Page 84 of Dangerous Command
Moments later, the front door swung open and Axe aimed a gun directly at me. His eyes fell to Muro for a brief second, but the barrel never strayed from my forehead. He was ready to shoot. Waiting for his leader’s order.
“You got him?”Axe said to Derek.
“Maddie got him,” Derek said.
I wasn’t actually sure who was responsible for taking Muro’s life. I furrowed my brows at Derek to communicate that confusion, but Derek simply smiled to acknowledge that he knew what I was thinking, and that his brothers didn’t need to know any part of that. Not yet, anyway. And somehow, I wasn’t afraid anymore. Axe held a gun pointed at me, and yet I knew Derek wouldn’t let him kill me. After everything I had faced that night, power swelled inside of me, like I could finally stand on my own two feet and not live in fear.
Derek had choked Muro to death, and I had stabbed him to death. We had done it together, if nothing else. A joint effort. Like a team.
Wil came through the door with Ellie right behind him. “We finally got him, huh?”
“Wow,” Ellie said. Her eyes widened at Muro’s corpse. His cranium was now full of unrecognizable pulp, not much of his humanity left.
Demi poked around the corner. “Axe?” she asked.
Axe turned to Demi and nodded. Demi slithered inside. Her eyes fell to the ground, then she whistled. “Wow. You really did a number on his face,” she said turning to Derek. “Good work.”
Again, Derek just looked at me. I had wanted to make sure my stepdad was never coming back.
“Maddie did it all,” he said. I blushed in embarrassment. He held the back of my neck, full of authority and possession. At that movement, Axe lowered his gun, and Wil stowed his gun in his holster. Demi grabbed Axe’s arm.
Derek pulled me closer, in between his legs, wrapping his arms around me as if he had to hold me. He cupped my face and kissed me gently, letting the world fade away.
He pulled back then studied me, observing the wounds on my face.
“Wow, man. Take a shower before you two screw,” Wil said.
“Yeah,” Ellie laughed, “And get a room!”
Derek ignored them, scrutinizing me intently. It didn’t matter what they said; I was the only one who mattered to him right then.
“Let’s get you checked out,” he said.
“Like the doctors?” I asked. He nodded. “You meanus,” I added. His eye was swollen and his lips and hands were bleeding. “Weneed to get checked out.”
Axe and Wil moved Muro’s body to a van, to transfer it to the acid vats. Once we got back into Sage City, the family’s doctor checked our wounds.
In the doctor’s bathroom, I looked in the mirror. The bruises were so bad it was like I was wearing a mask. But bruises and swollen cheeks and all, Derek still looked at me like I was the only woman who existed. I hated that Mack would have to see me like that, but I felt comforted that it would never happen again. Mack wouldn’t grow up terrified like I had.
Because my stepdad was gone. Miles fucking Muro was finally gone.
The doctor had known the Adler family for a long time and had given up on trying to keep any of them under his medical supervision. Instead, he gave us antibiotics to prevent infections and strict instructions to ice as necessary. The Adlers, Derek included, could never rest for long. But there was nothing else we could do besides wait it out at home, and let our bodies heal.
And I knew that we would heal. Time healed everything, even wounds like ours.
Derek called Ethan, and he agreed to meet us back at the Adler House. When we got there, Mack was asleep on the couch. I carried him to one of the spare bedrooms and smelled his hair: that peach shampoo, that boyish scent. He was just a kid, and for as long as I could, I would make sure that he got the childhood he deserved. The one I never had.
I held myself together until I tucked the comforter over his shoulders in the spare bed. Knowing that he was safe made it all come crashing down. I wasrelieved.
“I love you, Mack,” I whispered.
“I love you too, Mom,” he said, half-asleep.
Tears ran silently down my puffy cheeks, and for the first time in years, I let myself feel everything: Relief. Gratitude. Safety. Love.
Derek was sitting in the study, resting on the chaise lounge, gazing at the flickering fireplace. An ice pack was melting on the table in front of him. His eye was black and blue, but no longer as swollen. The brothers and their wives were in the dining room celebrating, but Derek was by himself. He turned to me, giving me a soft smile. Derek was the only person in the world who had ever wanted to protect me. Even when I repeatedly showed him the worst sides of myself, he still forgave me. He loved me with everything he had.
And I had to stop being afraid of what that meant.
