Page 61 of Declan's Dove

“Fuck.” Declan drops his face into his hands. “I’m not going to like any of this, am I?”

“No. I’m afraid not.” I tell him truthfully. “James heard me in the hallway, but he didn’t alert the other two men. I didn’t know Vincenzo personally at the time, but I knew their plan, and that was enough to send James over the edge. After the two men left, James took a belt to my back and whipped me several times.”

I’m suddenly lifted off Declan’s lap, spun around and laid across his knees as he rips the back of my t-shirt up to my neck, baring my entire backside to him.

“Declan!” My feet are flailing, my face and neck are heated with embarrassment, as his hand gently caresses my body from my bare ass to my shoulders. “I’m all right. The scars are barely there anymore. Mili helped treat them so they would fade.”

“He’s a dead man. When I find him—and I will—he’s as good as fucking dead.” Declan pulls my shirt back down, covering my now heated, and weirdly enough, aroused body. He spins me back around, straddling his lap, as he cups my face with his hands. “Never again. You got me, Violet? He will never touch you again.” His eyes are full of rage and promise, and something deep inside makes me believe him. Declan O’Malley is a man of his word.

“Let me finish. Please.” Declan nods, and his hands travel down to my shoulders, holding me as if he thinks I’ll jump up and run. “Carter heard the noise of James’s belt and the muffled sounds of my screaming. He came running into the room to try to help me. When he reached for my hand to pull me off the bed, James grabbed Carter by the arm and wrenched his wrist hard. I was certain he had broken it by the way Carter collapsed on the ground.” Declan reaches up, wiping away my tears with the back of his hand. “I panicked and jumped between them, drawing James’s focus back to me. He became enraged, and I took everything he had to dish out, giving Carter a chance to run and hide.”

Deep breaths. We’re almost there.

“I took Carter to the Emergency room early the next day. I had to wait until I was medicated enough to walk somewhat normal and at least appear to be a functional person. Mili was the doctor on shift. Without my saying a word, she knew I'd been beaten. She didn’t judge me or call me out for lying about Carter’s injury. She had heard of my husband and agreed not to report the incident to anyone without my consent.”

“She knew your husband had a history of abuse, and she didn’t report it to anyone? What the actual fuck?”

“I said she didn’t report it to the local agencies.” I wait until his eyes meet mine to continue. “She told Kayce. Mili was the one who got me in touch with Kayce, and Kayce helped Carter and I escape.”

“A few days later, I met Mili at the clinic while Carter was in school. She took me into a private room where Kayce and one of his men were waiting for me. Kayce explained what I would need to do for him to help get me and Carter out of Baron’s Edge safely. He talked about getting us new identities and a new home in a place where we could have a new start, free of James. He had a plan that would make it appear as if we had died in an accident, so no one would come looking for us.”

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

Declan

“So, Kayce burned your house down?” I can’t stop shaking my head. “How did anyone believe you were dead if there weren’t any bodies found?”

Ice cold rage is running beneath the surface of my skin, but I can’t let Violet feel it. She’s had enough anger and violence to last ten lifetimes. I won’t subject her to mine, too. But I have so many unanswered questions. I have to let her tell me the rest. Then, then I’ll start planning my revenge.

“They did find two bodies. A woman and a child. I didn’t ask Kayce how he came upon the bodies, but he assured me they were long since dead before he placed them in my home and burned it down.”

“And Parisi?” I already know I don’t want this answer, but I need to know everything. If she still owes him a debt, I’ll go to him myself and set shit right. But I need to know how he plays into this equation. “Why did you go to him when your friend was in trouble? Why didn’t you come to me?”

“I-I … Vincenzo has been a friend since I left James.”

“What kind of friend?”

God help me if he was making a play for my woman because shit is going to go sideways in a fucking hurry. I’ll have to call Pres and tell him to come take my cut because it would end in a fucking blood bath and that’s a war the club isn’t prepared to take on.

“Vincenzo gave me a job and a place for me and Carter to stay off the radar when we first arrived.” Violet squeezes her eyes shut, and I feel my heart squeeze with the same intensity inside my chest. “I helped him with something, and he returned the favor. I figured it would be the same this time. Mili needed my help, and Vincenzo was the one who had the means to get me to her quickly and get her medical help without alerting the cops that we were there.”

“I can see where Parisi helped you.” I lift her chin and wait until her eyes meet mine. “What favor did you do for him?”

“I stole the gun and a small bag of cocaine that James had hidden with Vincenzo’s fingerprints on them. He was going to plant them at the harbor and have Vincenzo arrested,” she says, her eyes welling with tears again. “James was going to use it to blackmail Vincenzo. I was going to use it to do the same, but not for the same reasons. I wouldn’t have used it against him. I gave it to Vincenzo in exchange for his help and protection for myself and Carter.”

“And what do you owe him for rescuing your friend?” Try as I may, I can’t keep the edge out of my voice. I am so fucking pissed at Violet right now. How could she go to someone like Vincenzo Parisi for help? He’s a fucking mobster, for Christ’s sake.

“I had to set up a meeting with him and Kayce.”

“That’s all?” I’m not convinced. Parisi is a smart, shrewd negotiator. He wouldn’t do something so dangerous, knowing he could easily go to jail if he was found with a woman who is supposed to be dead. Not to mention the wife of a cop. Not unless there was a payoff for him in the end.

“It’s all he’s asked for so far.”

I grunt in response because I don’t know what else I can say to that without scaring her.

“You should’ve come to me, Dove.” My voice is still tight, and I’m trying to rein my shit in, but fuck. “When shit goes sideways. When something scares you or Carter. When you feel the need to run. You. Come. To. Me. I’m your man. I’ll take care of you. Protecting you is my job now. You got me?” I grip her face in both hands, placing my forehead against hers. “Tell me you understand, baby. I need to hear you say you understand. That you’ll come to me if you’re ever in trouble again.”

“I will. I promise.”

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