Page 48 of Broken Surrender
And yet, none of this would have happened if I had sacrificed her. Given her up. Let her die. The last target would be dead, and we’d be on our way—maybe even all three of us—to a private beach of our own.
But none of this was over, and it was up to me to fix it.
I parked the car, treading up to the house. I didn’t look back. Every time I did, it led me straight into trouble, and that trouble was Milena Devin.
“Where are you going?” she asked. As if I owed her an explanation. As if she was my lover and deserved the truth.
But this could never be anything like that. Not until I killed them.
I unlocked the door, bursting into the house. “Inside,” I said. Once the taps of Lena’s footsteps joined mine, I stopped in the foyer. Three guards were visible. The estate manager opened his mouth to speak, but I raised a hand, silencing him.
“You’re welcome here,” I said to Lena. “If you need help with anything, my staff is yours. Your car will be fixed and delivered to your house. And the doctor will see you once he arrives.”
“Doctor?”
I stomped down the hallway, disappearing into my office, locking the door behind me. I could lock her in the basement with Corinne until everything was settled, but I wouldn’t let it get to that point. Because I couldn’t keep letting stuff like this happen to her. To me. It left me in a bad position. It made me weak.
So what was I supposed to do now?
The doctor entered, the estate manager taking Lena and him to one of the guest bedrooms. I went downstairs to the basement. Corinne put down her book.
“So, what was it?” she asked. “You ran off like Universal Medical Industries was burning down.”
I wanted to tell my sister what was going on, but the more I involved Corinne, the more she was at risk. And she deserved better than that.
Instead, I told her what I could.
“Lena was supposed to be a bluff,” I said. “But I couldn’t give her up.”
Corinne laughed, but when she saw I was serious, she straightened, her cheeks red. “Why not?”
How did I explain to a sixteen-year-old that if another man laid their hands on Lena, that I would have torn that man’s throat out?
“I didn’t want to give her up,” I said.
“Huh.” She slapped a hand down on her book. “You really like her, then.”
That wasn’t possible. “It’s not that.”
“Oh, come on, Desmond. I can see it in your eyes!” She hit my arm lightly. I stayed stoic and she shrank down. “It’s okay to like someone, you know. I mean, if you let me seeanyone,I’m sure I’d fall in love too.”
This wasn’t about having a crush. This was about whether I was willing to jeopardize our system to add Lena to our circle.
“Being with me puts Lena at risk,” I argued.
“Yep,” she lifted her shoulders, “She could also get into a car wreck on her way to the grocery store.”
My jaw twitched. “Or she could get jumped inside of an empty warehouse.”
Corinne gasped. “You’re not kidding, are you?”
“Why would I kid about something like that?”
“Is she okay?”
“She’s fine.” Lena was beaten up, yes, but it could have been worse.
And that was the point.
