Page 8 of Golden Atonement

“Vicious, I thought you said this was a secure building? That it is off-limits to everyone except those who live here. That no one could get in unless invited?”

“It is.”

He frowned, releasing Linsey as he picked up his phone to make a call. Disappearing into the downstairs office, I heard the door click shut when I asked, “Is everything okay?”

“Yeah. Don’t worry about it. So, other than Reaper, tell me about the girls. How are they?”

I spent the next several minutes giving her all the gossip she had missed since leaving Tennessee. I had to admit, it felt good to talk about mundane things. Because as long as I did that, I wasn’t thinking about him and what I’d done.

Hours later, I heard a movement on the stairs and rolled over to see Vicious carrying a bag as he headed for the front door.

He had a look I was all too familiar with.

He was about to do something he didn’t want to do.

I could only guess who he called earlier. I saw the look of frustration and worry on his face when he came out of the office. He wasn’t happy. Not one bit.

Taking a wild guess where he was going, I sat up and whispered, “Vicious?”

“Yeah?”

“Don’t dig too deep. You won’t like what you find.”

“What?”

I just shook my head as tears silently fell from my eyes. I laid back down and rolled over, pulling the blanket up to my chin.

Unable to get back to sleep, I got up and stood before the floor-to-ceiling windows, and I looked out over the vast city, watching the sun slowly rise, heralding a new day. Standing there, I never heard the front door open or the men walk up behind me.

“Remi?”

Refusing to turn, I asked, “You here to kill me?”

“No,” the man whispered, “I’m here to make sure you and the kids disappear.”

Turning, I looked at a man I had never met before.

“Same thing, just different words.”

Honestly, I didn’t care anymore. I was so fucking tired of all this shit. I just wanted it all to end. Every time I closed my eyes now, all I saw was his lifeless body and that whore he was with. I couldn’t take it anymore. I was so tired. I just wanted to sleep and never wake up.

“My name is Montana Stone. You already know Maxim Fedorov. The two men behind us are my VP Mercy and Maxim Fedorov’s second, Vladmir Ivenok. I wish we could have met under better circumstances, but it’s best we get you and the kids out of here before Linsey wakes up. She wouldn’t understand.”

“I don’t understand,” I countered, confused.

“Let’s just say that we made your husband a promise if anything happened, no matter what, you would be protected.”

I scoffed at that, walking over to the couch and taking a seat. Fucking figures that the son of a bitch would prepare for any eventuality. Why couldn’t he put that determination into saving our marriage?

Why did he have to do it?

Was I not good enough anymore?

Why did he stop loving me, and how did I not see it?

Shaking my head, I muttered, “That’s fucking rich.”

“Remi?” Maxim said, sitting next to me. “I know your mind is in chaos right now, but I need you to listen to me. Your life is in danger. Reaper knew this and asked us to protect you if anything happened to him.”

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