Filed to story: The LORDS Series Free PDF by Shantel Tessier
“Sometimes love needs a little push.” Adam drops my hand. “And when a Lord decides he wants you, he makes sure he gets you one way or another.”
My eyes go to his left hand, and I don’t see a ring on it, but looking closely, I can see a tan line where one has been. If he’s not going to give me any information about my own marriage, he’s for sure not going to tell me anything about his love life. So I change the subject.
“What is a guardian?” I ask since I have him alone and in conversation.
“If Haidyn dies, he has left another Spade brother in charge of you.”
I flinch at the thought of my husband dying. No. He wouldn’t do that to me. I know how the Lords work and how my mother was regifted to my stepdad. “You mean regifted me to someone else?”
He shakes his head. “Spade brothers are different. Therefore, our rules are different. A Lady is regifted to another Lord because she can’t be let out into the world. She has to stay within the society to keep our secret. Same happens to a Lady of a Spade brother. You will belong to Kash but not in the way you think. You won’t become his wife or his whore, but you will be his responsibility. You will belong to Haidyn until you die.”
My husband left me to a man who currently wants me dead. “Why didn’t he choose you?” I whisper.
“I wasn’t an option,” he answers, and I wonder if it has to do with him not living at Carnage.
Giving him my back, I continue down the hall and open the door to their office.
Conversations instantly come to a halt when we enter. Saint and Kashton both glare at me before looking at Adam. Ashtyn sits on Saint’s lap, and she gives me a big smile of encouragement. She’s become an ally that I never thought I’d have. But I guess in a world full of men, you have to have the women’s backs.
As much as I hate that she and Haidyn have a past, she’s not my competition. She’s a woman who loves a man and knows how far a woman is willing to go to keep him.
A man has his back to me, and as the room falls silent, he turns to see who entered. I take a step back when a set of familiar eyes meet mine. Adam places his hands on my shoulders, making me jump.
“It’s okay.” The guy lifts his hands out to his sides. “I’m here to help.”
Saint snorts. “How do we know we can trust you? You’re married to the enemy.”
Bill looks at him and sighs. “You just have to take my word for it.” His eyes meet mine, and he gives me a soft smile. “Haidyn did.”
I step forward. “You spoke to Haidyn?” Hope fills my chest, making my pulse pick up at the thought of seeing him again.
He nods. “I’ve been looking for him.” Running a hand over his head, he takes a deep breath.
“Well…did you find him?” It’s Ashtyn who asks what we’re all wondering.
“I have an idea where he is, but…”
“But what?” Kashton snaps when he trails off. Everyone is on edge. Tired of waiting and not getting anywhere. We’ve had no leads and no tracker. My husband just vanished as if he never existed.
“Gaining access won’t be easy.”
Saint taps Ashtyn’s thigh, and she removes herself from his lap so he can stand. “Just tell us where the fuck he is. We’ll blow the goddamn place up if we have to.”
I want to smile that his brothers are going to do everything they can to bring him home. Even if I know it’s not for me. For all I know, they plan on trading me for him, and I’m okay with that. As long as I get to see him one last time. I never even got to tell him that I love him. He robbed me of that opportunity. I had tape over my mouth when he said those three words. Like a true Lord, he didn’t care what I wanted to say or how I felt.
“You’re going to need help.” Bill goes on.
Saint snaps his fingers at Kashton. “Make the call. Tell them to get here. Now.”
Kashton nods and pulls his cell from his pocket as he exits the office, wanting to make his call without us eavesdropping.
“If he contacted you, what took you so long to come here?” I ask. Haidyn left his phone behind, so he had to have reached out before he left me.
Bill’s eyes meet mine before they drop to my stomach. My hands go to it instinctively. His eyes rise to mine once more. “There’s a lot you don’t know about, Annabelle.”
“My name is Charlotte,” I correct him.
I’m who Haidyn knows me to be. I want nothing to do with the life I had before him. I might as well erase everything I thought I knew. It seems to have all been a lie. Haidyn is real. My life with him is real. The love I have for him is real. And the future I know we’re going to have is real.
He nods. “Charlotte.”
The door opens behind me, and Kashton enters. “They’re on their way,” he announces.
Bill looks at Saint. “Get the jet ready. It’s not far, but it’ll be quicker.” Then his eyes go to Adam. “You’ll want to bring Devin and Gavin with you.”
Less than thirty minutes later, more Lords arrive, and we’re on our way out the front doors when Ashtyn comes running down the grand staircase just like the first time I saw her here. But this time, it’s me she’s yelling at. “Charlotte?”
I walk over to her, meeting her at the bottom of the last step.
Her wide eyes go from mine over my shoulder and then back to me, lowering her voice. “Should you go…?”
“I’m not staying here.” I give her my back, and she reaches out, grabbing my arm.
“Char-?”
“I’m going to get my husband,” I snap, spinning back around. Reaching out, I place both of my hands on her upper arms and give her a soft smile, softening my voice as I see the unshed tears in her eyes. “I’m going to go help bring him back,” I promise her.
Ashtyn sniffs but nods softly. I pull her in for a hug, and then my shirt is grabbed, and I’m yanked away. A quick look over my shoulder tells me it’s her husband.
“Saint,” she snaps at him, and he just rolls his eyes.
“We’re in a hurry, sweetheart. We’ll be back as soon as we can,” he tells her, pulling me through the front doors before they slam shut.
“Don’t grab her like that,” Adam barks while standing on the porch. He pulls me from Saint and isn’t any gentler if you ask me.
“Get her in the fucking car, and let’s go,” Saint growls, walking over to a car that Sin and Ryat stand next to. Tyson is also over there, pacing back and forth, his head down with his cell phone in his ear. Everyone is trying to get a plan of action together so no one gets killed during this rescue mission.
“Come on, princess.” Adam takes my hand and ushers me down the steps and over to an SUV. Holding the back door open for me, I climb in, and he shuts it.
I’m sitting in here alone, and my legs start to bounce. Rubbing my sweaty hands on my thighs, I try to dry them off. I’m a nervous wreck. What if this doesn’t work? What if he’s not there and it’s a setup for the rest of the Spade brothers? I’d hate for Haidyn’s brothers to be in danger. I don’t want anything to happen to any of them.
The door on my left opens, and Bill hops in next to me. He scans the circle drive before he turns to look at me. “Are you willing to do whatever it takes?”
His question reminds me of the conversation I once had with my father outside of the cathedral.
“You will one day marry your Lord, but he will not define you.” Giving me a soft smile, he adds, “But a sacrifice must be made in order to get to the top.”
“What do I have to sacrifice?” I ask.
He looks away from me, staring out the windshield, and the silence lingers among us before he answers, “Whatever they want.”
My life is no longer about having power or being at the top. Now it’s all about the life I want to live with my husband. And I’ll give up anything for him. My father lied because my Lord does define me. I’m nothing without him.
“Absolutely.” I swallow the knot in my throat. Not because I’m nervous but because I know it will require a lot. My mother isn’t going to hand him over. Especially to me.
“The others aren’t really going to care, but Adam…” He shrugs. “He cares what happens to you.”