Chapter 38
Chapter Thirty-Eight
L ondyn
Oliver cradled Londyn against him as the blacked-out SUV raced along the narrow mountain roads to the private airfield. Only when they were safely in the air did he finally loosen his grip.
Londyn was silent as he laid her on the bed in the back of the jet. He gently removed her jeans and sweater before settling her against the covers. She would never admit it, but she had peeked while he carried her away from Diamond Lake Ranch. Blood was everywhere. Dead bodies lay in grotesque heaps, sprawled over furniture and littering the once gleaming wooden floors. There were so many that she lost count, and she squeezed her eyes shut when she witnessed his men dragging some of the bodies by the arms to form piles.
Oliver plumped the pillows behind her head, smoothing her hair from her face. It was hard to believe, but just thirty-six hours before, she had lain across this same bed while her husband fucked her to prove that she was his.
“Once you’ve rested a bit, I’ll help you get a shower,” he said in a low voice. His subdued behavior and careful movements only added to Londyn’s anxiety. He was treating her like a fragile porcelain doll, and she hated it.
“I’m not made of glass, Oliver,” she whispered, grabbing his wrist to mesh their fingers together.
“I know.” He laughed softly, raising her hand and kissing her knuckles. “But maybe, right now, I am.”
She dragged him closer, burying her head in the curve of his neck. “I knew you would come for me. Even when it seemed hopeless, I knew you would come.” She felt him trembling, and her heart reacted, swelling with love.
“I slaughtered everyone who stood in my way, Londyn. Innocent or guilty, if they were in my path, I cut them down to reach you.” Oliver’s voice was muffled, the words coming out hard and pained as if he hated himself for what he’d done. “I didn’t care, either. All that mattered was you .”
Londyn half laughed, half sobbed. “If it weren’t for you, I’d still be trapped there. Or dead.”
“I wanted to keep them alive… those men who hurt you, especially Franklin. I wanted them alive so I could hang them from the hooks down in The Den’s cellars. I wanted to slowly gut them, watch them bleed out, and hear their cries for mercy while I made them pay for every bruise, every tear, every cut, and every scrape they gave you. But my rage took over. I didn’t even think as I ended them. I didn’t stop to think that my impatience gave each one of them the easy way out… a quick and painless death that did not equal their crimes.” Oliver leaned back so he could stare into her face. “If I had lost you, I would have slaughtered every living soul in that complex. And then I would have turned the gun on myself. Because I wouldn’t be able to face a world without you.”
“You didn’t lose me. I’m still here. I’m yours for as long as you want me.”
“That will be forever, dove. You are mine, forever. You are my calm and my storm, Londyn. Sunshine and rainbows. Sin and salvation. You are everything, and I won’t give you up. Never ask me to let you go because I won’t. My entire fucking world revolves around you. I may go to Hell for my selfishness, but I’ll drag you down there just to keep you by my side. I love you, Londyn. I love you so much that it hurts. Nothing you do or say will ever change what I feel for you. But I’ll always be the villain in our fairy tale. Because the day I purchased you on that auction block and you became mine, the worst day and night of your life—that day was the beginning of my life.”
He hesitated, and Londyn saw the vulnerability he tried concealing from the world. He never wanted anyone to see his weakness. A small part of him still saw love as a liability, but he couldn’t help himself when it came to her. She recognized that, and she melted even more for him.
“Oliver…”
“I should let you go.” He laughed softly at himself. “If I had a drop of decency, I would. But I can’t. I won’t . I’m a heartless bastard. I’m cruel. Selfish. I do awful things to people. I’m a murderer. A thief. A depraved degenerate. And I have no right to think you will ever love me, but I’m not sorry for taking what I want when it comes to you. I’ll never be sorry.”
Londyn kissed him with such fierceness it felt like her heart would shatter. “I’m not sorry either, Oliver. I can’t be because I do love you. All of you. Even the darkest, scariest parts of you. You say I belong to you… well, you belong to me, too. And if anyone thinks they can ever come between us, I’ll kill them before you have a chance to do it and wear their teeth as a necklace.” Her gaze fell to their hands, and her lips quirked with a smile. “Now. May I have my ring back? I don’t feel like I’m truly your wife without it on my finger.”
Oliver slipped the blue diamond off his pinkie, sliding it and the wedding band onto her ring finger. “When I saw the blood on it, I vowed to hunt every man involved in your abduction. The two deputies responsible for the car accident have already paid with their lives, but still, I went through Hell thinking the blood staining that diamond came from you.”
Londyn quickly explained what happened on that dark, quiet Georgia road, filling in the missing pieces so Oliver had a clear picture of the crash and what followed. His arms wrapped around her as she revealed the plans Adam had for her and the fact fellow law-enforcement officers had joined the second sale.
“I’ll never put you in that kind of danger again, Londyn. It was reckless and arrogant to think my name alone would give you enough protection.” Oliver’s jaw tightened with determination, and Londyn wondered if he was already planning to eliminate even more people on her behalf. It was useless to argue the point that his decision to take her to see Paris made it worth any risk.
“Let’s not look back anymore, Oliver. We have the rest of our lives together. And I’m ready to live it with you.”
His blue eyes sparkled like the rare diamond on her finger. “I’m ready, too.”
Two weeks later
The Den, Upstate New York
It was the day of Paris’s funeral.
Londyn slipped her hand into Oliver’s as he pulled her closer. For the past two nights, she’d cried herself to sleep, and her husband had comforted her the best he could. He’d held her as she sobbed, murmured soothing words into her hair, and stroked her back with his large, capable hands. The huge, scary man she was married to even drew her a warm bath, washed her hair, and brought her so many cups of hot tea that she was practically sick of the beverage.
Her sister’s death was not unexpected, of course. The specialists Oliver hired all expressed the same opinion when Paris was transported to a facility thirty minutes away from The Den. Her injuries were so complicated that there was no hope for recovery.
Londyn was glad she was there at the end, holding Paris’s hand as she slipped away following a second massive stroke. She watched as Oliver grieved alongside her for a woman he did not know. He felt her sorrow as if it were his own, the depths of his devotion bringing Londyn joy even in the midst of terrible sadness.
“I’m so sorry, Londyn,” Ava Blue said, leaning in to kiss Londyn on the cheek. A soft autumn breeze ruffled Londyn’s dark hair as they stood beneath a towering oak tree in the private cemetery. The Winter brothers had recently purchased a family plot here, and Kingston insisted Paris be buried there so Londyn could visit whenever she wanted.
Over the past two weeks, Londyn and Ava had become extremely close. The fact they would soon be true sisters in the eyes of the law only cemented their relationship. Watching the tiny, blonde Ava boss Kingston Winter around was quite entertaining, but Londyn knew her own relationship with Oliver was a mystery to his older brother and Ava.
The attentiveness he showed toward her, his obvious love and adoration had many of those living at The Den mesmerized. One night, Ava confessed how utterly astounding she found Oliver’s transformation to be, especially regarding his relationship with Kingston. It was as if the strained hatred and mistrust over the years had never occurred. The two men spent a lot of time together, working on business deals, watching football, and playing friendly yet competitive pool games where expensive bottles of scotch were the prize.
Londyn had overheard a conversation between the two men just the day before. And her heart nearly burst with emotion at the conviction in Oliver’s tone. Kingston, with a broad smile on his face, had asked him, “Now do you believe me when I told you how different life can be when the right woman loves you, O? Everything is brighter. Shinier. Nothing else matters except the way she smiles at you.”
For a long moment, Oliver was quiet, then in a surprising gesture, he embraced the older man. His voice was gruff when he finally replied, “It is more than I ever hoped for a sinner like me, King. She’s banished my nightmares and shown me how to love. How to live. I don’t deserve her, but I can’t be sorry that Londyn loves me. Because I love her more than life itself.”
Kingston smiled in understanding. “We all deserve happiness, Oliver. And to share this as brothers… it is a gift I never thought we would have together. Having been so cursed in this life, we somehow ended up blessed with unimaginable riches. We found the love of our lives, O. True love. And there’s no price you can place on that.”
Oliver’s response was to simply embrace his brother. No words were necessary.
Ava’s sweet voice brought Londyn back to the present. “I want to tell you how much I admire you for what you did for your sister, Londyn. It was very brave of you to go through that. I’m sure she was very proud of you, too.”
“Thank you, Ava. I wish you could have met her. Paris would have adored you as much as I do,” Londyn replied, returning the young woman’s embrace with a tearful smile. Kingston, waiting his turn, bent down and gave his new sister-in-law a quick, brotherly kiss on the cheek before slipping an arm around his fiancée’s waist.
“We all wish we could have met her,” Kingston said, nodding at the minister to begin the service.
Ava dipped her head toward Londyn, her beautiful features somber. “I know I cannot take Paris’s place, but I already consider you a sister, Londyn, if that’s okay. I feel so very close to you, even in the short time we’ve known one another. And I would love to have you stand with me at the wedding, as a true sister would.”
Londyn grabbed Ava’s hand and gave it a squeeze that said volumes. The other girl’s kindness was a balm to her wounded soul. “I would like that very much, Ava,” she whispered as Oliver pulled her closer alongside his body. Turning to him, she released Ava’s hand and took his so she could mesh their fingers together.
He brushed his lips across the top of Londyn’s head. “You are so brave, little wife. And while they say the pain will ease one day, I will always be here to hold you on those days when the sadness overwhelms you. You know that, right?”
Londyn squeezed his hand tightly, tears springing to her eyes at the sweetness of his words. “Having you beside me makes this easier to bear, Oliver. Your brother… and Ava… everyone has been so kind to me. Paris wanted me to grab everything life has to offer, and I will. The best part of it is having you beside me to face whatever comes next. I love you.”
Oliver’s smile was tender, his full lips curving upward with devotion for her.
“And I love you, little dove. In this life and the next, I will always love you.”