Page 56 of Brutal Empire

TWENTY-FOUR

In the end,all the things we tried to hide or run away from ended up not only catching up to us but fucking us in the ass. I knew this would happen, but I had deluded myself that because the name of the city meant nothing to her, she would probably not remember a thing.

Before Cam could hit the railing, I caught her and threw her over my shoulder. Moving forward would all depend on her and what her new memories would bring. They would weigh her down or set her free.

Once you taste blood, there’s no going back. There’s no inner peace once you let your demons run free—the only thing left is chaos.

When the door to the car I had requested began to open, I quickly reached for my Glock.

“And here I thought you missed me,” a familiar British voice said.

“You know, I’m starting to believe you guys really did fucking shove a tracking device up my ass.”

The asshole grinned.

“I would offer to remove it, but then you might like it too much, and Daph would try to kill you out of jealousy.”

My grin matched his.

“You going to lower that?” Gideon pointed to my gun.

“Debating if I should make your eyes match.”

He pulled both his middle fingers up before opening the back door.

“Or do you want her in the trunk?” he asked before he moved out of the way.

Not going to lie, that idea was appealing. If she woke full of rage, it would make things easier. It was the logical thing to do, but since every move I made regarding her was the wrong one, what was another?

“Nah, you drive. I’ll stay with her.”

He nodded as I arranged Cam and myself in the back seat. Since I was otherwise preoccupied, Gideon grabbed the luggage and put that in the trunk.

“Why are you here?” I asked once he got in and began to drive.

I knew that Gideon being here wasn’t something good. Us getting together could be the worst thing we could do, and it would do nothing to diminish Damian’s suspicions. He usually went where Daphne did, but then again, she had been alone in Texas. Damian was throwing his power at us, and all we could hope for was that no one cracked. All it took was just one person, and everything would come falling down.

“Figured you’d need a hand.”

That told me nothing.

“Explain,” I bit out.

Reaching for my weapon would not do us any good, but I knew Cam always stashed scalpels inside her boot, so that would be easy enough to grab.

Jesus, listen to me planning to kill someone I recently considered an ally—fuck that, a friend.

“You’re fucking paranoid, mate.” G shrugged it off.

He was right.

“Did you pick me up on Damian’s orders?”

“No, as far as he knows, I’m somewhere in France.”

“Why France?”

“Roman told the fucker about something Alexis said, and I was dispatched.”

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