Beyond Redemption (Marked Series Book 2)

by Jesse Lorenzo

  “When my mom’s fists couldn’t hurt me anymore, she found another way to hurt me… pumping me full of drugs for weeks at a time. Then she’d laugh manically when I suffered through agonizing withdrawals, when she kept the drugs from me. It got so bad at home, I had to make a decision: leave home that night, or stay and slowly die that way. I finally had enough and said, ‘Fuck this shit’. Any place was better than home.

  “I walked into one of those battered women’s shelters. It was a very big step for me. But starting over is easy when you are used to having nothing or no one in the first place.”

  Eva closed her eyes for a moment. Her face lifted up to the ceiling. It looked like she was silently praying. Everyone in the circle was one-hundred percent completely engulfed in her story. She affected everyone around her; Giddeon wasn’t the only one.

  “It felt amazing to finally have freedom and control over my own life. It’s like, with that freedom, I could finally feel what it was like to start living. I was brought to group sessions here by one of the counsellors there. But, like everything else in my life, I struggled to quit. And, once I quit, I struggled to stay sober. It has always been a constant battle to tamp down the beast that’s hiding deep inside me, waiting to break free. Waiting for its next fix.”

  Giddeon’s mind snapped to attention at her words. His Angel also struggled with a beast. This is very interesting.

  “I’ve been sober for twenty-six months now with no relapses. I used to think hope was unreachable, dangerous to want. That is, until someone offered me their help. They gave me a chance at a normal life and showed me there was another way. There is always another choice that can take you in a completely different direction than where you were headed. You just have to have the strength to reach for it. Now, I hold on to hope. It’s as important to me as the air I breathe.”

  Giddeon couldn’t wrap his head around a parent… a mother especially, dragging her daughter into hell with her, just so she wouldn’t suffer alone. A mother is supposed to shield and protect their child, no matter the cost. It infuriated him. If he ever came face to face with that woman and… “Did your step-father… did Rob… force himself… on you?” Giddeon wasn’t sure where those words came from, or how they left his mouth on their own.

  Eva’s eyes widened into two enormous saucers, surprised by the gall he had to ask her such a question, and because he broke the protocol of listening only. Her mouth opened and shut several times, knocked completely off guard. Her silence had Giddeon’s gut twisting and turning itself into knots. The longer she sat quiet, the more he had to know. “Please, Angel. Please, tell me…”

  “No! Oh, God, no! My mother would’ve cut him up into tiny pieces and ate them before she’d have let that happen. She was far too jealous of a person. No. Thankfully, I never had to endure that kind of hell.”

  Air he wasn’t aware he was holding rushed out of his lungs forcefully, easing his worried discomfort. All he could do was nod, grateful for that tiny miracle. He had no words. If anyone ever touched his Angel, he would tear the flesh right off their bones.

  All he could do was sit and stare at her. He really admired her. No, he was in awe of her. She was far braver than Giddeon was at that age. His beautiful Angel had a magnificent inner strength that he wished he possessed.

  The group sat in a deafening silence, waiting for something. He wasn’t sure what. Eva sat picking at the loose threads hanging at the hemline of her shirt. Her mind was still stuck in her painful past. One more cleansing breath later, she picked up her head. Meeting his gaze head on, she took Giddeon’s breath away. She was mesmerizing.

  For several uninterrupted moments, they stared at one another. The rest of the world fell away; all that remained was the broken monster and his guardian Angel. Her gaze never faltered as she continued to search his eyes. For the first time in his life, he wondered what she thought of when she looked at him.

  Giddeon watched in fascination as her pink tongue darted out to wet her dry lips. He fixated on the movement, daydreaming about what her lips would taste like if he ran his tongue along its seam and how her plump lips would feel pressed against his.

  He was brought out of his pleasurable daydream and back to the present when the girl in question, not so subtly, cleared her throat. Those thoughts… Where the hell had they come from? He must have been losing his mind. Shaking his head, he hoped it’d shake out those wayward thoughts as well. He ran his hands through his mess of hair, repeating the motion several times, getting the courage to look back at her.

  With an arched brow, she slowly cocked her head to the side. A smirk grew steadily before turning into a full blown smile, tempting Giddeon… drawing him to her. She was killing him. He’d have given anything to climb inside that head of hers. What was she thinking about?

  “Giddeon… It’s your turn.”

  Oh… Shit.

  Eva spoke up. “What led you here to me?” She faltered, catching her slip on words. Giddeon’s eyes dilated, catching sight of her growing blush. This is very interesting indeed.

  “I mean, what led you here… to us, that is?”

  Shit! Talk about a mood damper. He didn’t want to talk about his shitty, fucked up life. He wanted to take her into an empty room and find other things to do with their time.

  “That’s a very loaded question, Angel. I’m not sure I can answer that.” Giddeon watched as her eyebrows pinched together in a cute mixture of confusion and curiosity. Eva was trying just as hard to figure him out, as he was trying to figure her out.

  “Well, what was the cause that led you to your…umm, addiction?” Eva hoped that he would open up. She was dying to find out more about this mysterious and dangerous man. She doubted that she’d get much out of him, but she was determined to find out. No matter how many sessions it took, she would find out more.

  Giddeon rubbed the back of his neck up and down several times, over and over. “Shit! I don’t know where to begin.” Eva leaned in closer to him, giving him her undivided attention. The dark, broken man struggled to think with the smell of his Angel’s intoxicating perfume wafting over and wrapping itself around him.

  “The… cause…” He caught himself repeating the words out loud as his mind cast him back into the darkest part of his past. Countless moments ticked by before he was able to open his mouth again. “I… I watched as my parents were brutally butchered to death.”

  Eva gasped in shock. “Where were you, Giddeon, when it happened?” The emotionally checked-out man almost didn’t hear her question. It came out soft and quietly. Everyone in the circle was quiet. You could’ve heard a pin drop as they waited to hear more. No one dared look at him, though; they kept their eyes on the floor.

  Giddeon didn’t want their sorrow or their pity. Irritation bubbled up to the surface. He shook his head and brought his thumbs to his temples, pressing the pressure point roughly and concentrating hard on not letting his anger take over. He didn’t want to flip the fuck out. Not again. Not in front of his Angel. If they thought what he’d done to Adam earlier was bad, they definitely didn’t want to be in the same room with him when the beast came out to play.

  His chest heaved as air rushed in and out of his lungs in rapid succession. He couldn’t seem to get enough air. He couldn’t breathe in this tight space, drowning in the stale air in the cramped room. If he didn’t get a grip on himself soon, the all too familiar darkness would cloud over his vision and do something he’d regret later.

  Giddeon leapt out of his chair, abruptly standing. The overly aggressive movement caused his chair to crash to the ground. He had to get out of there. He kicked his chair out of the way so he could leave the tight circle without ramming right through another person.

  “Wait, Giddeon. It’s okay. We’ll only go as far as you want to.” Eva reached out and grabbed his forearm to stop his retreat.

  Yanking his arm away from her with unnecessary force, he roared out so loud the walls vibrated. “Don’t fucking touch me!” He didn’t m
ean to lash out at her. She was the very last person he wanted that to happen to. But, when that need to hurt someone clawed its way out of his black soul to find its next victim, it was over for the unfortunate person standing too close to him.

  He couldn’t let that happen to Eva. He wouldn’t. Taking a chance, he glanced over his shoulder at her. She wasn’t scared. He shook his head at her. She should be scared. Hurt showed in her eyes at his outburst, though she tried hard to hide the useless emotion behind a hard front. Giddeon softened his voice. “Just don’t touch me. Not right now. Okay?” The dark man struggled to take a breath in. He had hurt her, and it twisted at his gut, sickening him.

  The need to comfort her and the sickness inside of him were conflicting emotions, warring inside of him. But, his need to keep from harming her won out. “It’s not you. I just… need a moment to get myself together. Okay, Angel?” He was surprised by how gentle his voice came out sounding.

  Nodding silently, Eva’s expression changed immediately. She understood. After a few minutes of concentrating on his Angel, the red veil of anger that clouded his vision subsided. She had gently tugged him toward his chair by the arm. This time, Eva turned her chair around to face Giddeon in much the same way he had done to her. They sat so close, their knees touched as they faced one another.

  Leaning forward, Eva rested her elbows on her knees, capturing Giddeon with her expressive eyes, pleading with him to go on. “How old were you… when it happened?” His beautiful Angel’s voice was laced thick with heavy emotion. Her unique eyes glistened with unshed tears.

  “Stop! Don’t you dare feel bad for me, Angel. I’m not…” Giddeon hesitated for a moment before moving on. “I’ve done terrible, unspeakable things… I’m a monster.” Eva had to know what he was, and he would be up front with her. She deserved it.

  Eva scrunched her eyebrows at his speech. Whatever he’d done, he definitely wasn’t proud of it. By the broken and lost expression in his eyes, she could tell he had a world of regrets hanging over him. Plaguing him. He definitely wasn’t as heartless and hard as he wanted everyone here to see him as. There was more. Deep down, Eva could see that there was more. She just had to find it and pull it out of him.

  The determined girl shook her head and huffed at him. She flung her arms out to the sides in frustration. “Take a good look around you, Giddeon! We’ve all done terrible, unbelievably unfathomable things.” Giddeon blinked at her statement. He slowly took a good look around the room at the rough, weary, long-suffering eyes of the afflicted members sitting around him.

  He realized that this group probably understood his need more than anyone else. He’d never tell them the depth of his depravity or the lengths he’d go to unleash it. But they were the closest to understanding the beast that resided within him.

  “I was six years old. I was left standing in a pool of their blood.”

  Eva let out a pained moan. Closing her eyes, she pinched the bridge of her nose.

  He didn’t like this look on her face. He definitely didn’t deserve her concern. Before she could ask another question, Giddeon lifted his hand to put a stop to it. “That’s enough. I’m done.”

  “Okay.” She nodded, immediately agreeing with him. She obviously didn’t want to push him any farther. “That’s fine, Giddeon. It’s your story to tell. Thank you for sharing it with me… us.” Everyone in the circle mumbled their thanks out of repetitious habit. Giddeon’s heart constricted when Eva finally broke their eye contact, and she looked around at the other group members.

  “All right, your homework this week is to reflect about what you could’ve done differently to change your path. Be ready to share your thoughts. Take care of yourselves. I’ll see you all next session.”

  Giddeon turned his back, ready to run his ass the hell out of that tiny room, relieved that it was finally over. He definitely could use a stiff drink right about then. He was almost to the exit door when a warm, delicate hand wrapped around his bicep, stopping him short. The point of contact had him hissing out a pent up breath as an electric current ran up his arm and down his spine. Shivers trickled through his extremities, heightening his senses.

  The dark and disturbed man mumbled under his breath, “You’re killing me, sweetheart.” He glanced over his shoulder at the golden Angel who had completely mesmerized him.

  She lifted one eyebrow at his expression. “You’re not planning on bolting on me and never coming back… are you?” She looked concerned as she asked this.

  An overpowering feeling came over him; he didn’t want to let her down, but he couldn’t promise her that. Slowly, he shook his head, and his mouth spoke against his will. “From you?” Giddeon turned into her, and stepping closer, he looked over her longingly. “How could I run from my guardian Angel?”

  Eva took a not so subtle step back, dropping her hand to break their heated point of contact, and swallowed hard. She had to be more careful around him. He was so unpredictable, and she had to keep her guard up. “Do you have a minute?” Her voice broke.

  Curling his finger around a perfectly golden lock of hair, he tucked it neatly behind her ear. A tiny gasp escaped, and she bit her lip, trying to hold back the noise. That tiny response awoke the dominant predator in Giddeon. He made her nervous. He had affected her. Now that he knew how, he planned on doing it more often. It wasn’t fear that affected her… It was charm and physical connection.

  Just as he was starting to feel like a suave Casanova, she smacked his hand away, annoyed. There was his feisty girl. He didn’t imagine it, and even with her attitude, it was obvious that he had gotten to her. Even if for the briefest of moments… She was struck by the powerful connection between them, too. Giddeon enjoyed a good chase. Challenge accepted.

  “Look, I know you had a rough start today, but I would like to see you next week… In group, I mean. Okay? Keep coming. It’ll help, and it will get easier. I promise.”

  Yeah, right. If she only knew him. Giddeon stalked forward until they were touching chest to chest, forcing her to take several steps back lest he plow through her tiny frame. She stopped only when her back hit the wall.

  Anger flashed through her fiery eyes, like a ferocious little wild cat. Eva didn’t like being cornered. Giddeon lifted her chin up so he could see her eyes.

  “You shouldn’t make promises you can’t keep. You can’t help me. No one can.” He abruptly let her go, turning on his heel, and once again, headed for the door.

  She shouted at his retreating back, “Will you be back?”

  Without looking back, Giddeon answered, “I will be back… for you, Angel.”

  Dalton pulled his black Maybach S600 up to a small house on Coolin Hills, where he sat with it idling on the side of the road. His driver waited in silence for a minute before turning in his seat to announce the obvious. “We have arrived, Mr. Claiborne. Would you like me to go fetch her for you?” Taking out his cell phone, Dalton completely ignored the man and placed a phone call to his most trusted inside man. He had used this man in the past and knew him to be ruthless, loyal, and reliable.

  Enjoying the look on the face of his driver, he made him wait for an answer. “No. Make her wait.” He shifted his focus back to the man at the other end of the line once he picked up. “It’s me. Where are you at?”

  The voice on the other end hesitated before answering, and Dalton could tell by the man’s silence that he wasn’t going to like what he told him next. “Mr. Claiborne, sir… they are here. They’ve come back and already stopped by the apartment and Saint Joe’s.”

  Dalton shouted his frustrations, “What do you mean… they? Giddeon is in the custody of the Scottish authorities, is he not?” He was becoming more and more fed up with all the incompetence that seemed to surround him. Must he handle everything on his own?

  Completely unfazed by Dalton’s outburst, his informant continued. “No, sir. Giddeon is here, in the States, and working with the detective. He is staying at his place.”

  His jaw ticked
with his growing frustration. “Really? They’ve managed to arrive faster than I anticipated. Were you able to clear out Giddeon’s place, as I asked?”

  The man blew out a breath of his own in frustration, crackling the speakers. “He arrived as I was finishing up. I had to bolt out the back door when he and the detective unexpectedly busted through the front door. I did manage to clear out almost everything and wiped the place down. Giddeon left with the detective soon after they arrived. They didn’t stay long.”

  Dalton pinched the bridge of his nose as he thought about his two angry and determined enemies, who were hell bent on destroying everything he’d worked so hard for. He wasn’t sure how much they knew, or how close they were to finding out what was going on.

  “That will pose a problem for you. Giddeon is one person you should worry about. He is ruthless, has no sympathy and absolutely no fear. Do. Not. Underestimate him. If I know Giddeon, he will be relentlessly and tirelessly working toward his pursuit to find me. Watch your back at all costs from here on out. Same goes for the detective—he is smart. Don’t let him catch you where you aren’t supposed to be. He will figure you out.”

  Dalton could tell his employee was affronted by the tone in his voice, at his praise of Giddeon’s skill. Moving on, he asked another question. “How is that girl? Vicky, is it?”

  The man answered quickly. “Yes, sir. She’s in a coma. She will not come out of it… not alive, anyway. I’ll see to that.”

  Impatience got the best of Dalton as he lashed out at the man once again. “Just finish the job like you were supposed to do from the beginning.”

  “I will, sir. I would’ve already, but there’s this attendant at the hospital who keeps getting in my way of completing the job. This… blonde woman… Eva, is always hanging around her room. I was waiting for just the right time to…”

  Interrupting him before he could finish, Dalton gritted out, “Find out who she is, and then get her out of the way. I don’t care how. Just do it. And call Susan. Tell her to ready one of my apartments for a new employee on standby. I’m sending a potentially useful asset to the States on the next flight out. I want you to keep a close watch on her. She could be of some use to me later on. She is weak-minded and easily controlled. Keep Susan informed at all times, and tell her not to talk to anyone.”