Page 88 of Married into the Mob
I backed away from her as the removalists halted, saying they’d take the other elevator. As the doors closed and we started to move, Aunt Louisa grabbed a piece of cardboard from her box and shoved it between the rubber door seals. There was a small gap between the doors and the floor. I’d studied the inside of elevators many times and had researched ways people got trapped in those metal boxes.
I understood what this might do. She’d avoided triggering the sensors and the system thought the doors were jammed, and when I slammed the “open door” button, it wouldn’t open.
“So that’s why I didn’t get the rest of my money. I tried to get you to stay here so when Stefan got back to me, I could hand you over.”
She smiled, but it didn’t reach her eyes, and then she grasped her throat, making gagging noises. “It’d be a shame if you couldn’t breathe in here. Are the walls closing in? There’s not much air. I wonder how long it will take until it’s all gone.”
Not the walls but the darkness. I could do this, though I’d only been in older elevators and I didn’t know exactly where we were. I’d pried doors like this apart before, but only when the elevator malfunctioned about a foot or so below the building floor. If we were between the third and second floor, I could topple out and splatter in the elevator shaft.
The panic was rising, but I had to do something. My aunt knew my “panic buttons,” and I refused to leave Brielle and Hunter.
I tried removing the cardboard, but it ripped in my trembling hands.
There wasn’t much to focus on, so my mind went to the panic room and me counting the different objects. Hunter’s voice was in my head. If I pictured him as if he were beside me, I could do it.
Dellie, I’m here.
I could hear him, and knowing I wanted to stay alive to be a dad to my baby and a mate to Hunter, I curled my fingers and grunted, trying to pry the doors open. They moved an inch, and then I was thrown back as they were pulled apart. A wolf, my Hunter’s beast, leaped in, and Aunt Louisa’s scream filled the tiny space as I sank to the floor.
I’d survived.
33 EPILOGUE
HUNTER
Today was Brielle’s first birthday, and the family was gathering at Dad’s.
It had been my bright idea to try and cater the party myself, but thank gods Dellie talked me out of it, saying I’d never enjoy the occasion if I was worried about the food and running back and forth.
And we didn’t want Uncle Arnie to cater it. He worked hard every day, and we wanted him to relax and have fun. We’d relied on him to cater too many times in the past. But he insisted on making the cake, and I had messaged him, suggesting two ingredients that I’d love combined.
Everyone was coming including Treyton and his brother, Madden, who he affectionately called Madd. Uncle Arnie was excited to have them in town and was hoping to convince Madd to move here.
Our daughter’s name meant Hunter, so now there were at least two Hunters in our family which sort of banished the other hunter: Draven.
As I got Brielle out of her car seat and we walked into my dad’s house, I thought of Louisa who wasn’t here to enjoy her great niece’s special day.
My mate had tussled with the idea of reporting her to the police. There was no proof of her involvement with Stefan, though Flint could have spoken to the police chief, his poker buddy, and had her arrested. But there were copies of letters to and from the bank where she’d forged my mate’s signature.
But after lying awake at night and agonizing over whether she should spend years in jail—maybe the rest of her life—he decided banishment was the punishment he was most comfortable with.
It was a family decision as to where to put her. Ranger suggested the panic room.
“No daylight, no sun on her face, never feeling grass under your feet. It’s perfect.”
But Odell thought lack of socialization would be the biggest punishment.
“Other than bringing her food, she won’t be throwing parties in the panic room unless it’s a party for one,” Flint added.
I absolutely did not want to build another panic room. There was nowhere else at the club. If we dug any deeper, the building would collapse.
“I know the perfect place.” My Dellie looked in my direction and our eyes locked. I got it. Right back where she belonged.
“Your old apartment building.” He nodded. “That building is condemned, but the one beside it, which is much the same, isn’t.”
My mate and I inspected the tiny apartment we’d rented. It was a small step up from the one they had lived in as a family, but not by much. It seemed appropriate that Louisa, who’d spent Odell’s inheritance, and tried to kill him, and needled her husband with guilt about money until he got into debt shouldpay by being imprisoned in a hovel. Basically, she’d be on house arrest until she died.
Louisa would look out the window and see people living their life and never be able to join them. Pack members would come each week, delivering food and leaving it at her door. Odell may or may not visit, but that was up to him. She should be thankful he’d saved her from jail.
