****
Three weeks later
Damian didn't go looking for the rumors. Gabriel asked him to wait, and that his brothers were onto something. Instead, Damian focused on Ivan, and being around Mia. He didn't want to leave her behind, and he found any excuse to make it back home every day, early. At night, he would spend hours watching her sleep. He'd always been a light sleeper, and he'd never needed more than a couple of hours to get him through. Since meeting Mia he hadn't touched a drop of alcohol, and he'd been able to get his shit together. The guilt was still there over Betty, and he doubted it would ever go away. He didn't love the woman, but he felt responsible for her. Uncle Stuart tried to help him, but like he told him, the woman he hurt was still alive. Betty had taken her life. Harper also visited often. He'd noticed that Lou, Harper, Ruby, and his mother came to the apartment spending time with Mia. They were helping him win her over. He loved being around Mia, just taking time to get to know her. Whenever she was in the kitchen she was always going through the cookbooks she had open, and she'd suck in the corner of her lip.
When they were sitting together watching television he found himself looking at her rather than the big screen. For the first time in his life, he knew what real happiness was. He didn't need the sex, or anything else. Just being near her was enough.
At home was when he was at peace. Work, however, was nonstop. His father kept him busy with Denton business. A couple of their girls had gone missing from their brothels, and he'd been put in charge of finding them. The two girls didn't have any family, and it made searching for them a difficult process. He had several of their guys looking into last known sightings in the police force, but so far, nada.
His gut was telling him something bad was going to happen, and it was linked to the divide that had been noticed in the Dentons. Even Damian had seen it. Landon was back, and instead of the brothers working together as they had been known to do, many of them, himself included, had chosen to work alone.
Damian was leaving one of the strip clubs that they owned when he got a call. He saw it was Gabriel.
"What's up?"
"I found those two girls, and you're not going to like it."
"They're dead, aren't they?" he asked.
"Yep, and they've, erm, it's not pretty, not by a long shot. These girls, they've been tortured for days. You need to head out to the warehouse at the docks. I've called the others. They need to see this shit."
"I'm heading there now." He climbed into his car, setting up the voice speaker so he could drive and talk. "Do you have any other news?"
"Yeah, a lot you're not going to like. Do you remember Bruce? The friendly little soldier who worked for the Coltons and Dentons?"
"The fucker that died a few months back. Of course." Bruce had been his mother's bodyguard until they had all learned the truth of his treachery. He'd died, and good riddance to the piece of shit. However, he had warned them within seconds of his death that there would be others. Being a Denton, you always had enemies. It didn't matter where they went. There was always someone wanting to rise up, to prove their worth.
"Well I think we've got someone who is willing to take us on to take what rightfully belongs to us," Gabriel said. "I'll see you when you get here."
The call disconnected. Whatever was waiting for him at the warehouse docks, he wasn't going to like. Damian had forgotten how fucked up his life had become since he'd come of age. Spending his time in the bottom of a bottle had numbed him to everything.
Since the moment he had proved himself, he'd been working for his father, fighting for his cause. He wasn't the oldest Denton, but he also wasn't one to ignore either. Many had thought they knew him, but he'd always had the upper hand.
His cell phone started to ring again, and he saw it was Mia.
"Hey, babe, what's up?" he asked.
"Babe?"
He chuckled. "Trying something new. You know me."
"I do, and I've come to realize that you are very strange. I was just letting you know that I'm taking Martha and Reese out for a walk in case I'm not back."
Damian glanced at the timer and saw it was a little after two. He tried to be home by three, or four at the latest. "I'm going to be late tonight. Take one of the guys on the door with you please. It's for your protection."
He heard her sigh. "I don't like having people follow me."
"It has been a month, and so far Ivan's made no move to try and take you. I'm not going to give him that chance. Especially if he thinks I'm being sloppy in your protection detail. Please, do it for me."
"Fine, fine. See you later, Damian."
"You certainly will. Take care."
"You, too."
She hung up the phone, and he found himself smiling. He loved her. There was no way to describe his feelings for her, only that it was strong, and he couldn't help it. She consumed every part of him, and calmed him in ways nothing ever had.
He loved hearing her talk. She was an amazing mother, and she cared for both of their kids. For short times, he could pretend they were a normal couple.
It was stupid, but he had grown used to pretending in a lot of things.
Parking at the warehouse, he saw several cars parked up, and it was just another sign of the divide among his brothers. None of them were backing each other. There was a higher risk of one of them screwing up and getting hurt, which made him sick to his stomach.
Climbing out of the car, he saw Gideon waiting.
"Are you ready for this?" Gideon was older than Damian by five years.
"Are you trying to baby me?" he asked. His older brothers were always protective of him, just like he felt the same for Landon and Tamsin. Gideon still hadn't found the woman destined for him. Age didn't determine when they found their woman. Landon had found his even before Damian had.
"I'm trying to prepare you. It's not pretty, and it has even screwed with my stomach."
Damian paused and looked at his brother. They had all seen some sick shit in their time.
He closed his eyes, knowing he shouldn't enter that fucking room, but also that he didn't have a choice. Letting a breath, he nodded. "I'm ready."
"No one is every fucking ready for this shit."
Gideon followed in behind him. The first he got was the scent of death, of decay, and he covered his nose. Then he saw Gabriel with his back turned to the sight, and finally, Damian saw what had all the men looking disgusted. On a dirty mattress were the two women, and the only way he knew was because there was a picture of the two women on either side of the mattress. The faces were unrecognizable. The bodies were naked, and they had been ruined. Their breasts had been cut off and patched together, but they had been dead some time. The stench was rotten. Their legs had been splayed open, and their bits cut off. The women had been beaten, cut, hurt, every manner of torture imaginable.
Damian got close and saw the initial W carved into their stomachs. "What the fuck is that?"
"It's Westbrook," Gabriel said. "My father had some dealings with him years ago, but that is the symbol, and he does it as his calling card."
Gabriel was pale.
"I've heard of Westbrook," Maddox said. "He's a petty criminal."
"No, he was a petty criminal. About a year ago he approached me and my brothers. He wanted to recruit us. Anyone connected to my father, Colton, he wanted on his team. I didn't think much of it. Said he was building forces, that there was something that he wanted, and because they were so consumed, they'd never see him coming." Gabriel frowned, looking at the women. "We're all divided. Your rule has been law for so long, but that doesn't mean that there are people out there that want to take your place. Jacob and Abel have families now. The news of who I am was divisive, and the Dentons have always been strong together, where there haven't been any areas of weakness. You've worked as a family, fought together, and in the past few months, that hasn't been the case. When you show weakness, there is always someone willing to take your place. To fight dirty to get it."
"Nah, this doesn't have fuck all to do with being divided. This is a pile of shit. Westbrook has been building this for years, but how?" Gideon asked, and then burst out laughing. "By drawing in the small townies. That's how. Think about it, he can't take the city, but we have fuck all to do with the townies. We supply to them."