“Alright,” he repeats.
From there, it gets hammered out like a business deal. Gage takes the lead, even though Knox is the one doing the marrying, but the big man seems fine with that, sipping his water and letting Gage do the talking.
“If your guy marries Natalie—” Julian begins.
“Knox,” Gage interrupts. “His name is Knox.”
Natalie’s lip curls, but Julian nods. “If Knox marries Natalie, then I’ll release Hannah from our marriage. I’ll divorce her so she’ll be free to do what she wants. She can go with you or move to fucking Canada for all I care. It’ll be done between us.”
“And you won’t try to take her back,” Gage adds.
“I won’t try to take her back. But our son Cody will stay with me.”
Something jolts through me when he says that, because I’d almost forgotten about the kid. The son Hannah had with Julian.
I don’t think any of the others ever saw him, and they all look to me when Julian lays down that condition, as if they want me to make the call there.
My heart pounds in my chest as I consider it.
I think about what the Maduro men have done. First Lorenzo and now Julian. Kidnapping women, young girls, and making them do their bidding. Using them like bargaining chips and ways to get what they want. Using their bodies and breaking their spirits. Hannah and I have been through hell because of them, and they’re all awful. Men who haven’t been told no enough in their lives and don’t know how to handle it when they can’t get what they want from someone.
So theytakeit. They take and take and take and leave people broken and used in the aftermath.
And now there’s another one. A little one who hasn’t done anything to anyone yet, but he’s got that blood in him. He’s one of them, and as much as he’s Hannah’s son, there’s no telling how he might turn out.
Honestly, I don’t even know if I could look at him without thinking about the line he comes from. His father and his grandfather and who the fuck knows how far back down the line. All of them were probably the same. Doing what they wanted and facing no consequences for it.
Well. Lorenzo got his in the end, and I hope one day Julian can face the same fate. It’s what he deserves. As for Cody…
I swallow hard, shoving down the sick feeling that twists in my stomach.
For so long, all I wanted was vengeance for Hannah. And now that I know she’s alive, all I want is to get her back. I did whatever it took when I was on a quest for revenge, and I’ll do whatever it takes now.
Even this.
“Fine,” I say, nodding. “You can keep him. As long as you let Hannah go.”