Page 188 of Morally Black Betrothal

Shares, gone. Board seat, gone.

My legacy.

Gone.

I finished the last page and held it out to Huntington. “You want this? Let her go.”

He sneered. “First, you disarm your men. They put their weapons on the floor and sit next to you.”

“And then you leave us the fuck alone.”

Huntington just stared.

I turned to Mac, who was already shaking his head in disapproval. “Do it. Bring the others.”

My head of security, looking very much like he wanted to murder Huntington and his other men, barked a few orders. He then released Huntington’s two men, and all four of my security team abandoned their weapons and somehow managed to cram their big bodies to the floor beside me, leaving a clear lane for Huntington to leave.

“Done.” I tossed the contract to the floor where Huntington still stood, that fucking gunstillaimed at Simone’s head. “Now, let her go. And get the fuck off my property.”

Huntington gestured at his own men to collect the contract. They all pulled out their guns and pointed them at us. And it was only then that Huntington finally dropped his from Simone and allowed them to shelter him on his way out the door.

“See you at the next board meeting,” he called on his way out.

I didn’t answer. I was too busy cutting Simone loose from the chair and pulling her into my arms.

“Mac?” I called over my shoulder.

“On it.”

I barely noticed the way he and two of his men crept out of the building while one stayed behind to administer aid to Simone’s sleeping sister and Kylie.

I was too busy consoling my girl.

“I’m here, baby,” I said as I picked her up, if only to take her seat and gather her onto my lap. “I’m here. You’re safe, I promise.”

“Selena,” she mumbled, shoulders shaking. “Kylie.”

I glanced at where the little girl was sitting next to her mother, trying to revive her along with the security agent. Selena coughed as her eyes opened, though she was clearly still groggy. “They’re safe now. You’re all safe.”

Her eyes finally lifted, glassy with tears. “I’m so sorry.”

“Angel.” I stroked her hair, dusty and wet with tears, out of her face. She’d never looked more beautiful. “What the fuck are you talking about?”

“I shouldn’t have left without talking to you. I thought—God, I was so mad, Brendan, but I shouldn’t have?—”

“Stop.” I swiped her tears away with my thumbs. “It’s not your fault—that’s on me. If I hadn’t been so goddamn selfish…if I hadn’t been such a heartless prick from the beginning, or at least told you what was going on, none of this would have happened?—”

“But—”

“But nothing,” I cut her off gently then because I had to drop a kiss onto that perfect mouth.

A sigh rumbled deep in my chest.

Home.

That word again.

It wasn’t anything to do with my house or her apartment or bread or anything other than her.