Filed to story: The LORDS Series Free PDF by Shantel Tessier
Why would she mention that I gave her my address when she was already here yesterday? She’s trying to convince me that she had no clue I was here.
I sit in the chair opposite her and cross my arms over my chest, meeting her stare. She should know by now that I won’t tell her anything I don’t want her to know.
“I went to Carnage a couple of days ago for our scheduled meeting, and Saint said you’ve been MIA. Does this have to do with his wife?”
I stiffen but say nothing.
Her pretty nude lips pull into a smirk, thinking she’s onto something. What in the fuck is Saint doing speaking to Charlotte? What did he tell her? And how does she know Ashtyn is his wife? I can’t see Saint letting that happen unless it was by accident.
I won’t ask those questions. No. I’ll let Charlotte dig her own grave. She’ll keep talking as long as I stay silent. She’ll think she’s onto something and ramble on, telling me everything that I want to know.
Her eyes drop to the coffee table and look over the empty glasses, pack of cigarettes, and my cell. I cleaned up the photos but didn’t bother with the rest. “They all seem very concerned about your sudden disappearance.” She looks up at me again and tilts her head to the side. “Are you on an assignment for the Lords? No.” She answers her own question. Reaching up with her right hand, she plays with a dark piece of hair, twirling it around her finger. Usually, her hair is up in a low bun. I’ve never seen it down before, and it’s longer than I expected. The big curls fall down over her chest. It looks so soft, and my hands itch to wrap my fists in it while I fuck her pretty face to shut her the fuck up. “The Spade brothers don’t do assignments,” she adds, still talking to herself.
“I’ll tell you what.” I can’t help myself. “You tell me why you were sitting outside my house yesterday, and I’ll tell you why I’m here.”
The smirk on her face falls, and her lips part on a deep breath. Her pretty Barbie doll face pales, and I swear the marks on her cheek darken-becoming more prominent than when she first arrived.
I place my elbows on my knees, leaning forward, my hands grabbing the towel wrapped around my neck. “Only a select few know I live here, and that doesn’t include Saint, Kash, or Ashtyn. So how did you know, Charlotte?”
Wide blue eyes fixate on mine as she tries to come up with a lie. Saint and Kashton don’t know I bought this house four years ago. I did it to help out Adam. I have stayed here on and off but never for more than one night at a time. Until now.
Getting to my feet, I swear her breathing picks up as I walk around the coffee table and come to a stop before her. I reach out and run my hand through her soft curls, unable to stop myself. It feels better than I imagined. “You know more than you should, Charlotte. The question is what are you going to force me to do to you to get the truth?”
She remains silent, eyes staring at me while her heavy breathing fills the large room. I sit down on the edge of the coffee table to get eye level with her. I smile as panic covers her pretty features. “I would prefer to fuck you, not have to kill you.”
Swallowing, she sits there like a statue. As if she can make herself disappear from my sight.
“Why did the Lords send you?” I’m not stupid. She’s connected to the Lords, but the question is how? I have my theories, but I want her to tell me who she is. “How about this?” I reach out and place my hands on her knees. She jumps but doesn’t pull away. “Tell whoever you answer to that I left Carnage and have no plans to return.”
She blinks and licks her lips nervously. “You…” She clears her throat. “You can’t leave Carnage.” Her voice is soft, but from the way her eyes widen, I can tell I have her attention.
“No?” My eyes drop to her legs, and my hands slowly push the hem of her dress up, showing me her thighs that she has clenched shut. As if that’ll stop me from taking what I’ve wanted since I first saw her. “A Lord can do whatever he wants as long as he’s willing to sacrifice something they want.”
“What do you have that they want?” she whispers.
“The question is, what do you have that they want?”
“No-thing.” She jumps when my fingers dig into her soft thighs.
I want to spread them wide and bury myself inside her. “Why me?” I ask through gritted teeth, getting irritated.
“I don’t know.” She grabs my wrists, but I don’t release her legs. “I promise.” Her perfectly manicured nails dig into my skin. I feel her legs stiffen as if she can read my mind. “Haidyn…” she breathes, her eyes on mine. I imagine her kneeling before me, begging me to play with her. To fuck her pretty face until I come all over it.
I release her and stand. “Get the fuck out of my house,” I command, needing her to go.
She gets to her feet, grabs her things, and runs out the front door, not needing to be told twice.
Walking to my kitchen, I grab a glass and the vodka, needing a drink. That didn’t go how I thought it would, leaving me more confused than yesterday. My cock is hard, and my mind is a fucking mess. I don’t have time to worry about what the fuck she’s up to when I’m in the middle of trying to figure out what the fuck went down with Benny.
Maybe she was telling the truth, and she really doesn’t know what the Lords are up to. Or perhaps she’s just really good at lying. Just because she has a pussy doesn’t mean she can’t be a vindictive bitch.
Just then, my cell rings from where it’s sitting on the coffee table. Walking over, I see an incoming call from Adam. “Hello?”
“Got what you asked for,” he says.
“And?” I walk over to the floor-to-ceiling windows and watch her start her SUV and tear out of my driveway.
“Annabelle Marie Schults.”
That name sounds familiar. Where have I heard it before? “I’m confused. What’s that have to do with the license plate I gave you?” That’s not who I know Charlotte to be. And she didn’t deny it when I asked about her being outside of my house yesterday. So I know it was her.
“That’s who owns the car.”
I frown. “Her mother? Maybe a sister?” I’ve fucked a lot of women in my life, but other than that, I’ve never had much of a life outside of Carnage. So to recognize that last name…I know it from somewhere.
“No.” I hear him shuffling papers before he speaks again.
The blood rushes in my ears at the information he gives me. I do, in fact, know who that is. My little doll face is in deeper than I could have ever imagined, but now it all makes sense, and I know exactly what I’m going to do to her.
ANNABELLE
“SHIT!” I slam my hand onto my steering wheel. “What the fuck was that?” I whisper, my eyes constantly looking into my rearview mirror to make sure he’s not following me. Or I’m not getting pulled over. Now I’m paranoid. He knows more than I wanted him to.
“The question is, what do you have that they want?”
What if he’s onto something that I hadn’t realized before? What if this is more about me than him? It can’t be, right? They’ve sent me videos of him. Well…one video. When he was lying in his own blood after it was apparent he had tried to commit suicide.
I watched the way his body stiffened when I mentioned Ashtyn. She’s a sore subject. He was pissed off at the fact I even went to Carnage. What did he think I was going to do? We had a meeting scheduled. Surely, he didn’t think I’d give up.
Probably. That seems to be what the others before me have done. Or fuck, maybe he killed them. I don’t know.
What am I going to tell the Lords? I have to lie. If they knew that I was caught, they’d just end it for me. I haven’t come this far to give up now. Or to lose to a Spade brother. He may be bigger and faster, but I’m smarter. I just have to get home and regroup. Take a second to figure out where to go from here.
What’s that saying? The bigger they are, the harder they fall?
I can do this. I saw the way he looked at me. I’m too close. He won’t give me anything because there’s definitely something there. I’ve just got to dig deeper, and I vow right now to do just that.
It’s been a week since Haidyn caught me sitting outside his house. I haven’t had any contact with him whatsoever, but I’ve got another week before I have another scheduled appointment with him.
I reported to the Lords that I had my visit with him last week, and when they asked how it went, I said as good as expected. They didn’t question me any further. I left out the officer and the holding cell and needing my fake boyfriend. I felt that wasn’t important.
They asked how I found him, and I couldn’t lie. If I’m searching for shit on my laptop, then I guarantee they can see it too. That makes me nervous because they can see where he is too.
But I remind myself if they want him dead, he’d be dead. I’m a toy. Something they dangle in front of him while something else happens behind the scenes. That’s how they are.
I enter my house and make my way through the kitchen. Frowning, I find it odd that I didn’t leave the stove light on like I always do. I went out with my fake friends tonight for dinner and let them talk me into drinks afterward at the bar down the street. I stayed out later than I intended to, but I just needed to clear my mind and try to get it off the Spade brother that has quickly consumed my life. I’m dreaming about him now, for fuck’s sake. And most nights, he’s strangling me because he wants me dead. The others…he’s fucking me.
I flip the switch and grab a bottle of water out of the fridge and unscrew the lid. Turning around, I jump, and water splashes on my face when I squeeze the bottle after seeing someone sitting at my kitchen table.
He’s got a black cloak on and a devil’s mask with horns. A Lord. I haven’t heard from them since I reported back last week. Surely, they don’t know I’m lying. How would they? I haven’t been given any actual instructions that I haven’t followed through with. “I…I don’t know…”
He stands from the chair, and the legs scrape across the floor from his movement, making me flinch. He steps toward me, and I grab a butcher knife out of the wooden block that sits on the counter. “Stay back,” I warn, tightening my shaking hand around the handle.
A dark laugh fills the space, making the hairs on the back of my neck rise. My eyes quickly scan the kitchen. Lords rarely come alone. They’re like wolves and travel in packs. They’re known for their numbers. They like to improve their odds. Even if they don’t need the help, they get off on having an audience.
He takes two more steps closer, and I fling the knife, knowing it’s my only option. The last thing I need is for him to take it from me and stab me with it.