“If you’re going to kill me,” Morgan said, not an ounce of fear in his tone. “Do it or let me leave this life and you five in my past because I’m fucking done with this bullshit. I’ve avenged my uncle and brother in my way. I’m at peace, and they’re dead because of the life they chose.”
Still, no one moved.
“Please,” I said, my throat tight with emotion. “Please, just let ’im leave. I want ’im to go away and never come back.”
“I’ll do just that, angel.”
I focused on the brothers, and one by one, though it seemed to cause them great distress, they stepped aside and allowed Morgan to walk by them. I stood up and followed him, only to be halted when a hand latched onto my arm.
“No,” Damien said. “We are making sure he leaves here, leaves the country. You sit down.”
I touched his hand with mine and removed it from my arm.
“For once,” I said, not able to look him in the eye, “trust me with somethin’. I need to speak with ’im before he leaves for good.”
When I walked after Morgan, no one stopped me this time. I found him standing in front of the elevator with his hands in his jeans.
“You said Marco and Trent’s deaths were justified.”
Morgan glanced at me and nodded as I walked towards him.
“They were. They did horrible things to the brothers.”
“Then why have you done all this?” I demanded. “Why would you want to hurt people who rid the world of two evils?”
“Because—” Morgan sighed “—those two evils were the only family I had, and I couldn’t just do nothing. I was raised to be loyal to my family, to protect as best as I could. If I did nothing, I wouldn’t have been able to leave my past in the past.”
“So this is really it?” I questioned. “You just wanted to get in their heads like you did mine?”
Morgan nodded. “I was never going to physically harm anyone. I’m not my brother and uncle. I thought I was once, but I’m not. This has all proved it to me, I just want to have a normal life, I don’t want to be evil like they were.”
“From where I’m standin’, I don’t see much of a difference.”
“I like you, you know?” Morgan smiled sadly. “I do feel regret for tangling you up in this, if it’s any consolation.”
“It’s not,” I quipped. “You’ve ruined everythin’.”
Morgan frowned.
“You’re a sweetheart, and you’re damn talented, but you’re wasting yourself by being involved with the Slaters. They’re broken … damaged goods who’ve been through hell and can’t be repaired. Cut your ties with them before they ruin you, too. No one will blame you for wanting to protect yourself, Alannah.”
“You’re wrong about them, about the men I know,” I said, standing with my head tall. “They’re good men, and I love them, all of them. They’ve made mistakes, and even though I’m hurt and angry at them, I won’t have anyone hurtin’ them. They’re my family, even if I’m not theirs. Morgan, Carter, whatever your fuckin’ name is, if you ever try to hurt them in any way again … I will kill you.”
Morgan smiled at me, and it was a depressing one at that.
“What do you know?” he said with a tilt of his head. “Maybe it’s too late for you after all … It looks like the angel I thought you were has fallen.”
“I was never an angel to begin with … you don’t know me as well as you thought you did.”
“Maybe you’re right.” He nodded in agreement. “Goodbye, angel. You’ll never see or hear from me again. I completed what I sought out to do. I’m going home and starting a new chapter of my life. I hope you find happiness in the next chapter of yours because you fucking deserve it.”
Morgan’s eyes trailed up and down my body, and when they landed on my face, he winked, his vibrant eyes glinting. He turned and stepped into the open elevator then, without a word, without a glance back in my direction, and only one thought ran through my mind as the doors closed.
Good riddance.
When I reentered my apartment, I went straight into the kitchen and turned the kettle on. I didn’t want any tea, but it was an instinctive thing to do when I was stressed. A cup of tea usually solved everything, but not this. Nothing could resolve my newfound knowledge.
“Alannah?”
I gripped the edge of the countertops and squeezed my eyes shut.
“You need to leave, Damien.”
“I won’t,” he said, firmly. “I won’t have him fill your head with—”
“With lies?” I finished, turning to face him. “Please tell me it was all lies.”
Damien kept eye contact with me, but I now saw the truth in them. Morgan hadn’t lied about the things he had told me, though I wished to God that he had.