Filed to story: The LORDS Series Free PDF by Shantel Tessier
“Told you we should have brought her.” Alex gives me a fuck you smile. He wants someone else in the doghouse with Tyson other than himself for once.
“I wasn’t going to let her be killed because her father is an idiot.” I point at him, lying on the metal table. “I stuck her. Finn placed her body in the car they arrived in. She’ll wake up in a few hours and not remember shit.” The drugs he provides us with are some powerful ones. We’ve never used them on ourselves, but they drop a three-hundred-pound man like a drunk girl’s underwear. With how small she was, she could be out the rest of the night. And the side effects could cause loss of memory. I’m guessing on that one. They never live long enough to tell us. “Plus,” I add. “We had our masks on. Too much was happening for her to even retain any information to lead her back to us.”
He nods. “You better hope so.” Then he looks over at Finn. “I’m guessing she gave you that shiner?”
He reaches up and touches his face, hissing in a breath. “The bitch punched me.”
Ryat walks over to the guy, looking over him. “This is the president of Oakley’s Bank.”
Tyson nods.
“He’s been grooming his daughter for years,” Ryat states with a heavy sigh.
“Yeah, he’s a sick bastard,” Tyson adds. “He’s been forcing her into a world that she should have never known existed.” He looks up at us. “If she comes for you guys, you’ll have your hands full. She won’t go down as easily the second time.”
“Meaning?” Alex asks, wanting clarification he can just kill her if there’s a next time.
Tyson smirks. “Meaning they don’t call her wicked for nothing.”
Finn snorts. “She was a crazy fucking bitch.”
“They always are.” Jenks agrees.
“Yeah.” Tyson pulls a pair of gloves out of a box and lays them on the table next to the guy while he rolls up the sleeves of his dark-gray button-up. “But they’re the only ones worth having.”
We wrap up what Tyson needs, and an hour later, we’re walking into the house. I make my way upstairs and decide to go by her room. Opening the door, I see she’s passed out in bed, and Tatum is asleep next to her. Some woman is on her TV screen that hangs on the wall running through the woods screaming while a man chases her down with a machete.
I walk over to Raylee’s side of the bed and see four bottles of wine. Two are on her nightstand, the others on the bed. All empty. I smile because I bet she thought of me while she was drinking those.
Her phone lights up next to her, and I pick it up to see it’s a text from Nate. Grinding my teeth, I open it.
Nate: I’m sorry, Ray. Please call me. I need to talk to you.
I delete the text and read over the last several he’s sent her. She’s ignoring him. Good girl. He doesn’t deserve a second of her time. Deleting the rest, I shut it off and place it back where I found it.
I run my knuckles over her cheek, pushing some blond strands off her face, then lean down, whispering in her ear. “I’ll take care of him, princess.” Then I exit her room to go take a shower and get some rest. I have to be up early in the morning because Tyson needs us back at Blackout.
RAYLEE
TATUM AND I pull up to Mike’s house Sunday night, and she sighs heavily. I feel rested, almost like a new me. After we had several bottles of wine last night, we passed out in my bed. My body was exhausted along with my mind. I woke up this morning to find myself home alone, other than Tatum next to me, and was thankful for that. When you live with four guys, it can be overwhelming. Thankfully, most of them keep to themselves. They only ever bother me if Colt tells them to.
“You sure you’re okay being here?” Tatum asks, breaking the silence between us.
“Yep.” I nod once. I don’t give a fuck what people think about me. Clearly.
She scrolls on her phone for a few seconds and then looks at me. “The video is gone.”
“Doubtful,” I disagree and pull down the visor to reapply my lipstick. “It’s there somewhere, I’m sure.”
My cell dings, and I see it’s a text from Nate. Rolling my eyes, I turn the ringer off.
“What did it say?” she asks, watching me throw it into the back seat.
I won’t be needing that tonight. “Don’t know. Don’t care.” I woke up with it off this morning and guessed it had died at some point last night, so I haven’t been on it much today.
She pats my shoulder. “I still can’t believe Colt posted that shit online. That was over the line. Even for him.”
I don’t keep any secrets from Tatum. She knows what I’ve done with Colt over the years, especially that night with all of them after he stopped recording me. But who knows how many times he’s done that? How many videos he has just sitting and waiting to be used. “Why did you go to the party?” I ask her, changing the subject. I know it wasn’t to see her brother-they fight like cats and dogs. She wasn’t mad at me when I told her I slept with Alex, just grossed out.
“Billy didn’t want to go to the movies. When I told him that I wanted to spend time with you, he suggested going to Colt’s party. That I would get to see you when you got home.”
I nod and watch the kids partying on the front lawn of the Williams home. I went to high school with Mike and his twin brother Mitch when my mom and I moved here. Their parents are loaded, of course. So any chance they have to throw a party at their parents’ mansion, they take it. They must be out of town this weekend.
Mike and I have a history, but I’m not ashamed of it. It is what it is. Plus, if Mike hadn’t started fucking me and ran out like a little bitch when I got blood on his dick, who knows if Colt would have stepped in and shown me how it’s done.
“What are you going to do when you see Billy here with her?” I ask, changing the subject again. We’re only here because she wants to track down her boyfriend and see if the rumors she heard are true.
“I’m … I’m not sure.” She gives a rough laugh. “I guess it depends on if I’m drunk by then or not.”
“You know he’s going to marry her, right?” I hate to break her heart, but he’s been on and off with Cheryl since before I moved in with the Knoxes our sophomore year in high school. He cheats, she cheats, but they always go back to one another.
“Probably,” she agrees. “I saw the red flags before we even started dating.”
“You and me both.” I snort, referring to how I still allow Colt to fuck me. “We’re both color blind.”
She laughs and nods. “Ain’t that the truth.”
Tatum and Billy have a toxic relationship. The only difference between her and Billy, and Colt and me is that we actually do hate one another.
“She kept blowing up his phone Friday night at the party.” She glances at her cell and then tosses it into the back seat with mine.
“What was she saying to him?” I wonder.
“That she was sorry.” Tatum huffs.
“About what exactly? He was the one who dumped her last.”
She shrugs. “No clue, and he wouldn’t tell me when I asked.” Running her hand through her hair, she pushes the dark strands away from her face and smiles over at me. “How about we find out?”
I nod. “I’m ready when you are.”
She pushes the passenger door open and gets out. I smile, doing the same, needing some excitement. I’m a ride-or-die friend to the end. So if she starts throwing punches, I’ll jump right in and throw mine, no questions asked.
The house sits on twelve acres tucked back behind a tree line. It’s dark gray with black shutters, white columns, and a wraparound porch. It’s two stories and has a section referred to as the guest wing. I don’t think anyone ever uses it. Mrs. Williams keeps the property fully staffed at all times.
“In The End” by Black Veil Brides blares from the speakers when we enter the house. I instantly feel eyes on me. It’s the sex tape. Friday night at my house, I went straight to my room after I set Colt’s car on fire and then Nate showed up, so I never had to face anyone. Now I’m not only a slut but also crazy because of the stunt I pulled with his car.
Tatum gets my attention, sliding her arm in the crook of mine and raises her chin, noticing the way conversations die down around us. “They just wish their friend was as cool as mine,” she states, giving me a big smile.
I laugh. “Come on. Let’s get our drink on. Something tells me we’re both going to need it.”
We enter the kitchen, and I see Mitch standing at the large bar, mixing drinks. “Hey, ladies,” he calls out, seeing us.
Mitch Williams has always been a cool guy. Nothing like his brother.
He comes around the bar and gives us both a hug. “What’s been going on? What can I get you two to drink?”