Bitter Truths Read online

  “We can do that. I’ll do anything. When do you want to start with these kids?” he asked, dropping a hungry kiss to her lips.

  “Not right now. We need to find out who is responsible for taking your money, and my family’s death.”

  “First, we need to dump you in the bath.”

  He pulled out of her tight pussy, reluctantly. He wanted to stay inside her for the rest of his life. Picking her up, he carried her toward the bathroom.

  She moved him out of the way, putting the plug in, and filling it with water as he got rid of the condom.

  “I’m going to have to get used to you being so independent.”

  “You betcha, and I wasn’t touching that condom,” she said. “Can I ask you a question?”

  “You can ask me anything.”

  “When was the last time you were with a woman?” He turned toward her, seeing her cheeks flush once again. “You know I’ve not been with anyone else. I have evidence.”

  He sighed.

  “That’s not a good sound.”

  “The night we first met.”

  “What about it?”

  “I was with a woman about an hour, maybe more before we first met.”

  “Oh.”

  “I was taking care of business. It meant nothing. Sex, fucking, it had no meaning. It was just something I had to do, felt like I had to do. I’ve not been with anyone since you. Unless you count this.” He held up his hand.

  “You cheated on me with your hand?”

  “I know. You’ll have to spank him.”

  She chuckled.

  “You’re not mad?”

  “Why would I be mad?”

  “Some women get a little angry when they find out that men have been with other women.”

  “That was before I was around. If I’d had time screwing around, you wouldn’t have a problem would you?” she asked.

  “I would have a problem. I wouldn’t be able to do anything about it.”

  “Same.” She shrugged. “I catch you with another woman from this day forward, say goodbye to your little fella.”

  “Little fella?” he asked, laughing.

  She climbed into the bath, taking a seat, and trying to cover up her wince. “Yeah, I heard Sarah say it the other day, all posh. It was cute.”

  Oliver climbed into the tub behind her. “There’s no way you could call my dick little.”

  “I could call it whatever I wanted if it’s the truth.” She glanced up at him. “We both know the truth.”

  She winked at him, and he relaxed.

  “I have a feeling you’re going to be keeping me on my toes.”

  “Correct.”

  He wrapped his arms around her, knowing in his heart that he wouldn’t have it any other way. Ruby was his. He loved her more than anything, and that love was only going to grow.

  “What are you thinking?” she asked.

  “That I want to make you happy.”

  “You’re already making me happy, Oliver. Am I making you happy?”

  “Yes, more than you know.” He kissed the top of her head, breathing in her scent.

  Chapter Eleven

  “This is madness.”

  Gabriel Colton smiled as he listened to the traitor’s worries. “You should have thought about that years ago. You always promised my father, and now me that you would serve us loyally, and you have.”

  “You’re asking me to make sure Tamsin is vulnerable so you can take her. What do you intend to do?”

  “I intend to make the Dentons experience a world of hurt,” Gabriel said. “After all, they were happy to punish us, and I’m sure Tamsin would go for a pretty penny at auction.” Before the man could argue, Gabriel ordered him to get the job done, and slammed the phone down.

  “Why do you torture the poor man?” Emma Colton asked.

  “Because it’s easy, and I can. There’s nothing wrong with it. Besides, he owes us. We have nothing to lose, or anyone else in this world.” Gabriel got up from his desk and paced the length of the office. He stared out of the window, and smiled as he took in the casino across the way. They didn’t even know he owned the building.

  “We don’t auction off children, not since we found out the truth, and made sure that side of our business was over. We never agreed with what our parents and their friends did. We’re going to create a new path.”

  Emma hated that they had to deal with that area of their legacy. Fucking hated it, as did he. He despised his father, and was sickened by the men and women who bought and sold children like they were cattle.

  Nothing would ever happen to Tamsin. He was a monster, but young girls were safe from him. There were standards that he upheld. It would be interesting if he could turn the young girl against her family.

  In the last few years, he’d done a lot of investigating, and what he discovered had made his previous actions against the Dentons all the more important. He was angry at them, especially Maddox. There was shit that he knew that Maddox’s sons didn’t know, and he didn’t have a clue what to do with that information. Attacking them seemed the first and most logical first step in announcing their revenge. But then, Gabriel wasn’t sure what move to make because everything was so fucked up.

  “I still can’t believe our own father did that,” Wyatt said. “I don’t want to believe that not only of him, but others who wanted to sell and use kids themselves. Those auctions were a huge success. We grew up on that money.”

  “I know. Are we still in the process of locating the children that were taken?” Owen asked.

  Gabriel’s family, his closest friends, all looked to him for guidance. “I have some contacts right now, working to resolve our family’s shame. Until then, I want to make the Dentons suffer.”

  He stared at the casino. The Dentons should have wiped out every single Colton instead of allowing them to live. Gabriel wanted them to pay for ruining them, and in a way, destroying their lives. Maddox Denton had ruined Gabriel’s life before he’d even been born. He, Emma, Wyatt, and Owen, all had to deal with the shame of their family because the Dentons made sure they couldn’t run from it. For Gabriel, the death of all of his family, his family’s allies had actually been a good thing. They were all monsters, and the world was better for them being gone. They had all died, giving him the chance to finally take over. What they didn’t know was that their father had promised he would never ever get the chance of being the head of the Coltons’ empire. None of them knew the truth.

  For Gabriel, he knew why he’d been saved, and not killed when he should have been. His brothers and sister didn’t understand the lies he’d told as to why he lived. He had been allowed to leave. Old man Denton had stared at him down the barrel of his gun, and been unable to pull the trigger. He’d whispered Maddox’s name, and there had been a great deal of anger in that word. Still, Gabriel knew the truth, and as for his siblings, they had all been spared because they were under the age of eighteen. The Dentons held it as a point of honor that no child under eighteen should be killed. Emma had been lucky, as she was five weeks away from turning eighteen when they were wiped out.

  The other element of their survival that his siblings didn’t know about was the money that the old man told Gabriel to take, to keep, and to have a life. The old Denton man had wanted Gabriel gone so no one knew his weakness. Maddox Denton had fucked up many years ago, and Gabriel was the living, breathing proof of that, and he wanted to take that knowledge to his grave.

  “Why make them suffer?” Emma asked. “The more I think about what we’re doing, the more I don’t see what good it would actually do. Our family and all of their associates are monsters. We’re monsters.”

  “Retaliation,” he said. “They thought we were weak, which is why they’ve left us alone. That I don’t accept.” Gabriel stared across at the casino, and knew the rage inside him wouldn’t be eased. His brothers and sister didn’t understand. They never would.

  There was only two ways for the Coltons in this world: de
ath, or to fight, destroying their enemies, and creating a new path for themselves.

  ****

  Ruby giggled as Oliver tickled her. They had been together for the past two days, and she didn’t want it to end. The real world would be calling soon, and with it their responsibilities.

  “Stop,” she said.

  He had already made it up to her with regards to the pain from her first time. They had decided to stay in, ordered Mexican food, and spent the whole night making love, and fucking. They even had the porn channel on to see if they could keep up.

  “I’m not stopping.”

  Oliver attacked her ribs, and she bit his arm, trying to get him to stop. He wouldn’t let her go, and it was all too much.

  His cell phone ringing made them both pause. “We knew our silence wouldn’t last forever.”

  She pouted but sat up, waiting for him to finish his phone call.

  “What? When?”

  The panic in his voice made her turn toward him. He was running his fingers through his hair. “She okay?” Seconds passed. “Fuck. I’ll be there right away.”

  He hung up the phone, and turned to her.

  “What is it?” She was worried.

  “Someone tried to take Tamsin from school. They broke into the playground, and tried to snatch her. If it wasn’t for her guards, they would have succeeded, too.”

  “Oh my God, did they capture whoever tried to take her?”

  “No. He got away. The kids are all being interviewed, and the guards are as well. It happened so fast.”

  “What about Tamsin?”

  “She’s scared. Clearly shaken. This is the first time anyone has actually tried to take a kid before. Even a Denton kid. I need to get over there. This is completely unheard of.”

  “Yeah. I can imagine.” She picked up the piece of paper that they had been working on for the past few hours, before they got distracted. “Anyone here you think could be responsible?”

  “No, and that is what scares me.”

  “Why?”

  “Everyone on that list I would give my life for, Ruby. The stuff they know, it can hurt the Dentons.”

  “You need to face the fact that someone on this list will not die for you, or anyone else, Oliver. We need to find out who this is before someone else gets hurt.”

  She stood up and made her way into the bedroom. Changing into a pair of jeans and one of Oliver’s shirts, she packed away her blade, and the now cleaned gun she’d gotten from her father’s desk.

  Maddox was still pestering her about what to do with her home. It wasn’t really her home, and she hadn’t been back there since she’d gotten the files that Lionel had left for her.

  Oliver was waiting for her. He held his arms open, and she went to them.

  “I’m sorry we have to burst our bubble.” He kissed her lips, and she melted like she always did.

  “It’s fine. It’s not really, but I have to deal with it. It’s what we do.”

  They held hands on the way down to the car, and even when they were inside the car, they held hands. She stared at their locked fingers, knowing that this was her life now. She was happy, content, finally, after so long.

  The drive was uneventful, and she knew without asking that Oliver was worried about his sister.

  There were several parked cars already in the private driveway when they got there, and they didn’t wait around to be greeted.

  Entering the Dentons’ family home, they found the family in the living room. Tamsin was hugging her uncle Rick as they entered. She looked pale and scared.

  “You gave me a fucking fright,” Oliver said, moving in, and pulling her into his arms. They were all close. Anyone who took the time to look could see that the Dentons were a family at heart. They were close.

  Tamsin was nearly thirteen, and was clearly shaken up by what she’d just gone through.

  “I’m so sorry,” Tamsin said.

  “You’ve got nothing to be sorry for,” Oliver said.

  “The school has already been given a warning. I told them I don’t accept this, and until I’m satisfied that the bastard was caught, she’s not going back to school. Even with guards, they tried to take her.”

  Ruby leaned against the doorframe, watching the room. Jacob, Lou, their two children were sitting on one sofa. Abel held his son, and Harper was beside him. Landon and Sarah were standing together. Gideon and Damian were there, along with Rick and Mandy.

  She also noticed Bruce, Charlotte’s personal bodyguard, was in the room.

  Tamsin pulled away and moved toward Ruby’s side. “Do you think I’ll be safe with you? No more hugs.”

  “I thought you didn’t mind hugs.”

  “I don’t, but now they’re going to treat me like a child. Now more than ever. I wish I could go back and hurt the man who tried to take me. I’ve never been so scared in my life.”

  “It’s understandable, sweetie. What you went through was scary. Did you recognize him?” Ruby asked.

  “No. I was totally shocked. I thought he was a teacher or something. Then when he just grabbed me, threw me over his shoulder, I panicked. I didn’t even hit him, Ruby. It was so embarrassing. I screamed for help. I didn’t even kick out. I just screamed. My brothers have to fight all the time. They do fight, and they’re good at it.”

  “Something like that can scare us, Tamsin. You should be thankful that you’re alive, and you’re safe. Not many girls in that situation can. Don’t dwell on the bad stuff, okay? You’re safe, and you shouldn’t think you’ve done something wrong.”

  “I like you, Ruby. You don’t talk down to me like a kid.”

  “You’re thirteen.”

  “In three weeks.”

  “Still, you’re old enough to know this stuff.” She patted her shoulder just as her cell phone went off. “I need to get this. You okay to keep our doorway secured?”

  “Yep.”

  Ruby left the room, heading out toward the backyard so she didn’t have to worry about anyone sneaking up.

  “Lewis, it’s about time that you got back to me.”

  “Yeah, well, what I’m about to tell you won’t be such good news.”

  “You cracked Lionel’s code.”

  “Hell yeah. Your brother would have made one hell of a detective. Honestly, the shit he knows here, no wonder it got him killed.”

  She rubbed her chest at the spike of pain that struck her. His death still hurt.

  “I’m sorry, Ruby.”

  “It’s fine. You’re only saying what’s right. So, what did you find out?” she asked.

  “Lionel didn’t get the guy’s identity right away. In fact he kept what he was doing secret from the Dentons for a good six months. A year before Lionel was killed, he noticed a payment for a chemical on one of the accounts.”

  “So?”

  “It was a chemical used for cleaning stables.”

  “I don’t get it.”

  “The Coltons ran stables. It’s where their auctions took place, Ruby. The girls were kept there, and as a cover, they used actual stables, to hide the evidence. Think about it, animals could be pretty damn noisy.”

  “It would cover up sounds from screaming kids,” Ruby said.

  “Yeah, but why the fuck was an employee ordering a chemical for a job that was clearly not his?”

  “Okay. What happened? Why suddenly order something like that?” Ruby asked.

  “The guy fucked up, and Lionel finally got evidence of the guy making transactions. His name, two different cards for two different families.”

  “The Coltons and the Dentons.”

  “Yes. Lionel set a trap, and this guy walked right into it.”

  “What kind of trap?”

  “He set up a meet, using the Coltons’ details. Lionel knew everything about the Coltons, and he was able to do it. According to Lionel’s information, on the day he was killed, he went to the café.”

  Ruby froze, recalling the day.

  “I want a cinnamon
bun,” Ruby said.

  “You will have one. Remember, we’re here because we were out shopping.”

  “I’ve got your back, Lionel. Why are we here?”

  “To see who turns up.”

  Pulling out of the memory, Ruby didn’t need to hear the rest of what Lewis had to say. She had been at the café that day. She knew who Lionel had talked to. There was only one person who would know the full details of what her brother was doing, who had the complete security codes of the basements, who would know Tamsin’s school day. Dropping the phone, she grabbed her gun, and headed inside.

  She didn’t stop. Her heart was pounding, and for the second time in her life, she was terrified.

  Pointing the gun, she knew Maddox caught sight of her.

  “Ruby, what are you doing?” he asked.

  She wasn’t looking at him, nor was she looking at any of the Denton’s in the room. No, she was staring at the bodyguard, at Bruce. The Dentons’ loyal bodyguard. The one put on Charlotte’s detail, who took Tamsin to work. The one who had access to every single file in Maddox’s office. At any time he could be in the house, the casino, anywhere. No one would think twice.

  Their traitor was Bruce.

  Lionel looked toward the door, and Ruby watched as he tensed up. Only people who knew her brother well could see the disappointment in his eyes. Whoever he was seeing today, Lionel was hoping they were wrong.

  “Bruce, how are you doing?” Lionel asked.

  “I’m doing good. What are you doing here?”

  Ruby smiled. “I asked for him to take me shopping.” She shoved her foot out. “I need new shoes, but my brother is a grouch when he doesn’t have breakfast, so we stopped by for a snack.”

  Lionel had hoped he was wrong about Bruce. He’d wanted someone else to step into the café.

  “Ruby, babe, what is going on?”

  “You did it. You had access to everything, and you double crossed them,” she said.

  “I don’t know who you think you are,” Bruce said.

  He was one of the men from that night. She knew it, down to every fiber of her being, she knew it. “The Dentons are always the boss, right?” she asked.