by Sam Crescent
Published by EVERNIGHT PUBLISHING ® at Smashwords
www.evernightpublishing.com
Copyright© 2018 Sam Crescent
ISBN: 978-1-77339-866-2
Cover Artist: Jay Aheer
Editor: Karyn White
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
WARNING: The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. No part of this book may be used or reproduced electronically or in print without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in reviews.
This is a work of fiction. All names, characters, and places are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
VIOLENT ENDS
The Denton Family Legacy, 5
Sam Crescent
Copyright © 2018
Prologue
“What exactly is it you think you can do for me, Mr. Denton?” Paul Savona asked, taking a long pull on his cigarette.
Maddox stared at the man that he’d organized this meeting with. Savona, like himself, was a boss. The king of his own empire. Only, Savona wasn’t desperate and looking at takeovers.
He wondered how much his enemies knew of the current Denton situation. For the past year he’d tried to keep it afloat, tried to make it work. The price for silence was rising, the demands on their resources ever increasing. Women were not so willing to work for them as their brothels were hit hard.
He couldn’t believe he was even considering this.
“Tamsin, my youngest daughter. I think a union between the Dentons and the Savonas would be very good for business and very good for us as well. Our families, bound together in marriage.” He leaned back, smiling.
Charlotte had begged him to let Tamsin have a different life. If he’d not been faced with complete collapse, he would consider it.
That was not going to happen now.
As a Denton, he’d keep this fucking family afloat by whatever means possible. He loved his children, his wife, but right now, he had to put them to one side. Tamsin was someone he could use to help the family. It wasn’t like she had any other purpose. Each of them had to play their part, and now it was her turn.
“Tamsin. Do you have a photo?” Paul asked.
Pulling out the photo he had taken of her just last week, he handed it over. Of course, Paul would want to see a picture of his girl. Any union had to be worth it, and from what Maddox had discovered, Mason, Paul’s son, liked beautiful women.
Tamsin, when she finally reached maturity, would be beautiful. Right now, there was a childishness to her. She held that air of innocence and attitude that would fade away.
“Beautiful,” Paul said.
There was a gleam within his eye that Maddox didn’t like. Pushing his unease to one side, he waited.
“How old?”
“Fifteen right now.”
“If we both agree, they could marry by the time she’s sixteen. She seems like a handful. I’ll gladly take her off your hands now. Have her ready to take my son when the time is right.”
“That’s not possible. Her mother would follow her everywhere. Sixteen is a little young.”
“My boy is not going to patient forever. I’m willing to wait a short time, but not too long. Name your terms, and we’ll consider it a deal. We can flesh out ages of acceptability at a later date.”
For the next hour, Maddox negotiated the men he wanted and the deal for Tamsin’s virginity and for the ring on her finger, binding her to Savona.
When Paul left, Maddox sat back, lifting out the other file. The other family that could help and had the means he was after was the Castillo family. Their daughter was only sixteen now. His sons, all of them, apart from Gideon, had found their woman. He couldn’t have Gabriel marry her either.
He wasn’t a true Denton.
He held the DNA within his veins, but that was as far as the connection went. Maddox knew the only men he trusted were his sons. Of course, if they ever found out what he was doing and what he planned to do, they would all turn on him.
Whenever there was a problem in the way, he always made sure to remove it.
He didn’t deal with not getting his way.
Staring at the phone, he knew once he made this call, there would be no way to undo it. He didn’t have a choice. For the sake of his family, he lifted it up and made the call.
Chapter One
Deep purple was never really her color, but as Emma Colton stared at her reflection, she felt a sense of freedom. She’d never dyed her hair before, and even though it wasn’t a big rebellious step in most terms, to her and her world, she’d just defied her father in every sense of the word.
Her father?
That piece of shit was dead, long dead, and she was no longer afraid of her own shadow. Ever since it had been brought to light that her oldest brother Gabriel was, in fact, a Denton, her life had changed. Before the revelation, she’d been in hiding after the annihilation of her family, scared for her life. Now though, she and her siblings had been embraced by the Denton family that was once her family’s enemy.
She’d never hated the Dentons. Not even when her father’s vile words would spill out, trying to corrupt the air around him. She’d listened to every word he had to say. They all had no choice. Anyone around her father knew to pay attention or you’d be sorry. Growing up she’d gotten many beatings and backhands for not paying attention, so it was something she always did.
Even when she wasn’t supposed to. There were so many places for her to be, and because she was a woman, men seemed to assume she wasn’t listening to them. She imagined that was why Mr. Denton had put her to work in the basement at his casino.
She didn’t mind for the most part. She didn’t look like most of the women working at the casino. For one, she wasn’t slender with the perfect, tight body. Nope, since her father’s death, there hadn’t been any enforced diets or being made to look a certain way. She didn’t do the gym anymore, and she had a new love of life, which meant she was a nice, curvy size sixteen.
It was quiet, and she’d lived so long fearing for her life that when it came to the basement, she felt right at home. At least she had a job, a steady income, and she didn’t have to worry about being beaten up every single day, or fearing anything.
For the most part, she was … free.
Running her fingers through her hair, she wondered what Maddox Denton would say to her during their meeting tomorrow. She wasn’t acting rashly or anything.
In fact, she’d been thinking about it for a long time now. The chance to finally get away from everything she despised. For the first time in her life, she actually felt hopeful to the future.
This was what she wanted, what she hoped for.
Leaving her bedroom, she made her way out into the main sitting room. Her brothers, Owen and Wyatt, were playing one of their computer games. For grown men, they sure made a habit of acting like children.
She rolled her eyes as she bent down to pick up an empty beer can. “Please, can we pretend to care about the mess?”
“Sorry, sis,” Owen said.
“Yeah, sorry. We’ll get a cleaner.” This came from Wyatt.
“You don’t need a cleaner, just a trashcan.”
She didn’t even know why she bothered half the time. They wouldn’t listen. They were used to having servants wait on them all the time. To them, she was a woman, so that made her no better than a servant who was hired to clean up after them.
Walking into the kitchen, she grabbed the warm coffee and poured herself a cup, making sure to add plenty of cream and sugar. She never took her coffee without it. Otherwise it was just plain gross. Leaning against the counter, she watched them fight a monster or a zombie
or whatever.
“Bring us a beer,” Owen said.
“Get your own damn beer.” If she didn’t make them do stuff, they’d hire someone. She was surprised neither of them had put an ad in the paper looking for someone to cater to their every whim. Sipping at her coffee, she knew she had to get out of this rut that she was living in. Her family was gone, or at least the bad element of her family was gone. All that remained were her brothers. Owen and Wyatt had always been trained to accept this life. Being a Denton was no different than being a Colton, at least to them it wasn’t. Her brother Gabriel, well, he was adjusting so much better to a life of a Denton, but then, he was one. She knew at times it was hard for Charlotte, Maddox’s wife. But then she’d been pregnant with Jacob not long after Maddox had gotten her own mother pregnant with Gabriel.
It was all a bit confusing but not by much.
To be plain, Maddox was a horndog before he found his match. Emma couldn’t help but smile thinking about her big brother. She wondered if Gabriel would suffer with the famous Denton curse.
“Whoa, sis, what did you do to your hair?” Owen asked, coming into the kitchen.
She picked up some strands, looking at the color. “Dyed it, why?”
“It looks … different?”
“Good different or bad different?”
“I don’t know. Good different?”
She chuckled. “Are you saying that so I don’t kick your ass?”
“Totally, you know I’m petrified of you.” He grabbed two beers out of the fridge.
“I just needed a change.”
“We all do sometimes.”
She stared down into her coffee cup.
“Is there anything you want to talk about?”
“Nah, I’m good.”
“You sure? You look like you’ve got shit you want to say.”
“It’s fine.”
“Brian giving you a hard time?”
She tilted her head to the side. “Do you really care about Brian?”
“Not really, but he’s been dating you, so now I need to know if I have to go and kick his ass.”
“You can leave his ass alone. We’re good. Honest.” She’d not seen Brian in a couple of weeks. It wasn’t a problem. Their dates were fine and a little on the fun side, but they didn’t exactly thrill her. Far from it.
She found dating Brian to be a real bore.
He wouldn’t kiss her. Holding hands seemed to be abhorrent to him. She’d started to wonder why he even wanted to go on a date with her at all. He was constantly asking her if she was having fun, if she was enjoying herself.
If she gave even the tiniest hint that she was bored, he looked panicked. It didn’t exactly make for a good date, and she often found herself wondering if he even wanted to be there.
So, the next time he’d called, she’d simply not responded. It had been a lot easier for her. There was no point dating someone she no longer felt comfortable with.
“You okay?” Owen asked again.
“Yeah. I’m going to head out. I saw a new pizza place. You guys want something?”
“Why don’t you order in?” he asked.
“Nah, I don’t want to do that. I’d like to have the fresh air. You know, just stretch my legs.” Be alone out of the apartment so I can think.
“You want some company?” Wyatt asked, suddenly appearing in the doorway.
“It’s all good. Believe me. I can go and order a pizza without anything bad happening.” She dumped the rest of her coffee down the drain and grabbed her bag off the back of a chair. “Honestly.”
“I don’t like this,” Wyatt said.
“Yeah, well, we can’t stop her.”
She chuckled. “Go and enjoy your game. I’ll go and get us food.”
She headed toward the door and didn’t give them a chance to argue. The moment she cleared the elevator and was out onto the city street, she took a deep breath. She’d done it. Glancing left and right, she rushed across the road, feeling a sense of freedom.
Every now and then, she kept checking behind her and couldn’t see anyone following her.
She headed into a bookstore and went straight to the travel section. For the past year she’d been thinking about it a lot. Her family was all dead, apart from her brothers. They were living and enjoying their place in this new world that had been opened up to them. She was no longer in a place where she was at risk of being sold off to the highest bidder. Her life, her freedom, it was all relevant now. At first, she’d been hesitant to embrace this new life, to allow herself to believe that she could be free.
Time was running out for her to take this chance.
A fresh start away from the city. Away from this horrible life.
She was under no illusions about the Denton family. They came from the same walk of life as she did. They controlled the city, and since they’d taken back power over a year ago when their enemies threatened to take their crown away, they’d come back stronger, meaner.
Even the basement hadn’t been free of the kind of damage they could do.
What she did know, as she lay awake night after night, was she didn’t want to stay here. This life, it wasn’t for her. It would never be hers, and when she could, she wanted out. Running her fingers across the titles, she found what she was looking for. A villa in Italy sounded ideal, but a small place in the Dales of England, or just a quiet place near the ocean. She didn’t need anything big or elaborate, just a life away from what she’d known.
****
Gideon took great pleasure as he slammed his fist against one of the rats they’d been locating this past year. It hadn’t surprised him the sheer number of their traitors, but he certainly enjoyed punishing them. One by one, they had all fallen, where they wanted the Dentons to fall.
Too bad he wasn’t willing to go away that easily. He was a Denton, and as such, it meant he didn’t go down, not without a fight and a lot of blood spilled.
Over and over, he hit the bastard that had thought he could tell their secrets. Only when he wasn’t breathing anymore did Gideon stop.
“Was that really necessary?” Gabriel asked.
Gideon stared at his brother. He’d been the one to figure out the truth of Gabriel’s parentage. “He was alive, and now he’s not. I don’t see a problem.”
Gabriel checked the time, and he smirked.
“You got somewhere to be?”
“I got a call from Owen. He’s worried about Emma.”
This got his attention. “Why?”
“She was acting strangely. She dyed her hair, and she’s been out of the apartment for over an hour.”
“She’s a young woman. I’m sure she’s fine.” He wiped the sweat from his brow and grabbed his cell phone. So long as Emma took her bag with her, all it took was his code, and clicking on the correct app, and he found her.
She was sitting in a café about a ten-minute walk from her brothers. All they had to do was leave the damn apartment, and they’d have found her.
Closing his cell phone, he looked at his brother. “You good to clear this up?”
“Do I look like a maid to you?”
“Nah, I like my women in far less clothes, but I think a mini skirt will really suit you.”
“Fuck you, Gideon.”
“Not into incest, but thanks for the offer.” He winked at his brother.
He walked to the sink and grabbed some soap, washing the blood from his hands. The water turned red within a matter of seconds. He released the plug and finished washing his hands with the water running.
In the mirror overlooking the sink, he watched as Gabriel called in the cleaners, and he smiled. When he first discovered the truth that Gabriel was in fact a Denton, he’d wanted to kill the bastard.
The Dentons were a united pack. Six boys and one girl, they were Maddox and Charlotte’s bloodline. Heirs to the Denton legacy, and they didn’t have room for one more. Gabriel, the truth about him, it had caused a ripple effect that had nearly cost t
hem all their lives. Fortunately, that hadn’t happened, and that was why he’d punched a man to death. Still, it wasn’t a hardship, not really.
He’d been trained all his life what to do in this situation.
Where most kids had fun in high school, got laid, chased teachers around, they’d been learning to fight. To handle weapons, and to make sure no one could defeat them in a fight. The Dentons hired men to surround them, but that didn’t mean they weren’t prepared to handle their own fights. That was part of their added charm.
They were strong alone.
As a team when they worked together, they were fucking indestructible.
So long as they were a team, of course. Anything came between them, they fell apart.
“You sure you got this?” Gideon asked.
Gabriel stared at him. “You do realize I’m older than you.”
“Yeah, in Colton years. As a Denton, I’m likely to trust Tamsin more. She’s been a Denton for way longer.”
“Fuck off, Gideon,” Gabriel said.
“Excellent.”
He had to go and see a girl about a late-night stroll.
Whistling to himself, he left the warehouse, and climbed into his car. Putting his phone in the holder on his dashboard, he brought up the GPS and typed in her location. Within seconds he was on the road and heading toward Emma.
It had been a couple of days since he last saw her, and if it wasn’t for dealing with the traitor he’d have stopped by her apartment. He’d have used the excuse of seeing Owen and Wyatt, but the truth was, he’d be seeing Emma.
Rubbing at his chest, he felt that overwhelming urge to claim her as he did every single time he thought about her. Not a day went by when he didn’t want to go all caveman on her ass, dragging her off to his lair or, at least for him, carrying her. He was a gentleman after all, even though when he got near her, he wanted to pull her into his arms, claim every inch of her, and to have her curvy body riding him. He fucking loved her curves, and seeing her ass move as she walked away was a fucking dream.