Page 85 of Broken Discipline
“I have to go,” I said.
“But you just became our Daddy for real,” Leon whispered, the words almost inaudible. “You said it was for real this time.”
My heart sank, knowing that it was another promise I had failed to keep. But this was the last chance I had to control the situation, and I was going to make damn sure that Ramona and the kids were safe. Upchurch ripped the tape off of Ramona’s mouth, then unlocked her cuffs.
“What the fuck are you doing?” Ramona cried, pulling me to my feet. “You’re going to die, Finn. And then what?” Angry tears poured out of her eyes. “You’re just going to leave us here?”
Alone. Abandoned. Left behind. I hated doing that to her, but I couldn’t risk her life for a chance at my own. She needed to be safe.
“You need to forget about me. Move on with your life,” I said. I looked down at the kids, but they refused to look at me. They couldn’t understand what was going on, but they were angry that I was leaving. They were hurt. “Find a better father for the twins than me,” I added quietly. “A better husband for you.”
“Stop it,” Ramona demanded. “Stop running away. You need to fix this, Finn.”
Running away.
I should have helped her escape Bruce, then forced her to run far, far away, where no one could ever find her or our twins.
I should have forced her to run away from me.
“This is what should have happened in the first place,” I said. “This is only happening because I was selfish. I wanted to control your safety on my terms.” She blinked, trying to understand, but tears filled her eyes. Her lips trembled. “There’s an account for you. You’ll find the information in the office of the penthouse in Northside.”
“I don’t care about money,” she whispered. “I just care about you.”
I looked away, my eyes burning. “Just go,” I said.
“And it’s time forusto go,” Upchurch said. “My driver will take your wife and children back to the Carter Compound.” He shooed them away. “Have a good life, now.”
The kids reached for me, but Ramona swooped them up in her arms, pulling them back. As the three of them scurried down the hallway, disappearing from my vision, the back of Upchurch’s gun hit my skull. Everything went dark, but one thought floated through my mind.
They had escaped.
CHAPTER 21
Ramona
My eyes stung, but I focused on the road, forcing myself to go forward, to keep driving. I bit my lip, bitter blood covering my tongue. I had a better chance of surviving the Masquerade. The members of the Syndicate preferred to kill the male sacrifices.Finn knew that.
But he had still chosen to sacrifice himself as if our lives would somehow be better without him.
Tank puttered along at the slow, but steady speed, almost like sheknewshe had to make it one last time. The twins were silent in the back. We needed to go straight to his Northside penthouse to get the bank information, but I couldn’t push myself to do that yet.
It felt like he was already dead. Just like when he left Oakmont for his trip abroad. And I couldn’t stand that feeling. We had just gotten him back.
A murky orange hue covered the manufactured homes, but when the cracked pink walls of The Raw came into view, my stomach lurched. I didn’t know where else to go.
“Is Daddy meeting us here?” Leon asked quietly.
My mind was numb. I glanced in the rearview mirror. Larkin shook her head.
“Daddy’s gone, Leon,” she said. “He’s not coming back. You know that.”
“He’ll come back,” Leon said confidently. “He promised.”
“No, he won’t.”
“He will!”
“Stop being mean!”
