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By beco exactly what Marcus had wanted

He’d never spoken out of turn, he’d never cried, he’d never protested; he’d obediently waited for every order to be given, noso ingrained in him that there were times I’d actually come to wonder if he’d tell Marcus about my efforts to befriend him

He hadn’t, butMarcus to own hiht when I’d learned that the young man had told Marcus about his brother’s rescue attempt I’d only just walked into the uards had searched me out to infored to track Aleks down and, along with his lover, had tried to rescue the youngAleks had beenin his own rescue, Aleks had ione to Marcus and told hiet to hireenhouse on the mansion’s expansive property It was also the one place Aleks didn’t have to have an escort with hi at the time

Fro rescued that night because his brother and the er boyfriend had been more than capable of the task But Aleks had betrayed his own flesh and blood because Marcus Parks had been God to Aleks He’ds he’d had to endure over the years to learn that particular lesson…

Dante’s tiet what I needed froht I’d been so close to co for for years, but thehad been called off when Marcus had learned of the rescue operation I hadn’t even had tinus DuCane, because the scene I’d walked in on after killing the guard who’d coet rid of some bodies had been utter chaos, and I’d had only seconds to react

I’d thrown open the door to the study just in tiun at Aleks, who’d looked disoriented as he’d leaned heavily against Marcus’s desk It’d taken only a split second for old letter opener sticking out of Marcus’s back and I’d pulled the trigger just as Marcus’s own trigger finger had begun to h Marcus’s throat Blood had sprayed everywhere as he’dsound and then pitched forward onto the desk, knocking Aleks to the ground in the process I hadn’t given in to the i uards in the room There’d been two other ly unharnored them as I’d hurried to Aleks He’d let me pull him to his feet and when I’d seen the fresh bruises on his face, I’d felt that last chink infor Parks, he hadn’t once struck Aleks because the young ly obedient

But soht of the punishment Aleks had received for his act of rebellion had shattered that wall that’d had about a million cracks in it,man for the first ti that final bullet through Marcus’s brain

I’d nus out of there, but then I’d been in darab the notebook where I’d often seen Marcus jotting notes and then I’d torched thethe authorities into a world they were ill-equipped to handle, but to cover my own trail as well It’d been my only chance to not blowhad undone years of hard work, but I wasn’t giving up And Aleks was safe… that was all that had mattered

Well, he had been safe

Fuck, how had this all gone so wrong?

I glanced at him in the blackness of the car He hadn’t moved or spoken in a while… not since I’d told him I couldn’t take him home and he’d let out the tiniest of choked sobs as tears had flowed down his cheeks I knew I should have told hi then and there, but there was this part of me that just wanted to spare him the truth I wanted to pretend that none of this was happening and he was still safely tucked away in his little flower shop and living with his brother But to tell hi, and I just didn’t