"Not a chance. No way. You're not going to do something that stupid. Do you realize how dangerous that is!?" "Theo," Damien says, trying to reason with her. "I don't have a choice. We're running out of time and I need to act quickly. Keep in mind that she was in a fucking car crash earlier today. Could you do that for me?" "There has to be a better way," she argues. "How do you know Felix won't kill both of you? Who says he's a man of his word? Because that's the only guarantee we have. His word." "He's an animal," Ethan adds. "There's no humanity there. You've heard of him, we all have. He's probably fuming because you killed his brother. And his father, let's not forget that." Damien is aware of all this. He rarely acts rashly. But time is of the essence, and if he keeps delaying this, he'll lose her forever. He's come too far for that to happen. He'd rather risk dying than risk losing her. Gary clears his throat and says, "The men have received the payment. Tracking them d
I turn to Felix, or Richie, whatever his fucking name is. How can this be? I saw him dead. He was lying on the floor of the apartment with a gunshot wound on his forehead. I didn't look for too long, but I know what I saw.He's using a cane. The first thing I notice about him is his limp, then his shaved head. There's a white bandage around it. The left side of his face is drooping, and there's a scar on his forehead where the bullet hit. It's ghastly. No, why am I focusing on these things? He's alive, that's what I should be worrying about. He isn't dead. How can this be? I saw him die. I saw him."No," I shake my head vigorously. "This is some sick joke. No, you're dead. You're fucking dead!""You put far too much faith on that man," Felix says, completely ignoring my outburst. "He can't even shoot straight. Miraculous, isn't it? Do you know how many people survive a gunshot to the head? Five percent. Five fucking percent. And our father, he's one of the lucky ones."Lucky ones. I g
I thought this moment would never come. I heard everything that was said, but I had hopes that something would change. It's unlikely that Felix would change his mind that, by some miracle, he'd let me go. But anything could've gone wrong. However, that hasn't happened. All my hopes and dreams have shattered. "Make sure he's alone," Felix says to two men. "Pat him down to see if he's got any weapons. Then, bring him to me." They walk out of the room and the door shuts forcefully behind them. I can't breathe. I'm lightheaded. I think I'll faint again. But I can't do that. I have to see. I have to be strong now, even if it's only for a little while. Felix is rubbing his palms together. I can tell by the expression in his face that he's surprised. He sounded confident, but I don't think he was, which explains why he was tearing the place down like some kind of unruly child. The seconds just tick by. My hands are shaking. Why are they taking so long? Is something happening? Felix does
I crack my eye open.I'm in a light room. Hospital. I've been in one too many times already. I know. I cast a glance around the room and see Damien sitting on an upholstered chair in the corner. The first thing I notice about him is how bruised his knuckles are, so I assume that Felix Baldwyn is in the past. He's no longer among the living.What a relief.He notices that I'm awake and stands. He grabs my hand, the one that isn't covered in bandages. He kisses the top of it. "How are you feeling?""Better," I admit. I feel a lot stronger, and I'm not light-headed. I also don't feel any pain at the moment. I don't remember getting here, though. I passed out in the car and hadn't woken up since. "How long have you been sitting there?""Not too long," he says, but I can tell that he's lying. "I spoke to the doctor. He said you have a bad sprain, your wrist isn't broken. There was no sign of internal bleeding, either, but you'll have to rest for a few days."I nod. I'm relieved that nothin
Devon knocks on Sam's door.It's a little too early to be paying him a visit, but he has nowhere else to go. He needs a place to stay, he can't go back to his apartment and he doesn't feel like going back to the hospital just yet. He's still enraged by the conversation he had with Keller. Who does that arrogant bastard think he is? Fuck him. Devon will be sure to carry a weapon with him at all times. When he looks over his shoulder and sees him, he'll shoot first. Fucker.Sam opens the door in his robe. He's rubbing his eyes. "What the hell are you doing here?"Devon makes his way inside without an invitation. "I need a place to stay for a few hours. I'll leave at daybreak.""That's not what I meant," he says. "Why are you not in the hospital? Were you discharged?""I don't like to be told what to do, I thought you knew that.""This isn't a joke," he says firmly, not appreciating his carelessness. "You're in no state to be wandering the streets. Look at yourself. You look a lot worse
Damien gives everyone around the table a black look.He didn't imagine himself in this position. He didn't need this unnecessary shit. He should've been discussing possible strategies to end this blood feud with them, not this. To make matters worse? None of them will meet his gaze. That's how he knows someone fucked up royally. One of them is guilty.One of them is lying.Ethan is the first to speak. "Don't fucking look at me like that. I didn't drown that stupid bitch, alright?"He waits for Theo's answer. There's more probability that she did this and not Ethan. She was the one who suggested that she take care of Elizabeth, and he knows her too well. He knows she's hiding something. She glances at him briefly, then sighs. "I didn't do anything, either.""Come on," Ethan says. "You sound as guilty as you look."That seems to infuriate her. "And you don't? You were agitated and impatient. You wanted to go someplace eagerly, and only after Damien left!""Not to kill Elizabeth!" he exc
It's been three days.I'll be discharged today. I'm so glad that I'll be out of this room. I couldn't stand it. These past days have been torturous; firstly, I've been having recurrent nightmares of Ferdinand. Every time I close my eyes, he's all I see. I think I underestimated how much living with him affected me mentally. I only knew him for a handful of weeks. It's crazy.I'm afraid. I'm constantly in fear. I couldn't relax because I'd keep imagining him walking through those doors. Every time the door opened, my heart would sink, but it always ended up being just a nurse or the doctor. I kept convincing myself that he wouldn't be able to find me, but the irrational part of me spoke much louder.I didn't realize until now that I'm absolutely terrified of him.I was just trying to get away from him and keep my mother safe, I didn't know at the time what it would cost me. Out of everything that happened to me these past couple of weeks, finding out that he's alive affected me the mos
Damien walks out of the conference room.He's grinding his teeth together. He's never felt this humiliated in all his life, even though the meeting went well. He was given a formal apology, which all sounded like bullshit to him, and they offered him their allegiance. They're willing to stand with him against the Consuelos family and put the past behind them. That's the issue, his only issue. How can he forget?They were conspiring against him. His father founded the council, yet not a single man there showed any respect for that when Eduardo was alive and telling them what to do. There's still about half of them who are siding with the Browns, but they're in no way important. It'd be easy to defeat them and when they lose this war, they'll be forced to relinquish all their assets to them. That's the price the loser has to pay. That's what Damien had been trying to avoid all these months.It killed him to sit there and accept their apology. He wanted nothing more than to shoot every s