Page 78 of Redemption
I unzip my duffel bag and remove a silver canister. “I need to spread the ashes of my best friend. The only brother I knew before you. V might never have come here, but this is the most beautiful place I’ve ever seen, and it only seems right to lay him to rest in beauty and peace.”
I leave off that I might not have another chance to do it, because Marco knows that already.
His lips curl into a rueful smile. “Of course. It is only fitting. The middle of the lake perhaps?”
I nod, and he takes his position at the helm and backs the boat away from the dock before sending us throttling outward across the water.
As the rising sun creates a moment of heart-stopping beauty, he slows until we’re barely moving, and I uncap the urn.
“Rest in peace, Alexander Victorious. May God bless your soul and keep you safe in the hereafter. I love you, brother.”
As his ashes hit the water, the tears I held back all morning slide down my cheeks, unchecked.
“You left this world a hero, just like you wanted. Be at peace, my old friend. You deserve it.”
Chapter Forty-One
Lachlan
Marco and I don’t speak much until we reach cruising altitude aboard a different jet than the one that brought us to Italy. The manhunt is on, and I have absolutely no intention of being swept up in it. DuFort has his game, and I have mine. We have two completely different outcomes in mind, but my will is stronger than his. My power is greater than his. There is nothing—and I mean, nothing—that will keep me from returning to Italy to my wife and daughter, short of death itself. I’ve made peace with my own mortality. I don’t get to decide or know when this life of mine is going to end. That’s not up to me. I only get to choose what I do with each day I’m given.
And right now, that choice is to ensure that I don’t leave a single trace that would give anyone any reason to look for me, my wife, or my daughter ever again. We will disappear forever after I’m done. We will no longer exist.
Which means that, finally, we will have peace and a chance at a future untainted by the darkness of my past.
I knew when I drew Keira into the shadows of my life, nothing would ever be the same. I had no right to interfere in her life, but I couldn’t stop myself. I was drawn to her like an iron filing to a magnet. I couldn’t stay away from her. I couldn’t resist, no matter how hard I tried.
I knew she would become my greatest vulnerability, but I had no idea that she would become my greatest strength. If not for her and Aurora, I would have no motivation to leave the past behind. Those moments on my library floor are still all too vivid in my mind. The pain of realizing what I had become and seeing firsthand how it hurt those I love … nothing else could have brought me to my knees. Nothing else could have made me want to change.
In the silence of my own introspection, I can see why I couldn’t resist Keira. It all makes sense now. She was brought into my world for this very reason—to be the catalyst that led to this moment. A moment that has been a long time coming, even if I didn’t realize it.
I know what I have to do. My empire might have begun crumbling with Aurora’s kidnapping, but it was only because it was time. Now, I must demolish it once and for all.
My future has always been waiting for me, but I had no idea that I even had a future waiting. In the darkness, I couldn’t see beyond my own pain and protecting those I loved. But with one revelation, the world I thought I knew gave way to a grander experience I’d had no idea I could access.
The worst moments in my life led me to the greatest opportunity I’ve ever been given. If that isn’t enough to make someone believe in a higher power, I don’t know what is. All I can do now is hope that higher power is going to help me pull off the biggest job of my life—making the world believe I don’t exist.
I can do it. I know I can.
With my determination locked in, my motivation stronger than ever, and faith I’ve never had before, I lean back into the plush cushions of the seat and let out a yawn. My entire body relaxes, as if knowing that this is the calm before the storm. I meet Marco’s gaze, grateful that he has left me to my thoughts until this moment.
“Thank you for coming.”
His lips quirk with a smile. “You couldn’t have stopped me. Literally. We have multiple jets.”
I burst out laughing. “I didn’t know I could love having a brother.”
“I did.” Marco’s smile is genuine and easy.
It’s hard to imagine that any of this feels normal or even okay to someone like him, but here he is. Whether it’s out of duty, loyalty, or love, or a combination of all three, I don’t really know. Either way, I’m grateful he wants to make sure that I make it back in one piece. I already know that Marco will make it back safely, or I will die in my attempts to make it so.
I refuse to cause pain to another person—ever again—as a consequence of the choices and decisions I made. If anyone is to suffer as a result of what I became, then it must be me alone. I alone am responsible for Lachlan Mount. I made those decisions. I made those choices. They might have been out of survival and necessity, but I still made them. Never again will I create such a hell.
Instantly, as if out of nowhere, the truth appears in my mind. This is why I avoided love. I always knew it would bring me face-to-face with the truth of what I’d become.
No one wants to admit that they’ve created the hell of their own world, and yet I know it’s true. I was the only one there for each moment and each decision.
Love forced me to face the truth, and now, love is going to help me write a brand-new story with a completely different ending.
