“If she doesn’t mention it, I don’t want her to know,” I say.
“I agree,” Brent says.
“Okay, but… why not?” Raul asks.
“She doesn’t need to know how close we were to losing her,” Brent says. “She won’t handle it well, and she is too close to the edge as it is.”
“She’s sweet,” Derek says. “Through all my years of watching her, it always amazed me that she was so kind despite the awful shit Edward put her through.”
“You know?” Brent snaps.
“Believe me when I say that she was better off with Edward than my father,” Derek says. “I have personally witnessed him stab my high school girlfriend in the belly and fuck the hole until she died. He is a monster who makes Edward look like a priest.”
“Your girlfriend?” I ask. “Jesus.”
“Yeah,” he says. “The condom broke and she got pregnant. I said it was up to her if she kept the baby, and she basically told Dad to go fuck himself. So he fucked her to death… That’s the day I saw him for who he really is. I’ve never hated anyone more, but I can’t be the one to take him down. I’ll never manage to do it alone.”
“But you will with help,” I remark. “I appreciate you keeping an eye on her all these years.”
“It was hard to watch her go through all of that, but she became something like my little sister. I did everything to make Dad wait to take her. It worked until he caught wind of her being in surgery. One of the OR nurses is dating one of Dad’s guards. She called and told him. I think she was the one who let his men come in and get her when she was moved into a room alone.”
“Yeah. I bet that’s the bitch Hammel fired,” Brent says.
“Oh, she’s dead,” Derek says. “Dad shot her. She’s probably in the river by now.”
“Good,” I say. “My first priority is and always will be Alania, but we need a plan.”
“Well… Do you trust me to keep her safe?” Derek asks. I narrow my eyes at him, and he continues. “The only way to get him alone is for him to think he is coming over to fuck her. I can just say that I am moving her to our private island. He has too much shit here to go as well, so he’d definitely make time to fuck her if he thought I was moving her away.”
“Have him meet you at the airport,” I say. “I have a jet there that is under a shell company. Just get him in the jet and I’ll handle the rest.”
“You’ve got it. When?” Derek asks.
“Tomorrow evening. She should be rested enough to manage at least a little,” I say. “She just needs to be there. I don’t want her up and moving around. I’ll tie her little ass to a seat if she tries anything.”
“Dad doesn’t have the slightest clue how much I hate him and what I would do to keep that woman safe from him. I’ve always known Dad wanted me to marry her, but I was obsessed with the idea of keeping her safe. When I found out he had sex with her when she was so young… Fuck, I was so angry. He bragged and bragged about how he got to break her in for me, or whatever. I started keeping tabs on her over the years. I scared off theassholes who would hit on her. Kept her as safe as I could… Edward is a sick fucking monster… but I couldn’t save her from it. I had to pick my battles and the lesser of two evils. When she went to the finishing school, I knew she’d be safe with you attending.”
“How so?” I ask.
“Oh, because you can’t resist a brat. Everyone knows that,” Derek laughs. “We all saw you at The Void.”
“When things settle, I might see if Alania wants to go there. Impact play seems to be an escape for her. Anything to get her mind to shut down temporarily puts her in a better place,” I say. “She’s been through so much…”
“But you three are the peace in her life that she needs,” Derek says. “All wounds heal. She just needs time.”
“Time,” I parrot.
Chapter Forty One
Alania
I slept until aboutnoon today, and then Adrian made me walk around for a while. He is the nicest drill sergeant but also the hottest. If I am up for it, the plan is to kill Vlad tonight. I don’t know how to feel, but I do know that I will be safe. I recognize Derek, but apparently he’s been watching over me for a while. Like a guardian angel in a way, only more violent.
I am standing at the kitchen island, taking small sips of water. I just took my medicine, which consists of strong antibiotics and pain medicine. I didn’t want any kind of medication that was potentially addictive, but I have always handled pain well.
I sense that someone is behind me, and I assume it is one of the guys until I turn and it’s Derek. “Shit!” I gasp.
“You look better,” he says. “How are you feeling?”
