13. Attempted escape

THIRTEEN

My new wife might have spent months stalking me, but if she thought I'd stand by and let her leave me after I promised her I'd never allow it… she doesn't know Damien Libellula at all.

I pride myself on my honesty. I never say anything I don't mean. I told her, if she tried to leave me, there would be consequences.

Savannah will not make me a liar.

That she made it further than she should've only infuriated me more. The security on my house is high-end for Genevieve's sake. It has alarms and sensors, but I realize my mistake the moment my cameras catch Savannah dashing out of the side door, sending me a notification right to my phone. The security is designed to keep threats out, not to trap them in.

That's because Vin and I need to be free to take care of business at a moment's notice. Gen knows better than to leave on her own without a chaperone to keep her safe. And Savannah… she should've known better by now than not to test me.

I was doing this for her own safety. She tried to take me out, and not only did I make her untouchable by marrying her, but I let her into my home. So what if I did so because I maneuvered her into a position that she couldn't escape without my help. She didn't have to agree, but she did—and now she's going to pay for it.

I was in the middle of meeting with our top accountant, Noel, when I got the notification. With the influx of bad Eclipse spreading through Springfield, our sales have taken a dip and I needed to see the numbers on what the fucking snowflake crew is costing me. So already I was dealing with bad news. Is it a surprise that I didn't take Savannah's attempted escape as well as I might have.

Frankie might be my valet, making sure things run smoothly in my manor when I'm occupied with other elements of the Family's business, but he used to run with my dad going back thirty years ago now. Closing in on sixty, he did his time out on the streets. A working retirement, he's not exactly a lieutenant anymore, but he does run the staff.

And when I called the house and told him that my wife made a break for it, Frankie locked down the gates before she could find a way out. The garage was closed off, too. From what he told me, he caught Savannah trying to climb before he convinced her it was useless.

The gun he keeps tucked beneath his valet jacket probably helped.

Either way, Savannah didn't look at Frankie and see an even older man she could attack. She hung her head, followed him back inside, and went to our room without any trouble.

By then, I'd gotten in touch with Vin. He was checking on the latest batch of bills coming out of the laundromat so, technically, he was closer to the man than me. He hauled his ass home, parking his big body in front of my door while waiting for me to arrive.

I had every intention of doing so. I only had to make one pit stop first.

Last summer, before our truce, one of Lincoln's men decided to switch sides. Robert Cullens got his dragonfly, and to prove his newfound loyalty to my Family, he told Christopher everything about the Devil of Springfield and his new bride.

I knew immediately it was Ava Monroe. I also could guess just how he got the woman he'd been obsessed with since he was a young teen—and who he left fifteen years ago after his brutal run-in with Skittery the junkie—to finally forgive him and marry him.

Joey Maglione.

Maglione, like Cullens, was a recent recruit to the Family. He was also, for a time, Ava Monroe's boyfriend. He vanished shortly before Lincoln married her, and rumors ran that it was because St. Ava pulled the trigger on Maglione one night after he attempted to sexually assault her.

And why did that fucking moron do that? Because once he realized his Ava was Lincoln's Ava, Maglione wanted to bring her to me to use against our rivals in the Sinners Syndicate. He thought he was showing initiative. Maybe if he didn't try to get his cock wet first, I'd see that, but no. I didn't blame Ava for killing one of my men when I probably would've done the same thing if she hadn't done it first.

Lincoln didn't know that at the time. He was protecting his wife from the police and from me. So he kept her hidden away, locked away in the penthouse of Paradise Suites, and it was only a stroke of luck that I was able to use Cullens to nab Ava and bring her to me.

I wanted this truce. I would've done anything for it. Making Lincoln's new wife leverage to control my former friend turned rival? I knew she was in no danger. He didn't. I could've gotten him to promise me the world with my gun to Ava's head, but the only thing I wanted was for our two syndicates to work together to block out any others from heading onto our turf.

In one decision, I got rid of the biggest threat to me while also using Lincoln's crew to shield my Family from any others. It's something I've been working toward for years, and I was so damn pleased when it finally came to fruition—no matter how low I had to go to get that.

He'll never forgive me, but he knows enough about the life that he's done his best to move on. He also—as he told me smugly during one of our early dinners—made sure that he'd never love tabs on his wife again, all thanks to a particular invention his tech guy came up with.

Lincoln definitely caught my interest with that statement. And though I know he charged me through the nose to get a couple of prototypes of my own, I happily paid it to him in good faith, hoping it would help him get over the whole ‘me putting a gun to Ava's head' thing that he still had an issue with.

Since I didn't want Genevieve playing with them, I kept my case with the injectors at my main office in the Dragonfly building where we have the base of our dealing operation. When I'm not home, having meetings, or being seen around Springfield, making my presence known, most of my time is spent there. Luckily, Noel's office is only two floors down from mine so it was only a matter of minutes to grab my case and head for my car.

I try to calm down during the ride back to the house. I also thought I'd managed to as I nod at Vin, waiting for my cousin to step away from the door. He mutters something about Savannah being quiet in there, but I barely listen.

Sure she's quiet. My devious wife is probably plotting.

She's certainly pacing at the foot of my bed when I push open the door, shoving it closed behind me. Her head shoots up, and if she'd looked remorseful at all, I might not have scowled so deeply at her.

But she doesn't and I did, and when she opens her mouth, I don't want to hear it.

"I warned you not to leave. You were told you have to stay in the manor until I gave you permission to go. You disobeyed me, wife. And now

She tilts her head back enough to show the slender, pale column of her throat. "You want to slit it. Go ahead. Because I'm not going to apologize."

I didn't think she would. "I have no patience for this martyr act. I told you not to leave. I trusted you to listen. Now you've proven you're not worthy of that trust." Popping the case, I remove one of the primed injectors. "You've left me no choice."

Savannah frowns when she notices the needle. "What the hell is that?" Her eyes narrow. "Are you going to tattoo me?"

Scoffing, I keep my thumb on the plunger as I tuck the case back into my suit jacket. "In my Family, you earn your Dragonfly." Stalking toward her, I make sure she knows: "You haven't."

"Then what— ow!"

If I wasn't so angry, I would've been more gentle. She doesn't deserve that, either. Gripping her by the arm, I held her in place so that I could jab the injector into the meat of her bicep before pushing down on the plunger.

I don't let go until the injector is completely empty.

The second I do, she clutches her arm, staring at the red hole left behind from the large needle. A dot of blood wells up. Licking her thumb, she rubs at s at it—then glares at me. "What did you just do to me?"

Now that it's done, I'm a lot calmer. A lot more relieved.

"This?" I hold up the empty injector. "It held a state-of-the-art subdermal tracker."

A tracker that is now inside of my wife.

I don't have to explain the obvious. A moment later, it clicks, and she screeches."You chipped me?"

"Don't flatter yourself." I take the case back out, dropping the empty inside of it, then put it away again. "You're not the only one who has one."

She's just the only one who didn't agree to let me inject it into the arm.

"Wow… You really are a control freak, aren't you?"

A small smile plays on my lips. Oh, yes. Now that I'll be able to follow her no matter where she goes… I've more than earned that grin. "You're surprised?"

I'm a man who forced her into marrying me all because she caught my attention by stalking me first, then boldly trying to kill me. I stole her freedom, keeping her locked in my home until she willingly accepts me as her husband?

"No," she says, and I know she's being honest like I demanded. "I'm not."

Well. Now that we have that settled. "If you hadn't tried to escape the manor, I wouldn't have had to do that."

"I had to!"

"Where were you going? What was so important, you thought it was a good idea to betray your husband?"

She flinches at the cold way I say ‘betray'. "It wasn't like that."

"Fine. Then, tell me, what was it like?"

Savannah clenches her fists at her side. "You don't understand. It's been almost three days. I have to go back."

Not happening.

Then again, something… something's not right. She seems far more frustrated about being caught and brought back to the room than that I grabbed her arm and forced a tracking chip under her skin.

And that makes me think she wasn't running from me, but to someone else.

No.

"Not my problem, Savannah. If you had a lover, it's too late now. You're mine. You signed on the dotted line, y dear. Don't forget that."

"I know, but… look. It's not a guy, alright? Not like you think." She lets out a sound of frustration. "I have to go. Don't you get that?"

If it's not a guy—and I take that to mean any other lover, either—then what is it?

A pit in my stomach forms as the image of Ava Crewes pops into my head. "A child?—"

Her head turns to the side.

Fuck.

I grab Savannah's arm, tugging her just hard enough that she's forced to look at me. "Is there a kid?"

"What? No!"

I don't want to look too closely at the relief that rushes through me when she says that.

I want her loyalty. I crave it. If there was a man, I wouldn't worry. But a child? I know Savannah is broken. Twisted almost beyond repair. I'm working on straightening her out, but I can't imagine the woman in front of me harming a child. If she's a mother, I will never be the one she is loyal to more than anyone, and I need that.

I warned her. If she betrayed me, the consequence was death. But as she looks up at me, tears making her eyes go glossy, that part of me that's always had a soft spot for the goody-goodies, the kind souls… it sees something that she's kept hidden from me all along.

Beneath her tough exterior and unpredictable—and, fine, murderous—nature is a sweetheart who doesn't want anyone to know it.

I saw it, though. I know it's there. And I'm surprised by that, that's nothing compared to how my growing temper cools the moment she makes her confession.

"It's my cat," she admits.

Her cat. She risked everything for her cat.

What the hell am I supposed to do about that?