Page 73 of Ravaged
The truth was that it wasn’t easy. Iwasan Adler, but if I thought about what my mother had said, that I needed to truly think about a future that I could live with—
Then this life wasn’t it.
I didn’t care about ending another life, but fuck this future if it meant giving up Teagen.
I slowly removed my gun from the holster, barely making a sound as the metal swiped against the leather. But when I cocked the hammer, Wil instantly drew his gun and pointed at me.
“What the fuck, man?” he asked.
Derek pulled to the side of the road and did the same. Two guns pointed at my skull.
What was I doing? It was two against one—three, once Axe caught up to us—and I knew I wasn’t going to be the last one standing.
But I couldn’t give up.
Letting Teagen go wasn’t a future I could live with.
“I’m taking her with me,” I said. Keeping the gun aimed at Wil, then switching over to Derek, I continued, “She’s coming with me. I don’t care about what happens to Oliver. But Teagen is mine. And if you want her, you’re going to have to kill me first.”
Derek narrowed his eyes, waiting a few moments before he spoke.
“If you do this,” he said, “we will remove our protection from the Dahlia District.”
Like I cared. Teagen wasn’t going back there, and we were always going to remove the protection anyway.
“That’s not new,” I said.
“If you do this,” Derek said, “you can’t come back.”
I lifted my chin. “Wasn’t planning on it.”
Derek’s eyes shifted to Wil’s, and Wil raised his brows slightly, acknowledging some sort of non-verbal exchange.
Derek lowered his gun, then Wil did the same. I followed the action too.
“Go,” Derek said. “We’ll figure it out with Muro.”
I studied them for a second, trying to figure out why they were helping me. It was because we were brothers; that’s what family did for each other. Then I realized another truth, that by doing this, even if I was left alive, I was forsaking the Adlers. Which solely left Derek the position of leader.
Being the next leader was the future my mother wanted for me. But this, a life where Teagen was alive?Thatwas a future I wanted for myself.
I got out of the car and they unlocked the back doors. I pulled off the hood from Teagen’s head and carried her out, her arms still cuffed in her lap. Once I kicked the doors shut, they drove off, down the same path as before. I unlocked Teagen’s cuffs, and she opened her mouth to question me, but I held up a hand to stop her. I couldn’t explain what was going on. Not until I had figured out where we’d go next.
I dialed Axe, and he answered on the second ring but didn’t say a word. “Listen,” I said finally. “I need you to pick me up. I’ve got Teagen with me.”
“Wil told me,” Axe said. Then he hung up.
Within two minutes, another white cargo van pulled to the side of the road. Axe’s van, though, contained a metal cage grating between the driver and the cargo, with only the driver’s seat and one passenger seat in the front. After I told Axe to take us to the airport, I opted to sit in the back with Oliver and Teagen.
“Dad!” Teagen squealed. She threw her arms around him. Silent tears ran down his face. His hands were still cuffed behind his back. His face was puffy, though not as swollen as before. Most of the fingers on his right hand were gone, only the thumb was left. Axe had begun working on the other hand too.
“Tea,” Oliver whimpered. “I’m so glad you’re safe.”
I wanted to punch the asshole right then. She would have never been caught if it weren’t for his mistakes.
“What did they do to you?” Teagen asked.
“Oh, this?” he smirked. “Most of this was your boy.”
