Filed to story: The LORDS Series Free PDF by Shantel Tessier
I spin around to face her as the room falls silent. She looks up at me expectantly.
“What did you say?” Jenks asks her, pushing away from the wall.
“A Lord? What is it?”
I go to lie but stop myself. I’ve never told her who I work for or what I do. She just thinks she knows. So for her to ask this question means she’s been told something. So I keep my mouth shut and see what else she has to say.
Her eyes dart around the room before meeting mine again. “Mike told Nate that you guys worked for the Lords. That you guys kill for a living.” Her voice doesn’t waver in the slightest at her words. It’s like she almost expected it.
Mike starts to fight Alex, trying to get out the door, but Alex just pushes him farther back into the room. “How do you know about the Lords?” he demands to Mike.
Finn throws his hands up, facing Tyson. “I didn’t say shit,” he rushes out. Remembering the threat that Tyson gave us when he brought us on to work for him.
Tyson smirks. “Mike knows about the Lords because he was one once. Weren’t you, Mike?”
Mike slowly turns around to face the room but says nothing.
“But he couldn’t keep his nose clean,” Tyson adds. “When Barrington kicked him out, so did the Lords.”
This is interesting. “So Mitch …?”
“He’s not a Lord.” Mike spits out. “He wanted nothing to do with them.”
Finn scratches the back of his head. “Wait … when we arrived at your house, you said you had found them like that. Nate was dead. But Raylee just said that you spoke to Nate.”
His eyes widen, realizing that she just told on him. I step in front of her, blocking her from his view in case he decides to come for her. “He was dead.” Mike growls. “She killed him.”
Raylee reaches out and shoves me to the side, standing from the table. She stumbles on wobbly legs and pushes me away when I go to help her. She wraps the blanket around her shoulders, shielding her still naked body. “I heard everything,” she tells him, lifting her chin.
“No. She’s making shit up.” He starts laughing.
“Funny.” Finn smiles. “Nate said the same thing about her.” He refers to when we were back at the house last night, and Nate was calling her a liar when she said he was forcing her to leave with him. “He was also the one who was lying,” Finn adds.
Mike shakes his head quickly. “No. No. I’m telling the truth.”
“I heard you,” she argues.
“No!” he shouts, running his hands through his hair. His eyes dart around the room quickly. What the fuck did she hear that’s got him on edge? He lowers his voice and mumbles more to himself than anything else. “You were unconscious.”
“I was pretending.” She gives a rough laugh. “You told Nate that I wasn’t worth it. That I’m Colt’s whore. And that he’s destroyed every relationship I’ve ever had.” Taking another step closer to him, I grab her shoulders, keeping her in place. The need to protect her is strong, but I don’t want to hurt her. She’s already been injured enough. “Nate was going to let you have a piece of me. And after you guys were done with me, you’d cut me up and dump my body in the woods. Let the animals eat what was left of me.”
“You what?” I growl, stepping in front of her. He was going to kill her? Dump her body in the woods? My pulse races at the thought of anyone doing her any harm, let alone taking her away from me completely. I fucking love this woman, and I swear on my life that no one is going to hurt her ever again. I was dumb enough to let her walk away from me this morning. That’ll never happen again.
“No.” He places his hands up. “I never said that. Nate said that.”
“Then you left me there with him. Said you had to meet someone in fifteen minutes. Told him not to touch me until you got back.”
I charge him.
“Colt-“
My fist clocks him in the face before he can finish whatever bullshit he was going to say. “Alex.” I growl his name and he removes his belt. He leans down, wrapping it around Mike’s neck, yanking him to his feet and holding Mike’s back to his front, choking him.
I look over to see that she’s now standing next to me. Angry tears fall from her eyes. “You told him that you didn’t want him doing anything that couldn’t be covered up. That you didn’t want cops at your house because they found a dead body in the woods with a blood trail leading back to your place. And to sit down, have a drink, and wait. That when you returned, you’d come up with a plan together.”
I fist my busted hand, getting ready to hit him again. It’s been a while since any of us killed a guy with our fists. That’s how we got this job in the first place.
“I didn’t stay gone,” he grinds out, trying to pull the belt from his neck but there’s no use. Alex has it pulled tight. “I came back … to check on you. I knew Nate wouldn’t wait. I didn’t want him to hurt you-“
“Hurt me?” She laughs roughly. “He wanted to kill me!” she screams, stepping into him. “And you knew that.”
“But he didn’t-“
“He fucking slammed my face into the coffee table. Several times. Slapped me, choked me. Raped me.” She reaches up and slaps him. “How does that feel?” She slaps him again. “Does it fucking hurt?” She drops the blanket and steps even closer, kneeing him in the balls.
Alex lets go of the belt around Mike’s neck, and he falls to the floor, holding himself while he curls up into a ball.
I grab the blanket and wrap it around her from behind and pick her up with my arms around her waist while she kicks her legs out, trying to make contact with him.
“Calm down,” I say, carrying her over to a chair and sitting her in it. I kneel before her, reaching up and pushing some hair from her face. “Take a deep breath.” I don’t want her to hurt herself. She’s already been through so much and needs rest.
“He left me there with him.” Her watery eyes meet mine. “He … left me.” Tears spill down her bruised cheeks, and my chest tightens at the crack in her voice.
“He’ll pay for that. I promise,” I assure her.
Mike laughs, sitting up, and I look over at him. “And you? Who the fuck is going to make you pay, Colt?” He looks around the room. “All of you. You guys humiliated him. You didn’t think he’d go after her?” He snorts. “I would have done the same.”
Alex kicks him in the face, knocking his head back, and he falls to the floor, out cold. “Want to take care of him now?”
“No,” I answer Alex. She deserves to have her revenge and she’s nowhere near physically ready for that. “Not yet.”
“I’ll keep him at Blackout,” Tyson states. “Just let me know when and I can deliver him wherever you want.”
I nod. “Thank you.” Looking back down at her, I cup her face, wanting to get her as far away from here as possible, away from everyone. “Let’s go home.”
RAYLEE
I WALK UP the stairs to our house that we all share and make it to the top. I stand here for a few seconds, debating on what to do. Colt’s room is to the right. Mine to the left. I don’t want to be alone right now. Left with my thoughts.
Thankfully, like always, Colt makes the decision for me. He grabs my hand and ushers me to his room. Stepping inside, he closes the door behind him. Walking to the other side of his room, he opens the door to his bathroom, and I hear him start the bathtub.
I enter his bathroom and remove the blanket that I have wrapped around me. I’ve got bruises all over. Some you can tell are from the car wreck, others from Nate. The doctor gave me some medication to fight infection and STDs. He said I needed to be seen again in a couple of weeks for a follow-up.
Whatever pain meds he gave me have worn off, and I feel like shit. Or maybe it was the adrenaline spike after I woke up and saw Mike. I lied to the doctor and pretended to feel good, not wanting to be high anymore. I’d rather feel pain than be numb.
Colt turns and reaches out to me. I take his hand, and he helps me step into the corner Jacuzzi tub. Sinking down into the hot water, I look up at him. He’s grabbing me a towel out of the cabinet and lays it down next to the tub.
“Was it true?” I ask. We haven’t spoken since we left … wherever we were. It wasn’t a real hospital, but it looked like one on the inside.
He pauses and looks down at me. His eyes give nothing away, but they never do. I never could figure him out. That’s why I always felt so lost. Because he hid everything but hatred from me so well.
The silence lingers while I wait for him to answer. Technically, I just asked two questions. Did he ruin every relationship I ever had, and does he kill people for a living? I’m curious to see which one he chooses to answer. I felt that was my only chance to know who or what a Lord was while also outing Mike at the same time.
Colt looks away first. “Yes.”
I run my hands through the warm water, cupping it and pouring it on my chest while the faucet continues to fill the large tub. “Which one?”