Lahat ng Kabanata ng The Butcher - A Mafia romance : Kabanata 151 - Kabanata 160

“I’ll retire from the business. We can start a new life.”“But you said⁠—”“I know what I said. I changed my mind.”“But why?” Her affection retreated. She left my lap and moved to the couch beside me. She seemed overwhelmed with emotion rather than joy, which was the opposite effect I’d intended.“Because I love you, Fleur. Because I asked you to marry me, and you deserve everything you want. You deserve a man who puts you first. You shouldn’t have to compromise on a damn thing.” My life had changed when I’d met Fleur, but it had changed again when I asked her to marry me. All my priorities were different now. She was the single most important thing to me, and I’d feel like a worthless piece of shit, denying her what she wanted most. “So, whenever you want this to happen, we’ll make it happen.”Her eyes drifted away like she needed time to come to terms with what I’d said. “I—I didn’t expect this.” Her dark hair was pulled back over one shoulder, and her eyes had an emotional depth t

Fleur did as I asked, just threw a couple things inside and didn’t try to coordinate outfits or take nonessential things. She zipped up the bag on the bed then put on jeans and a sweater. She didn’t even brush her hair.When she came back to me, she was winded from both exertion and anxiety. “I don’t want to do this. I don’t want to leave.”“Sweetheart.” I cupped her face and held her close. “I’ll get you as soon as I can.”“I don’t understand what’s happening.”I didn’t want to tell her the truth. Didn’t want to scare her when she was already scared. “I have to take care of something, and I can’t do that and worry about you at the same time. It’s only for a short while. You’ll be okay.”“It’s not me that I’m worried about.” She looked at me with her teary eyes. “If I have to leave, then I know it’s bad.”“I’ve had bad before, and it’s always been okay.” But not bad like this, when some asshole thought he could come into my city and take it from me. Could turn my allies against me and

18FLEURThey didn’t even bother to bring my bag. Left it in the back of the SUV.My head throbbed from the punch. I suspected my eye was all black and blue, because my vision was blurred on that side. With my arms pinned behind my back, they forced me into the warehouse then shoved me onto a dirty mattress lying there on the floor. The rest of the hangar was full of Hummers and even a small six-seater plane.I hit the moth-eaten mattress and lay there for a second, the headache pounding with every beat of my heart. Six guys surrounded me, all with guns, all there to guard me. I was scared out of my mind, and the only power I had in that moment was the reassurance that Bastien would come for me.I just had to stay alive long enough for him to get here.That meant I should stay quiet, give them no reason to hurt me, and wait for this to be over.But I quickly realized I wouldn’t be afforded that luxury.One of the guys spoke to the other in a quiet voice. “She’s pretty sexy.” He was an

I sucked in a hard breath and felt my hands tighten into fists. I’d walk out there, and he’d shoot me in the head for everyone to see, to know that he was the one who had executed the Butcher and usurped his regime. He’d probably piss on my body once he was done.And I would be okay with that if he really let her go.Luca looked at me. “You know he won’t do it, Bastien.”I swallowed.“She might not…” He didn’t finish the sentence, didn’t make me listen to it. “Don’t do it.”Ivan spoke over the speakers again. “Come on, Butcher. My patience grows thin.”I stared at Luca, but I saw Fleur’s face. “I have to.”“You know he’s lying⁠—”“Even if he is, he’s going to kill us all anyway. At least I can save you and everyone else in here who’s stood by me all these years. I go out there, and afterward, you get Fleur. Promise you will not rest until you get her back.” I hated to think what Ivan would do with her if Luca didn’t get her back. I couldn’t bear it. Otherwise, it would bring me to tea

“No,” he whispered, still visibly pained, like the memory haunted him all this time later. “I still wanted to be Dad, wanted him to be good to me, so I tried my hardest to be what he wanted. Then you wanted to be the opposite…and we drifted apart.”“Yeah…”“I hated you for what you did to him, but then you told me what happened, and…it made me realize how fucked up it all was. The way he treated you. The way he treated us. If it makes you feel any better, he cared about me as much as he cared about you—which is not at all. He was just nicer to me because I did what he asked.”This was not how I expected my day to go. Head-to-head with my nemesis, getting my girl back from assholes, and having a heart-to-heart with my brother. I’d aged an entire year within a day.He finally lifted his chin and looked at me again, his hardness back in place. “I’m sorry you had to go through that.”I didn’t want or need an apology from him, not when he’d done nothing wrong, but it still meant the world