Keep Her From Harm(7)

Maddox arrived in the kitchen then, and Damian watched as his mother  seemed to withdraw. Over the years his parents had argued and fought a  lot, but this was different, it felt different even to him. He watched  his father look at Charlotte, the longing and pain on his face clear to  see. Still, he went and made himself some coffee without saying a word.

"I'm going to take Mia and the kids over to my place, and then I'll meet everyone at the casino for work."

"I'm heading to England," Landon said. "Already got my ticket booked,  and as much as I want to be here for whatever crap is about to unfold,  I'm sure Tamsin will keep me updated via video chat."

"You betcha, brother," Tamsin said, high-fiving her brother.

"I'll drive you," Maddox said.

"You've got work. I'll be driving him. Everything is arranged with Rick.  He'll be picking him up from the airport in England, and taking him  back home. You'll say hi to Sarah for us."

"Yeah, I will."

Sarah was the girl that Landon believed would be his. For the longest  time Damian had thought that the curse didn't activate until both  parties were the right age, but Landon had told them all that he'd felt  it. The moment he saw the little English girl, he'd known she was  supposed to be his. There was only a two-year age difference, so maybe  the curse or legacy worked whenever it felt the person was ready.

His mother handed him a set of keys, and helped with Martha and Reese.  Mia sat in the back, in the middle between the two children, and he  turned toward his mother.

"You going to be mad at him forever?" he asked.

Charlotte smiled. "No, I won't be."

"He wasn't even with you."

"I know. It's crazy, but you need to be a woman to understand this. I  love your father. Always have and always will. We have a very difficult  relationship is all. Things get said that you are not always privy to."

"What do you mean?"

"Let's just say your father and I had an argument, and I've said some  things that I'm not proud of, and when you're in a relationship as long  as we've been, you'll understand." She patted his arm, cupped his face,  and kissed both of his cheeks. "Now, don't be a stranger. Don't do  anything reckless or dangerous, and be here for Sunday lunch. I'm having  all the family, apart from Landon, but you get my drift."                       
       
           



       

"All the Coltons as well?" he asked.

"You really need to get over your hate of them, honey. They're here to stay, and so is Gabriel. He doesn't deserve your anger."

"You know he's destined to take over from Jacob?" Damian asked. "I'm not taking orders from that prick."

"Language. You really don't give him a whole lot of credit."

"I've seen the crap that they can do firsthand."

"It wasn't him, and I'm aware of the family he came from." Again, she  kissed his cheek. "Learn to forgive, and move on. Maybe then you'll find  that peace you're looking for."

He took a deep breath, knowing in his heart of hearts that his mother, damn her, was right.

"I'm going to head out."

"Go on then. Don't let me keep you."

He climbed behind the wheel, gave a wave, and then pulled away from the house.

"I like your mother. She's nice," Mia said.

"She's had that effect on most people. You just can't help but love her."

"I can see that. She's sweet, charming, and I've only met her for a few  hours, but she was just so  …  loving. It must have been nice growing up  with her as a mother. Of course, she also has that side of her that I do  find scary."

"What about your mother?"

"Both of my parents are dead, and I don't miss them. Your life, it's like something out of a movie."

He smiled. "It's not. Believe me." There was a lot about his life that  she didn't know, and right now, she didn't need to know about it either.  "I'm taking you to my apartment. It's large, and you'll have your own  room. There's already a nursery there, but I've got to stop off and  order some nursery items, and we can get them all set up in the room."

"Okay. Is this the apartment you shared with your wife?" Mia asked.

"No. Martha's mother and I lived in different places, and I would visit  her from time to time. Also, she wasn't my wife. Betty and I, we didn't  love each other. We were friends."

"Oh, I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have said anything."

He smiled. "You can say whatever you like, angel. I don't have a problem with it." He loved listening to her talk.

"Will you have guns pulled on your often?"

The change in conversation had him frowning. "Guns?"

"Yes. Your brother, the one from another mother, last night he had a gun at your face."

"Oh, yeah, that is friendly banter." He waved his hand as if it was no big deal having a gun in his face.

"You know that's crazy, right?" she asked.

"It will probably happen a lot of the time. No need to worry about it."

She laughed. "I'll worry about it. You're my boss now, and I have to make sure I get paid."

"Very true." For the rest of the journey Damian gave her the lowdown on  payment, the health benefits, pension plan, and everything else. He  pulled it straight out of his own ass, seeing as he intended to have her  as his wife in no time, and being a Denton would give her access to a  whole lot of shit. He wasn't going to fuck up like his brothers had. The  last thing he was going to tell Mia was about this damn legacy that the  Denton men were given. Some of his uncles and brothers considered it a  curse, others a gift.

He didn't know what it meant. Only when he was with Mia, she calmed him.  Last night before he'd gone to bed, he'd opened her door, and for a few  minutes he had watched her sleep. He didn't how it was possible, but  being near her calmed him. It made him feel  …  better.

"You won't have to worry about Ivan," he said.

"Thank you. I mean that. Thank you."

Damian had seen the fear in her eyes, and she had done everything she could to mask it. Some things couldn't be hidden though.

The apartment block that he lived in had every luxury a person could  think of, an indoor gym and pool, and there was even a small shopping  mall on the ground floor and award-winning restaurant. He rarely used  any of the extra facilities. The views from his apartment, along with  the security, was why he picked it.

Parking in his bay, he climbed out of the car and took Martha in his  arms. She snuggled in against his chest, and he watched as Mia held onto  Reese. Together they walked toward the elevator. He pressed his key  card into the controller, and that would take him to his floor. There  wasn't anyone else who lived on his floor, which again was another  reason why he loved this luxury.                       
       
           



       

"This is really grand," she said.

"It's a step up from that place you were living."

"Very true. I did the best with what I had." She kissed Reese's head. "I  think that's all we always do, you know? Just do the best we can. I  wish I could give Reese a better life, a better start."

"That's going to happen now. You'll be surprised what being employed by a Denton will do for you."

The elevator doors opened, and he used his key card to open his door.  Once inside, he made sure all the locks were in place. His mother would  have made sure his apartment was in perfect shape for when he returned.  It was just who his mother was. She loved her kids.

"Wow," she said. "This is totally larger than my entire apartment."

They had only gotten to the main sitting room. He wondered if Mia even  realized for a second that her life was about to change completely.

****

Mia had never seen something so luxurious in all of her life. Reese made  a little fuss, but he soon settled into her arms. He was a good baby,  and one that did like to sleep a lot. She'd been blessed in that  department. Mary had told her of her own son who would scream all hours  of the night, and then sleep all day, and it was a vicious cycle that in  the end cost her a husband.

"So as you can see this is the main sitting room. You can pick any  channel you want, and there's no charge or anything. Again, what is mine  is yours, and all that." He moved through another door. "This is the  dining and kitchen area. I don't do a lot of cooking. Knowing my mom,  it's fully stocked for if I do feel like cooking, but I don't like it."

"I enjoy cooking." She had never been able to afford to do anything  other than noodles. Many times she had visited the library and would  look through some of the cookbooks hoping to one day be able to afford  the ingredients to cook. She was so broke at times that buying fresh  fruit and vegetables or spices had been out of the question.