Chapter 5 - THE TEARS OF A SURVIVOR
Within minutes, the Romano enforcers were zip-tied and loaded into the back of Marcus’s transport van, bound for a federal holding facility in Phoenix where local jurisdiction couldn't protect them.
Damon walked straight to Selena, pulling a pocketknife from his belt and slicing through the plastic ties binding her wrists in a single clean motion. Then he reached up and pulled the black cloth sack off her head.
Selena blinked hard against the sudden desert glare, coughing as she sucked in the cool night air. Her hair was tangled, her cheek bruised where she had been shoved against the vehicle door, but her dark eyes were fiercely alive.
She looked past Damon, her gaze landing instantly on the small figure standing beside him.
“Ruby!” Selena sobbed, her knees buckling.
Before she hit the ground, Damon caught her by the waist, steadying her, while little Ruby broke away and launched herself straight into her mother’s arms with a desperate, sobbing cry.
“Mommy! You came out of the room!” Ruby wailed, burying her face in Selena’s shoulder as the dam broke. “I packed Bunny! I brought the suitcase!”
Selena pulled her daughter so tight against her chest it seemed she was trying to push her back inside her own ribs. She rocked back and forth in the dirt of the desert road, tears streaming down her pale cheeks, kissing the top of Ruby’s head over and over again.
“You were so brave,” Selena whispered, her voice choked with emotion. “You were so, so brave, my sweet girl.”
Damon stood quietly above them, watching the two of them in the amber wash of the remaining vehicle's headlights. The cold, impenetrable armor he had worn for thirty years—the armor built by his father, reinforced by Victor Lane, and polished by years of corporate ruthlessness—felt suddenly very heavy, and entirely useless.
Selena slowly lifted her head, looking up at Damon through a blur of tears.
“You came,” she whispered.
“You work for me,” Damon replied, his voice barely above a murmur. “And nobody touches my staff.”
Selena gave a wet, shaky laugh, wiping her cheek with the back of her hand. “Is that all I am? Your staff?”
May you like
Damon looked down at her, then over at little Ruby, who had already fallen fast asleep against her mother’s shoulder, exhausted by the terror and the triumph of the night.
“No,” Damon said softly, extending a hand to help them both to their feet. “You’re the best decision this estate ever made.”
