Page 63 of Unchained
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
I held my hands by my side, the gun still in my back waistband. I watched my son who looked up at me, wonder in his eyes. He had no clue who I was, but someday he would. He was a large part of the reason I had come back. I could never walk out on a child.
“You didn’t really think I would allow you to walk out of here, did you?” Veronica asked. “Especially with my own child. How many chances have I given you?”
“I’m taking them both,” Suzanne said to Veronica. “You’ve done nothing but lie to me for years. I’m nothing but another piece of meat you used, no different than all the others. I need to have my family.”
Veronica shifted her gun from me to Suzanne. “You won’t take the kids I raised.”
Suzanne’s face turned red. “You raised? Are you fucking kidding me? You spent all your time traveling between here and Miami. Doing what, Veronica? My husband is alive!”
I started forward, and the guard raised his AK47 at my chest. “Keep your spot, asshole. Though I would love to have a reason to put a bullet in your head.”
“First chance I get, you’re fucking dead,” I replied. “I know what you did to Chrissy. You need your ass kicked for treating a woman like that.” I pointed at Veronica. “You need to let my wife and kids go. I don’t give a fuck what we agreed on.”
“Alana stays with me,” Veronica insisted. “Or nobody leaves, including you, Deacon. You just had to keep pushing. You couldn’t just walk away from it all and return to Miami.” She then looked at Suzanne. “I fucking gave you everything, and this is how you treat me?”
“What did you give me? Lies? You fucked my husband, didn’t you?”
“Doesn’t matter now. I don’t want either of you, and you’re both free to leave. But Alana stays.”
“I’m not leaving without both my kids,” Suzanne said slowly as if she were talking to a lip reader. “They aren’t safe with you.”
Veronica cocked the gun. “Nobody walks away from me.”
“Stop, Veronica,” Stephanie said and joined me. The two women glared at each other. I thought Stephanie felt responsible for Chrissy’s death, but there was nothing she could have done. It was becoming evident that when Veronica had her claws into you, it was hard to leave.
“Well, isn’t this sweet. Give her a little bit of your dick, and she’s brainwashed. You should have been punished after what you did in the car. But you never could follow orders, you worthless cunt.”
“Let them go,” Stephanie said and took a step forward. “You have hundreds of people at your beck and call. Why do they matter? You know you have other kids. You don’t even take care of them.”
“That’s not true, you little whore.”
“Stephanie, don’t,” I said, seeing the way the guard was looking at her. If he killed Chrissy, he sure as hell wouldn’t have any issues killing Stephanie. “Just back away and let me handle this.”
“It’s okay, Deacon. They won’t shoot me in front of the kids. Suzanne, hand me Alana.” Stephanie took another step, and Veronica shot her in the chest.
“No!” I rushed to Stephanie, but she was dead as soon as the bullet pierced her heart.
Deek screamed and started crying. Alana, seeing Deek upset, started crying as well.
I heard the rustling in the trees and then felt the five women standing next to me. Veronica was acting just crazy enough to shoot us all.
“You need to stop, Veronica,” Juliana said. “Lower your gun, and let’s talk about this.”
“You fuck him once, and now you’re on his side?” She looked at each of them. “This is how to repay me for everything I’ve done for you?”
“No. I’m on the side of these children. Let them go.” Juliana took a step forward, but I grabbed her arm.
“Don’t, Juliana. I don’t want to see anyone else die.”
“Veronica,” Maria said. “Let them go, and the rest of us will go back into the house with you and talk this through. You know we care about you. All we want is for things to return to normal. You don’t have to do this.”
“I’m not giving up Alana.” Veronica reached for the Alana, but Alana jerked away. “You’ve all turned her against me. My own child.” Tears streamed down Veronica’s face. She was becoming a hot mess, and her trigger finger was bouncing all over the place.
“You fucking killed Stephanie. You’ll be wanted for murder. You going to shoot all of us?” Eloa took a step forward, and then the other ladies followed. It was a mass mutiny on the Veronica ship.
“I will shoot the first person to touch my child.” Veronica wiped her tears and then pointed the gun at me. “This is all your fault. First, my father and now my daughter.”
