Chapter 6 - The Man Who Feared No One Begged Them Not to Hurt His Woman
Silas lost his mind.
Not loudly.
That would have been easier.
He became quiet.
Terrifyingly quiet.
Within twenty minutes, every person loyal to him was searching the city.
Gideon tried to stop him from going alone.
“You know what they want.”
“I don't care.”
“They'll kill you.”
“I don't care.”
“They'll kill her.”
Silas looked at him.
“Exactly.”
The note led him to an old church outside the city.
Sadie was tied to a chair.
Victor Hale stood behind her.
Victor was older than Silas remembered.
Silver hair.
Cold eyes.
A smile that never reached them.
“Hello, Silas.”
Silas stopped.
“Let her go.”
“Why?”
“Because this ends with you.”
Victor laughed.
“You still think you're in control.”
Silas looked at Sadie.
“Are you hurt?”
She shook her head.
“No.”
“Good.”
Victor raised a gun.
“You see?”
He gestured toward Sadie.
“This is why you were always weak.”
Silas's expression changed.
“I was never weak.”
“No?”
“You took the wrong woman.”
Victor frowned.
Sadie looked up.
Silas continued.
“She isn't what makes me weak.”
Victor smiled.
“Then what does?”
“Losing her.”
He stepped forward.
“And that's why I have nothing left to lose.”
Victor ordered his men to attack.
The church erupted in chaos.
Silas fought.
Gideon's men arrived moments later.
Sadie managed to free one hand.
She grabbed a fallen weapon.
Then she stopped.
She remembered who she was.
A nurse.
Not a killer.
She ran to an injured man instead.
She treated his wound.
Even though he worked for Victor.
Silas saw her.
And something in him cracked open.
She could have left him to die.
She didn't.
She saved him.
After the fight, Victor escaped.
Sadie ran to Silas.
He held her.
“You came alone.”
“I said I would.”
“You could have died.”
“So could you.”
They clung to each other.
Gideon approached.
“We need to move.”
Silas nodded.
They returned to Philadelphia.
But the damage was done.
Victor had released photographs.
Photos of Silas and Sadie.
Photos of the diner.
Photos of their meetings.
Suddenly, the entire city knew about her.
The rumors exploded.
The feared Silas Mercer had a weakness.
A waitress.
A nobody.
A woman named Sadie Monroe.
Except the people who met her knew better.
She wasn't weak.
She was the reason he was trying to become someone better.
Then another surprise arrived.
Federal agents.
They offered Sadie protection.
She refused.
They offered Silas a deal.
Testify against Victor.
Give up the remaining criminal operations.
And walk away.
Silas looked at Sadie.
She didn't tell him what to choose.
She only said:
“Choose the life you want.”
He thought about the prison.
The blood.
The fear.
The empty houses.
Then he chose.
“I'll testify.”
Gideon looked stunned.
“You'll lose everything.”
Silas looked at Sadie.
May you like
“No.”
“I'll finally have something.”
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