Page 47 of Vicious King

“Keep them safe,” she says to Carson.

“I’ll have my men escort you home,” Carson says to her, and then I rush to my bedroom and find our go bags in the closet. My cash and the burner phone are still inside. I grab a tote and make a sweep through Charlie’s room, grabbing the baby blanket he still sleeps with, along with a few of his favorite toys and some clothes to dress him in for the flight.

“What’s this?” Julian asks when he sees me carrying the bags.

“Go bags,” I reply without emotion. “Come here, Charlie, we have to get you dressed. Isn’t this fun? A spontaneous trip.”

“And I don’t have to go to school,” he says with excitement as he gets dressed. “Are we going to Disney World?”

“Not this time.” I smile at my son when his head pops through his T-shirt. “Maybe another time. We’re going on an airplane, though.”

“Cool.” He looks over at Carson, who’s holding our bags. “Are you coming, too, Dad?”

“There’s nowhere else I’d be,” Carson confirms and ruffles Charlie’s hair.

Less than five minutes later, we’re leaving my house, and I try to not be sad about it. But damn it, I worked so hard for it, and now I’m just walking away, as if it was nothing at all.

I notice that everyone is leaving, including all the men that have been guarding us. There have to be eight SUVs that pull away from the curbs, headed toward the airport.

Charlie is happy to chatter away, clearly excited about this new adventure, but Carson and I simply watch each other all the way to the airport. I’m not angry. At least, I’m not mad at Carson, but I am pissed that all this time I had a false sense of security. That I thought I was so fucking smart and that I was keeping Charlie safe.

And in reality, we were being watched.

By my father.

He never made it a secret that he saw me as a pawn. Women born into Mafia families are often used for political gain within the business. So the fact that I married Carson without my father’s consent drove him absolutely nuts. Because for years, he talked about marrying me off to several different men, always to further his status in the family.

At one time, it was suggested that I should marry Julian after his first wife died and he had a small child at home.

I didn’t want to be a mom in my early twenties, and I didn’t want to marry Julian.

Because my eyes were always set on Carson, even when I was too young for him to pay attention to.

“It’s going to be okay,” Carson says and reaches across to take my hand in his, giving it a squeeze. “You have nothing to be afraid of.”

I take a deep breath and shake my head.

“That’s just standard factory settings for my life, Carson.” He scowls, but I don’t back down. “No one can keep me safe. Not really.”

“You’re wrong.”

I glance to Charlie, who’s busy telling Julian about wanting a puppy.

“I’m not wrong,” I say.

“I’ll prove otherwise,” he promises.

I don’t reply because I don’t believe him.

The vehicles pull up to a huge private plane on a tarmac, and Charlie exclaims, “Whoa!”

“Stay here,” Carson says to both of us as he and his men get out of the vehicles, their eyes scanning our surroundings. Finally, he pokes his head back inside. “Come on, let’s go.”

Charlie is happy as a little clam as he takes Carson’s hand and skips to the plane, climbing the steps eagerly. When we get inside, I feel my jaw drop because this is fancy.

“Feel free to sit anywhere,” Julian says from behind me.

I feel numb.