Filed to story: The LORDS Series Free PDF by Shantel Tessier
“I sent a car for the girls. They’ll be here soon,” he announces.
Haidyn gives us his back once more and stares out the windows, watching the clouds roll in. It’s supposed to storm its ass off for the next few days. The thought makes me smile. I love to watch the world go dark.
* * *
I walk into our office and sit behind my desk. The first thing I do is pull up the camera footage on my computer. Ashtyn stands in her bathroom, hands on her stomach, while she stares at herself in the mirror. Tears run down her cheeks while her fingers lower to her brand. Even though she’s had it for years, it was more of a reminder of where she came from. Now it’s a reality.
I placed a tracking device in her while she was out this time. She’ll never get away from me now.
Sedation at the time was the best option because I didn’t want her to know just yet who had her or what was happening. Seeing the look on her face in the bathroom when her eyes met mine was worth the wait.
She takes a few steps back, her naked body shaking with the sobs as tears run down her face like the rain that hits the windows at my back. She’s a sobbing mess, and it makes me smile.
Cry for me, sweetheart.
The door opens to the office, and I look up to see Kashton enter. He plops down at his desk to my left and looks at me. “The girls arrived. At least they’ll keep Haidyn busy for the day.”
I snort. “Maybe.” If he doesn’t kill them.
“We can only hope.” He picks up the remote to the TV on his desk and turns on the seventy-inch screen that’s anchored on the far wall.
A friend of ours appears, standing outside of his business. BLACKOUT is written in black letters behind him and his wife who stands next to him. Her hand on her belly. It’s not noticeable yet, but she’s expecting.
She’s got the biggest smile on her face when he reaches down and grabs her right hand as he addresses the large gathering of reporters. He wants the world to know that she is his everything. I get it. He gave up his life for her. And almost ended up losing everything he loves.
Sitting back in my seat, the news goes to a commercial, and I pick up my cell, dialing his number.
“Saint? What’s going on?” Tyson Crawford answers on the second ring.
“Just saw you on the news. Thought I’d call and check in.” My Spade brothers and I don’t have many friends, but Tyson is about as close as they come.
He chuckles. “That’s like the fifth time they’ve played that clip. I knew I could count on them to get my point across.”
I almost laugh at his choice of words. I knew there was a reason he allowed his wife to be seen. “How’s the build going?” I ask about Blackout.
“Faster than I expected. Opened last week.” Before I can say anything, he asks, “Find what you were looking for?”
My eyes drop to my computer screen that still has Ashtyn pulled up in the bathroom. She’s got the water running in the tub. “I did. Thanks for that by the way.” If he hadn’t handed over Whitney, I’d still be looking for her.
He snorts. “Whatever I can do to help.”
“Tyson-?”
I hear his wife in the background entering the room. “I’ll let you go. Just wanted to call and see how things were going,” I add, not wanting to keep him.
“Come by the club. Bring the guys. Drinks are on me.”
I nod to myself, watching Ashtyn step into the bathtub. “Yeah. We’ll take you up on that.”
We hang up, and I see Kashton staring at me. “What was that about?” he asks.
“Tyson.” I stand, pocketing my cell. “He invited us out to Blackout.”
He types away on his computer. “I’m always up for a night out.”
That night Tyson messaged me a picture of Ashtyn on her stomach with her hands tied behind her back and tears running down her face saved her life. At the time, I was grateful for that. But a month later, I was lying on the floor bleeding because she shot me. Like her brother, she chose herself.
I should have seen it coming, but I was blinded. The Lords assumed she might have been dead, and in a sense, she was. Still is. She had to live a life as someone else after she escaped Carnage. But not here. Not this time. She’ll be Ashtyn-my little whore who will beg me. And I’ll be the man I should have been all along-a ruthless Lord with a pet to play with.
Standing from my seat, I exit the office and take the elevator up to the birdcage where all of our rooms are. We have houses on the property, but we stay here most of the time. It’s just easier that way. Carnage never sleeps, so neither do we.
Getting off the elevator, I pass my room, along with Kashton’s and Haidyn’s. All the walls are soundproof so he could be stabbing someone to death in there and I wouldn’t hear a fucking thing. Not like I’d stop him if he was. When he’s in a mood, you step back and let him do whatever the fuck he wants.
I walk up to her door and turn the knob, entering because I own the fucking place. Coming to a stop, I look over the room. An odd feeling falls over me knowing that she’s on the other side of the closed bathroom door, naked in the bathtub with my brand on her body and tracking device in her skin. She’ll never be able to leave me again.
I’ve dreamed of this day ever since I woke up and was told she shot me and ran, leaving me for dead. I hate that I still have feelings for her. Don’t get me wrong, I hate the bitch, but I also love her in that I’m going to rip your heart out and hang it on my wall so no one else can have it kind of way.
Walking across the bedroom, I enter the bathroom to find her sitting in the tub just like she was on my computer screen. She’s got her legs pulled up to her chest, and her forehead rests on her bent knees. Her wet hair sticks to her hunched-over back and shoulders.
She’s crying, and the sound makes me smile. Leaning my ass against the countertop, I cross my tatted arms over my chest and wait for her to realize I’ve entered the room. If she wants to survive here, she needs to start paying attention to her surroundings at all times.
Our fathers no longer run this place. We do. And we’ll make sure that she endures every sick and twisted thing that any other prisoner would.
THIRTY-NINE
ASHTYN
I’m shaking, my entire body throbs and aches.
Just like everything else. The drugs-the ones I took-plus the ones they gave me no longer linger in my system. I just feel ashamed now. Pathetic. I thought for years that I killed him, and I grieved the loss of him.
I’ve feared a lot over the years. But leaving here made me realize how much I fear myself. I willingly shot the man I wanted to spend the rest of my life with. I would have done anything for him until I was put in a position where it was him or me, and like a coward, I chose myself.
But he pulled me back to his hell, and now I’m his prisoner. His chance at revenge. His whore. Is it bad that I’m glad he’s still alive? He’ll most likely make me regret what I did. I should have run farther, for longer. But I only had enough help to get out of Carnage. After that, I was on my own, and starting a new life was harder than I thought it’d be.
I sniff, trying to calm myself and stop the tears. Crying won’t save you, Ash. That’s what my mother used to tell me whenever life wouldn’t go her way. She’d straighten her shoulders, lift her chin, and face the fucking day like she was unstoppable. Obviously, she wasn’t. Watching her get stabbed to death proved that she wasn’t.
Lifting my forehead from my knees, I jump to my feet when I see a set of green eyes watching me. “Sa-int?” My voice cracks just saying his name as I stare at him. They used to be so bright, but now they’re a darker shade of green.
How long has he been in here watching me? This is what he’ll do. Have eyes on me at all times. There are probably cameras all over my room and bathroom.
He pushes off the counter, and I swallow nervously as I watch him pick up my towel. He holds it open for me, standing next to the tub, hinting that it’s time for me to get out.
Slowly, I step out on shaky legs and stand before him dripping wet and naked. I feel nervous. I’ve let this man violate my body, yet it feels like it’s about to be our first time. I wasn’t even this nervous then.
He brings the towel to wrap around my shoulders. He runs the soft material up and down my arms, over my chest, and over my lower abdomen where my brand is. He pulls it from my shoulders and crouches down in front of me, taking his time to wipe off my shaking legs.
When he stands, he tosses it to the side, and I wrap my arms around myself. Goose bumps cover my skin, and I can still feel water run down my back from my hair. I shiver when his eyes meet mine, and it’s not because I’m wet and cold.
He’s changed. I’ve never stopped to think what he would look like now if he had lived. I saw him bleeding, lying there in the hallway, coughing up blood. And it changed me. I’ll never be the same.
But here he is, standing before me looking like the god I remembered him to be. Have you ever seen a Lord go after someone who wronged him? I have, and it’s bloody. Lots of screams and torture. I have no doubt he once loved me, but he doesn’t anymore. I ruined any chance I ever had of a future with him.
We were going to have a family and grow old together, but it was all bullshit. I was kidding myself, making up a world that would never exist for me. Him making me his pet is the closest I’ll ever get to him loving me again. And I’ll take it. I’d rather believe the beautiful lie than a sour truth.
He’s lost the black hoodie and mask. He now wears a black T-shirt that pulls tight across his broad shoulders and muscular chest. It shows off the ink that covers his neck and arms. I can’t help but wonder where the bullet hit him and if you can even tell. Has he covered it up with ink?