Page 52 of Savage Promises (Quinlan Empire #2)

Shane

A fter two weeks in Waterford with Blade, tracking down Uncle Finn for my father’s memorial service and then finding out he’s in jail and won’t be out until August, I push into my house with even more dread in my heart.

Behind the old speckled glass and wooden entry door, the house is empty. Except for Liz. She lives in the background of my life. The silence wraps around me, thick and suffocating, crushing my ribs like a vise. The only sound is the blood rushing through my ears, screaming the ugly truth.

Lennox is gone.

I don’t know why I expected anything else. I fucking kicked her out. Told her I didn’t want to ever see her again. Christ, I wasn’t prepared for how final it would feel. How it’s tearing at my insides like sharp-as-fuck knives.

“Put those in my room,” I tell my guard holding my suitcases.

I jog ahead up the stairs, my steps heavy. Turning right at the landing, I walk slowly to Lennox’s bedroom.

Or what used to be her bedroom.

I open the door, welcoming the punishing scent of Lennox’s perfume to remind me I made the biggest mistake of my life.

But I don’t smell Lennox, who filled my heart with joy. Only whiffs of furniture polish and antiseptic greet me.

Every trace of the life that once filled this space is erased. My chest tightens as I scan the room. The bed is perfectly made like it’s never been slept in. Like I’ve never fucked her in this bed and dirtied up those sheets or slammed that damn headboard into the sheetrock while I came inside her.

It’s like none of it ever happened. Am I going mad?

I open the dresser drawers gawking at their emptiness. The closet door hangs open, revealing a row of bare hangers.

I swallow hard. She took everything.

Except for the lingerie she wore on our wedding night. It sits on the same hook. A scalding reminder of my fuck up.

“Liz!” I yell to my housekeeper.

She hurries in, her expression alarmed. “Yes, sir?”

I turn to her, fury bubbling under my skin. “I told you not to touch this room.”

Her eyes widen in fear from my tone, and she steps back. “ I didn’t, Mr. Quinlan. I swear.”

I clench my jaw. “Then why does it smell like cleaning products?”

Liz hesitates before speaking. “She cleaned it, sir. Your...wife. Before she left. She scrubbed every inch. On her hands and knees. I offered to do it, but she refused. I think... I think she was getting rid of the cat dander.”

My stomach drops.

Hawk.

My allergies. She wanted me to be comfortable to the point that she scrubbed her hands raw. For me.

What the fuck have I done?

That damn allergy patch I’ve been wearing for months itches. I find it on my arm and rip it off. It feels like tearing out a piece of my heart.

I turn to leave, unable to take another second of looking at this empty bedroom, at my failure, but something catches my eye under the bed. Something small, half-hidden in the shadows. Frowning, I lower to my hands and knees, reaching beneath the frame. My fingers close around something soft .

A cat toy.

A little worn-out plush mouse.

I sit back on my heels, holding it close to my face. I breathe it in, wanting to sneeze. Wanting my eyes to itch and burn. To feel something other than my heart breaking.

Nothing.

“The brain builds up antibodies,” Liz says gently.

I huff out a sad and hollow laugh. “When do you think I’ll grow immune to this heartache?”

She doesn’t answer, and I don’t expect her to.

I examine the toy, trying not to cry. The fabric is slightly frayed from Hawk’s claws. Tears well up. A hollow ache burns my lungs. Every breath stings. There’s no patch for that. Or is there?

“I have a roast in the oven for you.” Liz turns to leave. “You’ve had a long trip. You need a good meal.”

I stand, still gripping the toy in my hand, and head downstairs.

The smell of the roast finally reaches my famished senses.

But I stop in my tracks, seeing my living room filled with men.

Giant, powerful, and imposing men with square jaws and hair like mine but in various shades of copper, auburn, and mahogany.

Ewan, Griffin, Connor, Trace, and Rhys are lined up in front of the fireplace, their eyes watching me carefully. A bottle of whiskey sits open on the coffee table, glasses waiting to be filled.

“We’re here to check on you, little brother,” Ewan says, reminding me I’m the youngest.

“Making sure you weren’t drinking alone,” Connor adds.

I sigh, scrubbing a hand down my face. “I’m fine.”

Griffin cocks an eyebrow and roughly mutters, “You don’t look fine.”

The head of Quinlan Empire has a double interest in my sanity. We never established anything formal as far as who’s underboss. I’m Griffin’s fixer. But I can’t fix myself. Or the mess I’ve made.

I sink onto the sofa as Griffin pours a glass and slides it toward me. “Garrett closed Club Echelon,” he says. “Moved to California. He’s clean and looking after Neve at USC.”

“That was money well spent.” I exhale slowly, relief and frustration warring inside me. “Where’s Richard?”

Griffin shakes his head, a silent admission of his mistake to let him work for us. “Gone. Disappeared. Lennox didn’t give her father anything from her settlement,” he adds.

She didn’t cave. She didn’t give in. That’s my girl.

For months I hesitated killing that useless gobshite. The man is a drunk and a coward. He treated both his daughters like shit. He deserves nothing but a bullet between the eyes.

I stare at Ewan, Griffin, and Trace. We’re all cut from the same cloth. They got out of their way and made it work with their women. And neither of them had an easy time of it.

But they didn’t give up.

Did I...give up?

“I... I have to see Lennox.”

Griffin and Connor exchange looks.

“You should probably give her some time,” Connor speaks up, of all people.

“Says the single guy,” I snort. “I’ve been gone two weeks. I just...need to talk to her.”

When more objections start dropping from their lips, I bolt from the sofa and head for my front door.

“I need my Vette,” I say to Creed, who lingers by the stairs.

After listening to the conversation, he seems to have joined Team Quinlan Empire to keep me away from my wife. I glance out the window and see the young guard who let Hawk escape leaning against my Sentinel.

The tank will have to do.

Not saying goodbye to my uninvited guests, I storm out of the house.

Creed chases after me, but he’s greeted by my gun pointed at his chest. “Let me go. I know where you live.”

He pales and steps back.

“You,” I call out to the young guard after I put my gun away. “Give me the keys to the Sentinel. Now. ”

Tight-jawed, Creed nods and the young guard tosses them to me. Not looking back, I get in my car.

Driving like a man possessed, I blow through red lights and weave through traffic like I have nothing to lose. I don’t. Not without Lennox.

I’m a corpse without Lennox.

By the time I spot her Benz pulling into the parking lot next to Luxe, my pulse is already out of control. I cut the wheel hard, jump the curb, and block her path with my Sentinel.

She slams her brakes, bringing the old Mercedes to within inches of taking out the nose of my 500k SUV.

I’m already out of my car, my heart thundering like it might punch through my ribs. “Lennox!”

Dorian flies out of a different car I don’t recognize. His gun pointed at me, he yells, “What’s the problem, boss?”

Lennox gets out of her car and freezes when she sees me. Her mouth dips open, but nothing comes out. She looks different. Not angry. Not bitter. Just...tired. Empty.

And too fucking far from me, even standing ten feet away. “Shane? What are you doing?”

I take a step closer. Then another. Then drop to my knees on the pavement.

“Lennox...” My voice cracks, useless. I’ve been useless since I came home to an empty goddamn house.

“Please. I was wrong. I was so fucking wrong, Lennox. I thought pushing you away would keep both our hearts safe. I thought I could bury what I feel for you, but I can’t.

I don’t want to. I love you. I love you. ”

She still doesn’t speak. Just stares at me like I’ve lost my mind.

Maybe I have.

“Lennox, Lenny, baby, lioness, I will spend the rest of my life making this right,” I push out with a hoarse broken tone.

“Why? Why now?” she asks, holding her stomach.

God, I make her sick.

“I came home and you were gone.” My chest caves in with the memory.

“Your scent was gone . You took away the only thing I could have held on to. And the silence... That’s what I deserve, I know.

But I swear to God, Lennox, I’ll do anything.

I want nothing except you. We can go on a goddamn one-year African Safari.

Just you and me. Alone. You’re all I want. ”

“You’d...leave your brothers?” She sounds so fucking shocked.

I cackle a laugh. “In a heartbeat, baby. I’ll do anything if it means getting one more shot with you.” I crawl forward on my knees just to be close enough to touch her. I’d crawl through glass, fire, a hail of bullets for her.

I reach for her hand, but someone grabs my shoulder hard, yanking me back.

Dorian.

He steps between us like a wall.

“Move,” I snarl, rising to my feet, fury lacing through my grief. “You work for me. ”

“No,” he says calmly, shielding her with his body. “I work for her. ”

“It’s too late, Shane,” Lennox breaks. “You threw me out of your house !”

“I know. I’m sorry. Please.”

Shaking her head, she says, “You’re just like everyone else. You only want me when you need me. I can’t... Not now.” She wipes her tears away and runs inside the club.

She doesn’t look back as Dorian guides her inside. Through the glass doors, I see him get on his phone. Fuck. I know the call he’s making.

I stand there like a goddamn ghost in the night, shaking from the inside out. I lost her. Again . But by the time I get back to my car, I see I have a bigger problem.

Ewan, Griffin, Connor, Trace, and Rhys surround the Sentinel.

“Keys, Shane.” Creed stands up to me after stepping out from behind Quinlan Empire.