Keep Her From Harm(17)

"You don't need to promise me anything, Damian. I know you mean everything you say."

"How are you handling all this?" he asked. "You must have questions."

"I'm doing fine. You shouldn't worry so much about me. Yes, I've been  through a lot, but so has everyone else." She smiled. "This is all  surreal to me. You love me, and I can see it. The way you look at me,  how you helped me."

"Even if I you weren't mine, I wouldn't have stood by and watched you be  hurt. I saw the fear in your eyes and the disgust. I would have helped  you, Mia."

"You're a dream come true." He saw her eyes glisten even as the tears  didn't fall. "My mom was addicted to drugs, and many nights I would lie  awake listening to the men grunting as she fucked them for money to get  her next fix. Some of the men would slap her around all the time. I  would lie in my bed, or sit on the stairs outside of our apartment, and I  would pretend that somewhere out there was someone looking for me, that  one day they were going to love me more than anything else in the  world, and I would spend days just hoping that when I found him, it  would be something I always hoped for." She stroked his cheek. "I may  not have the same feelings as you with the intensity that you felt when  you saw me, but all my life I've been hoping for someone like you.  You're my dream come true, Damian." With that, she pressed her lips  against his.

"You're the bravest woman I know."

She smiled. "I'm not. I'm just a survivor."

"And that is what makes you brave. Everything you've described, it  sounds like a complete nightmare to me at times. My father, he was a  hard ass, but he loved us. I knew deep down that he did, even as he  taught us hard lessons in life." Just thinking about his father reminded  him that he had to get them back. Rick hadn't wanted to rest but he  also saw that there was only so much they could do within one day of  getting out, and Rick wanted his message to reach its target.

"What's wrong?" Mia asked. "You disappeared there."

"I'm just thinking about my father and brothers locked up there, and Uncle Stuart."

"Do you think you'll get them out?"

"Yeah, we have to." There was no way his uncle was going to take over  and run the Denton family business. His father told him that if needed  they would have to hold Rick back from being put in jail. He was a law  unto himself, and would likely cause more damage to his own reputation  before this was over.

Becoming a doctor hadn't tempered the monster inside him. Only his wife  Mandy had. Mia closed her eyes and began to yawn. "I'm so sorry. I feel  so sleepy."

"Then get some sleep, baby. You don't have to worry about a thing." He  pressed another kiss to her head, and watched as she started to fall  asleep. It wasn't long before she passed out, and sleep took her. For  several minutes he watched her, loving the peace that washed over him.  Spending time away from her was an agony he couldn't begin to describe.  Abel, Jacob, and Oliver had all felt the same way, and he wondered if  this was the same feeling Landon felt.

It was crazy. When sleep wasn't easy to come by, he made his way out of  his childhood bedroom, which had changed over the years. There were no  large posters of movies he loved or even calendars of naked girls. He'd  been a classic teenager, and his bedroom had gone through many  transformations.                       
       
           



       

Leaving the bedroom, he made his way downstairs, and found light coming  from his father's study. For the first time in his life, he actually  missed his father, and knew jail wasn't the place for him.

Entering the office, he saw Rick still up and still working. His mother,  Charlotte, was passed out on the sofa with a blanket thrown over her.

"Couldn't sleep?"

"No. There's a lot of shit to do."

"I'd be spending time with my woman right about now, and believe me that  is where I would want to be, but as it happens, I'm cleaning up after  my brothers' mess." Rick continued to type even as he spoke.

Damian frowned, wondering what he'd seen, or even what he was doing. Before he could say something, Rick started talking.

"You know we Dentons have a reputation for sticking together. No matter  what happens, we are united as one. It doesn't matter if we're hit, we  will band together. You try to take on one, you take us all on. We've  always been a big family, and one day soon I hope to add to the fold,  but right now there's no way in hell of me sharing my woman. I'm a  self-centered prick. I don't deny that. Thankfully, I've got a few years  before I'm sterile I imagine." Finally, Rick looked up at him, and  typing ceased. "This person you got, Lewis, he is good. Anyway, back to  what I was saying. Oh yeah, that's right. Family, unity, love, and all  that fucking shit. Your father fucked up when he screwed the Colton  whore. It wasn't supposed to end up with a kid, but you know what? We  got Gabriel, and you got Wyatt and Owen mixed in with all of this.  They're good men. I can see that, and your father can see that. The  problem you've got is as a family, this little hiccup caused this."

"No, it didn't."

Rick slammed his hand on the desk, waking Charlotte up. "It did, and you  don't for a second interrupt me, boy. That's what you are. You're a  fucking child, and so are all of your brothers, and to a point so is  mine. They didn't tell you to get your head out of your fucking asses  and deal with the problem. You treated this entire situation like a  bunch of girls, and guess what? It's come to bite you in the ass."

"I think that is quite enough, Rick."

"With all due respect, Charlotte, shut the fuck up. I don't want to hear  your shit because my brother screwed a woman before he even met you.  Get over it. So what? Gabriel is alive, and you've got an extra couple  of sons and daughters to pamper. They took their eye off the ball, which  at this present time has cost a great deal of people their lives. Not  just those two women at the warehouse. There have been two cops that in  the past hour have died. Don't worry, I've already got our lawyer onto  it to help the family. It's the least I can do. You want to know what I  do, Damian? I clean shit up. That's what I do. It's what I've always  done. When I left, it was because there was nothing to clean up. Maddox  and Stuart had a handle on everything. Instead everything turns to shit  in a matter of months. He fucked a Colton and Gabriel's here. Get over  it. I have. He's my brand-new nephew. Grow some fucking balls. If you  don't, say goodbye to this life, and to that woman you've got upstairs  because this doesn't come easy." Rick shook his head. "I never should  have gone."

"Why did you go?"

"Maddox and Stuart sent him away," Charlotte said, finally speaking up.  "They couldn't keep up with the never-ending pile of dead bodies, and  the cops demanding to speak to Rick at every turn. Discovering Mandy,  and her getting a job in England, your father and uncle thought it would  do him good."

"Charlotte, you need to leave," Rick said.

Damian was shocked when his mother just turned away, and left. "You can't order my mom around in her own home."

"I can when what I'm about to show you would hurt her." Rick spun the  laptop he'd been typing away, and Damian took a step forward. "Like I  said, Lewis is brilliant."

The laptop was showing the torture of the two girls, not only that, but  it was also showing Ivan Smith and another guy dumping the body. Rick  pointed at the screen. "That ugly fucker is Westbrook. Who is the guy  with him?"

"Ivan Smith. You just beat the shit out of one of his guys."

"He's the one you want to kill?" Rick asked.

"Yeah, I do."

"Great. We're all on the same side. I've sent this to the lawyer, and  he's working on getting our family released. Until then, go and get some  sleep."                       
       
           



       

"You're not going to go after them right away?" Damian asked.

"Nope. We're going to make it a family affair."

****

Mia put Martha and Reese down for the early morning nap. She looked at  her son, and smiled down at his beautiful face with his chubby cheeks.  The moment she had seen him, she knew without a doubt that she would do  everything to take care of him, to love him.

Next, she moved to Martha. The young girl was a dream to take care of.  Rarely did she cry, and she was always smiling and giggling. Again, Mia  had grown to love the little girl with her dark curls and shocking green  eyes. Without a doubt Martha was going to be a heartbreaker.