thought I would hear coming out of his mouth, but are a balm to my soul.

“Of course I came. Red, I love you. I’ve loved you since the moment that I saw you. We were made for each other.”

The tears that I’ve been holding back start to spill from my eyes. I lean towards him, putting my forehead to his. “ I love you too, Zeev. You know you already own my body, but somehow you figured out a way to own my heart and soul too. You're my family.”

He gives me a chaste kiss on the lips. I wrap my arms around his neck and try to deepen the kiss. Pulling me off, he laughs a little.

“As much as I want to see where this goes, you need to rest, and I have a few things I need to finish at the mansion.”

Nodding my head with understanding, knowing what he is referring to, I take a deep breath, whispering, “You’re serious. It’s over? We can live a normal life.”

“Red, yes, we can go back to the way your life was before. You can run the bakery and I can try to find a job. Or we can take over The Wolves and run it together as king and queen. You can still have your bakery, but this way we’ll be able to make Le Milieu more legit and righting the wrongs that your grandmother made.”

He gives me a kiss on the forehead, “Just think about it while I’m gone.”

As he walks out of the room, I take a deep breath contemplating what Zeev is asking. I look down at my ring and think about all the things that I’ve endured these past few weeks. I went through a lot and was able to survive. I love my husband so much, he is the only person that has ever shown true loyalty.

Thinking about Zeev, I know that I want to be at his side at all times. He wants us to run The Wolves together. Of course I will give this to him. I’ll do anything to make sure that I never leave his side. I want him, I want us. If we’ve learned anything, it’s that we’re strong in our own right, but we are indestructible together.

The feeling of peace washes over me. I lean back knowing how lucky I was that I found a wolf in the woods and we were able to save each other. I close my eyes to rest and am finally able to dream about the future.

Chapter 27

Zeev

Walking back into the mansion, I’m filled with mixed emotions knowing that this whole thing is about to end. I’ve been on the path of revenge for so long, I’m happy that it’s almost over but still full of anger. I’m not sure what is next for me. I guess I‘ll have to find purpose with Blanche and among The Wolves. I know we’ll be able to make The Wolves so much better together. I’ll be able to regulate the underworld part of the business and Blanche will be able to help with making our business more legitimate. Thinking about the future, I walk down the stairs that lead to the basement, ready to end this nightmare.

Jake is waiting for me outside the door, waiting for me.

“I have the two prisoners tied up in the room. Before we start, Gregory wanted to talk to you about Blanche.”

Not sure what Gregory would want, but he was our inside guy giving us information on how Blanche was doing when he could, so I decided to give him my time. I nod to Jake, and he points to another door off to the side of the hallway. I open the door to walk into the room and the man himself is leaning against a bookshelf waiting for me. I can see him take a deep breath, trying to gain the strength to say what he needs to say.

The regret and grief in his face is abundant. His voice is filled with disappointment. “Mr. Fortin, thank you for meeting with me. I wanted to say that I was sorry for my part, I didn’t really want anyone to get hurt. I didn’t have a choice, so I only gave you half the dose of the drug. I wanted to make sure you would be able to help Blanche. I know that you two will be great for The Wolves. Will you allow me to see Blanche? I want to offer my services to both of you.”

I have respect for this man. He helped me reach Blanche when she was in the mansion and now he has the balls to ask me to see Blanche.

I reply with a cool chill in my voice. “Blanche will have to be the one to make that decision. I’ll help facilitate the meeting for you to talk to her and state your case.”

“That is all that I ask.”

I nod to acknowledge his words. “Well, I have a few people I need to see.”

With those words, I leave Gregory behind and move back to the door that holds Old Lady Marelle and Nicholas. Making sure I have my gun, I take a deep breath and walk through the doors that lead to an end of a journey I’ve been on for a long time. Jake follows me through the doors. He has his own issues with them.

My eyes are drawn to two figures in the middle of the room and see the old lady strapped to a chair, next to her Nicholas is hanging from the ceiling of the room. This should be fun. Bringing my attention to Old Lady Marelle, I walk closer to her pulling out my gun. I don’t want to play with her, but I do have a few things that I need to say to her before I take her out. While I’m loading the gun, I look up and see that Old Lady Marelle is sweating a little bit. Then I hear her groveling.

“Please, don’t do this. Would you kill an old lady who is already dying? Please, show some mercy!”

I sneer at her. “Did my father and mother beg for their lives just like you did before you killed them? Did you show them mercy before you shot them? Or how about Blanche’s parents? What about the thousands of people that you’ve killed, sold, or beaten? No, I don’t think I will show you mercy in the way that you think. The only mercy I will grant you is a quick death. I’m ready for all of this to be done so I can get back to my wife.”

With those parting words, I aim my gun and shoot one bullet between her eyes. I take a deep breath. That is the end of Old Lady Marelle’s reign of terror.

Turning my whole body towards Nicholas, I pause. Now this man I want to make suffer because he thought he could take Blanche from me. Wanting this to be personal, I place my gun down on the table and pull out my knife, Lucille. It’s been a while since I’ve used her and I’m sure she has been feeling left out.

Dragging the knife across his body but not cutting him, I ask, “Did you know that the human body can survive over a hundred stab wounds when placed over non-critical body parts, or you can bleed out within three minutes just by stabbing you in your femoral artery? You are dying tonight, but I still haven’t decided if I need to take my anger out on you or if I should just get it over quickly.”

Twirling my knife around in my hand, I walk around Nicholas trying to decide if he’s worth the dramatics. Needing to tell him my thoughts, I continue, “You know, Blanche would never have married you. She was always destined to be with me. She’s a goddess and doesn’t deserve to be with the likes of you. A man who is rotten from the inside out. I mean look at you, how could any woman be attracted to you?”

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