Page 69 of Broken Promises
With one final acknowledgement, Lucian looked at me, and I shook my head, telling him I had no more questions. He inhaled deeply and stood from the desk as Devlin lowered his feet and stood from the chair. Lucian looked at me and asked, “Do you want the honors?”
“This one is all yours, brother. I carry the souls of too many fucked-up people to have her lagging around me.” I shrugged and stepped to the side.
Devlin and I moved to stand next to James as Lucian stood Kelly up from the chair. Her shoulders shook and she wrapped her arms around her waist as she stood in front of him, waiting for the inevitable. Lucian, like the rest of us, didn’t relish in hurting women, but sometimes, concessions needed to be made.
Kelly Johnson was just such a concession.
Lucian drew his firearm from his hip and lifted it, aiming for her head. He was going to be merciful, and I couldn’t say I would do the same. The weight of what he was doing was clear as he inhaled, and when a knock on the door sounded into the room, he lowered the gun and looked over at me.
Turning, I opened the door and was a little shocked to see Hannah standing there. Lifting one finger to Lucian to tell him to pause, I stepped out into the hallway and looked down at her.
Her blue eyes were shining as she said something I never expected. “Do you remember when I asked you what it was like to kill someone?” I nodded, unsure where she was going. She stepped closer and said, “I think I’m ready to find out the answer.”
Chapter 30
Hannah
I’d ridden with Stella and Hawk to get Pearl and the little girl, who was named Emma, something to eat. I wanted to get the girls away from the house, and I needed a minute to breathe. My entire life, I didn’t understand why my mother left me, why she didn’t want me, why she hated me. To find out I was meant to be traded to a crime family, so she could raise the next leader, caused a rip to open inside me.
Growing up, I never felt wanted, and finding out I really wasn’t, was just a little too much to handle.
What was so wrong with me?
Why wasn’t I good enough?
The questions swirled around in my head as we grabbed food from a drive-thru and returned to the house to have a picnic. Three of the Death Hounds left to go back to Portstill, and three others stayed behind to guard us. I had to admit, I was expecting hardnosed tough guys. But after spending time with Skid, Hawk, someone named Jackal, who seemed a little crazy, a big man named Basher, and a quiet man named Bull, who kept his eyes locked on Emma, making sure she was okay, I realized my mistake. They were honorable men who were protectors, as well as bad asses.
Stella came and sat next to me as two hours turned into three. “How are you holding up?”
I shrugged. “I always knew she didn’t want me, but hearing her say I was a pawn, well, it’s a little tough to swallow.”
She plucked a few springs of grass from the lawn as she looked across the yard to the house and absently said, “I lived here for three years, close to twenty years ago.” I snapped my head to look at her as she spoke. “The man I was given to was tasked with running the brothels, and this was his pride and joy. My daughter and I lived in the big bedroom on the second floor with him, and after we were rescued by the U.S. Marshals, I thought I’d never see it again. When James told Hawk where you were, I had to come.”
“I . . . I had no idea,” I replied softly as I turned my eyes back to the house.
“You had no way of knowing,” she reasoned. “You’re around Hailey’s age, and I wish . . . I wish I’d known about you.”
“I think we all got screwed by Sergey,” I remarked, and she nodded solemnly. “Can I ask you a question?”
She turned and smiled at me. “Ask away. I’m an open book, for the most part.”
“Why did you kill Sergey?”
Exhaling, she began to explain. “He was the worst father and parent you could imagine, who only cared about himself. I think he killed our mother, but I can’t be sure. He sold Devlin, bartered away my innocence, and then he decided to testify, spilling all the secrets. The only problem was, Hailey’s father had been murdered a few years prior, and if Sergey spoke of her and her connection to him, then they may have started looking into what happened, and I couldn’t have that attention on her.” She paused, then added, “Or me.”
“Did you . . .”
I left the question unasked, and she turned to look me in the eye as she nodded. “Sometimes, the only way to vanquish a monster from your mind is to bathe in its blood.”
She didn’t say anything else, and I sat there with her, silently staring at the house, thinking about what was supposed tohappen inside. The thought of what my monster of a mother had planned for me, without a care for me or the damage her decisions would cause, was making my blood boil.
I glanced at Stella, and she peered out the side of her eye and smiled. A tug of war was taking place inside me over right and wrong, and when I turned back to look at Stella, she handed me a large knife in a woven sheath. I took it from her, and she stood from her seat on the ground next to me, brushed off the back of her pants, and walked over to Pearl and Emma as they finished their deserts with two of the Death Hounds.
Standing, I brushed off my pants, and with the knife in my grip, I walked across the yard to the house. I could feel someone watching me, but I didn’t turn around to see who it was. I was sure it was Stella silently giving me strength to vanquish the monster from my life.
Walking inside, I heard voices coming from the office to the left, and I nodded to one of Lucian’s men standing guard in the entrance before knocking on the broken door. Rhys opened it and stepped out with a worried look on his face.
I looked up at him and asked, “Do you remember when I asked you what it was like to kill someone?” He nodded silently, and I stepped closer to him. “I think I’m ready to find out the answer.”
