Chaotic (L.O.R.D.S. #7) — Chapter no 61

SIXTY-ONE

KASH TON

hen we landed in New York ear lier today, I sent Sin out on aW little shopping spree while Eve and I were at Hooke’s house. I gave him a list—some things that I thought my wife would like.

By the way she’s rocking her hips right now, I’d say I did pretty good.

She’s remembering. I think it scares her more than anything. Ev‐ erett has always been standoffish, and she’s al ways run from me.

She has a hard time believing that I want her; what if she never does?

I’ve seen enough videos now to notice the pattern. Her training.

I’m going to have to do my own training but do it differently. They made her fear her fu ture. I’m going to make her crave one. Evan had her for a year, I’m going to have her for the rest of her life. It will take time and persis tence. This is a marathon, not a sprint, and I’m going to devote everything I have to it.

I pick up the bulb and squeeze it once more, watching her eyes get heavy in the mirror. “That’s it, angel. How’s your cunt?” I reach around and slide my hands be tween her shaking thighs. She tries to spread them for me, but the position doesn’t give her much to work with.

Running two fin gers over her pussy, I bring them to her face and smear her wetness through her tears. “That’s my girl.”

I turn up the vibrator, and her lips part on a silent gasp. Her shoul‐ ders pull back, pushing out her chest, and her lashes flutter. Her pouty lips are turning blue from lack of oxygen and her eyes are swimming in tears.

She slumps when I shut off the vibrator. And when I deflate the collar, she gasps and chokes out a sob. “Pl-ease?” She begs as a thin line of drool runs down her chin from not being able to breathe or

swallow from the inflated collar.

“What do you want, Eve?” I com mand.

She closes her eyes before they meet mine in the mirror and whim‐ pers. “Make me…” She swallows. “Make me forget.”

It breaks my heart, but I can’t go soft now. I was telling her the truth when I thought she was running and I told her I had been soft on her. My goal was never to hurt her. It was to love her. I’ve won.

She’s mine. But the more videos I watch, the more I understand just how hard on her I have to be for her to see that I love her. That she should love herself.

“Forget what?” My first rule of her training will be to make her say it.

Fresh tears fill her pretty green eyes before she answers. “Anyone before you.”

I’ll wipe every single one of them from her memory. She told me and the Lords at Blackout that Evan used submissive and cere bral conditioning. She was forced to watch porn while she came over and over. I’m going to make her watch herself while she gets off.

I turn on the vibrator, and she moans; heavy lashes fall closed. I pump the bulb, inflating the collar three times, and they open.

“Watch your self, angel. This is your second lesson.” I pump it one more time, knowing it’s not going to choke her out but will def initely hinder her breathing. “Open wide,” I order.

She does as she’s told, and I reach around, us ing my free hand to pull her lips back while my other places the bulb into her mouth. I then run my fin gers in and around her lips and check to make sure she’s not biting them or her tongue. “Be my good girl and hold it in your mouth for me.”

She blinks rapidly while her body jerks involuntarily.

I check the clock on the night stand. “You’ll kneel like this for thirty minutes and re member how many times you come.” Her shoulders tremble at my order. “Make sure to keep your mouth open. If you close it, you’ll be biting down on the bulb, and it’ll inflate the collar.”

Her green eyes widen, re alizing what I did. “I don’t want you to suf‐ fo cate your self.”

I run my fingers through her hair, feeling how soft it is. Her body stiffens and her lashes flutter. Once she rides it out, her shoulders slump and her heavy eyes find mine in the mirror.

“Good girl,” I praise her for coming.

She whimpers around the bulb shoved into her mouth. Her hips pick up immediately, riding the vibration between her legs that con‐ tinues.

I give her a re assuring smile in the mirror. “It’s okay to enjoy it, an‐ gel.”

Her drool-covered chest is heaving. Her collar is inflated enough to apply pres sure, allowing her to breathe just enough to not pass out on me. That would defeat the purpose of her training.

“Let’s add a little some thing.” I get up, and she mumbles nonsense as I re trieve an item from the bag and re turn to my seat on the side of the bed directly behind her. I want to be able to see her in the mirror.

Leaning around, I grip her breast and attach the Ja panese Clover nip ple clamp. She cries out, biting down on the bulb in her mouth, and her eyes go wide with panic. “Care ful,” I warn her. She blinks rapidly to clear the tears from her vision. I apply the other one, lov‐ ing the way she whimpers and letting the chain fall to lie across her chest.

I slip my fingers into the collar to test the tightness. “You’re going to make your self pass out.”

She’s gasping for breath around the bulb that has re inflated itself in her mouth. Drool covers her lips, chin, and trembling thighs.

“Once your time is up, I’ll remove that bulb and let you beg me to fuck your pretty face.” I reach around, grab the chain linked to the nip ple clamps, and pull on them, smiling at the scream that comes from her stuffed lips. “And then you’ll thank me.”

After I was done fuck ing my wife, I crawled into bed with her, and she fell asleep in my arms, but I couldn’t join her. I slid out of bed

and made another drink. I sit in the chair in the corner of the owner’s suite with a glass of scotch, staring down at my wedding ring. I can’t speak for my wife, but I can say everything I went through was worth getting to this point in my life. And I vow to make sure that I give her a life that’s worth it too.

I’m pre paring myself for the shit show we’ll re turn to. Saint didn’t mention my tracker when I saw him at Blackout. Haidyn will be mad when he finds out I married his sister.

He’ll think I planned this. But didn’t I? This is what I wanted. I can’t hide from him that she had an as signment and is re turning as my Lady. I don’t want to keep the fact that I’m her husband a se cret.

I’m proud of her and to have her as mine.

Sin left right after the wedding. He took Hooke’s helicopter to catch his own jet back to Pennsylvania and asked when we planned on go‐ ing home. I told him a couple of days. He promised to send it back when we’re ready. I’d rather stay out here on this yacht where no one can touch us. But that’s not life. The honeymoon will have to come to an end at some point.

My phone rings again, and I get up to answer it on the night stand.

I glance to make sure she’s still asleep.

“Hello?” I answer softly.

“Hey, man,” Ryat says. “I know you two are away, so I’ll make this

quick. I spoke to Gre gory Mallory.”

I frown. “The judge?”

“Yeah. He owes me. Anyway, after we left Blackout, I started think‐ ing…in order for them to ar rest Everett, they’d have to have an ar‐ rest war rant. One that a judge has to sign off on.”

“Has he?” If that’s the case, we’ll just stay here where they can’t touch her.

“No. He said they haven’t even submitted the affidavit yet. If some‐

thing changes, he’ll let me know.”

“Thanks…”

“He also said if the warrant comes across his desk, he’ll deny it.”

“Thanks, man. I appre ciate it.”

We hang up, and I set my phone on the night stand and re turn to the chair. I plop down and take another drink.

“No.”

The sound of my wife has me glancing up at where she’s lying in the bed, but I must be hearing things, because she’s sound asleep.

Her naked body twisted in the dark sheets.

“Kashton…please don’t…stop.”

She’s re living her hallucination in her sleep. I drop my glass and

rush over.

“Everett.” I sit down next to her.

“Stop it.” She arches her back.

“Eve.” I nudge her shoulder to wake her up, and she goes feral.

Kicking and screaming. I sit on top of her, and she manages to slap me.

“Eve,” I bark, grabbing her flailing arms by the wrists and hold ing them down on either side of her head.

Her lashes open and wide green eyes look up into mine.

“You’re okay, angel. It was just a nightmare,” I assure her.

Her body soft ens under mine, but her eyes frantically scan the room, trying to confirm what I told her.

I let go of her wrists and get up off her.

She slowly rises to sit, still try ing to catch her breath. Unwrapping herself from the covers, she gets up and walks into the bathroom while I silently re main sitting on the edge of the bed and wait for her to re turn.

After a few minutes, she comes out and walks over to the mini bar, where she pours a drink and takes a sip. Hooke’s staff had the yacht pre pared for a cel e bration. “This is what they wanted,” she says softly.

“What who wanted?” I don’t know what she sees when she sleeps at night. And she hasn’t shared anything else about what she saw during her hallucination. But if I had to guess, I’d say the training I put her through a few hours ago is what caused her nightmare.

My eyes scan the vows that I wrote with a Sharpie on her chest and stomach, and I smile to myself.

“The Lords. They want me to go crazy. They didn’t want you to marry me, so they made sure I would lose my mind so that you would have to lock me up in the basement at Carnage.”

I get up, stepping into her. “That’s not going to happen.”

It does make me wonder how far off she is. Haidyn thinks she’s sui‐ cidal, but Saint hasn’t voiced his opinion on that yet. Evan keeps sending us videos of her training at Dollhouse. Maybe they’ve planted doubts in my broth ers’ minds so that when I refuse to en‐ slave her, it’ll cause a fight. Separate us more than we have been lately. What connection does Evan have with the Lords? Why would they be on his side?

“Think about it…my as signment was pointless,” she states, and I frown. “I didn’t have to kill anyone or prove myself. They just wanted to get inside my head.”

I hadn’t thought of it that way, but she’s not wrong. Assignments are usually to prove your loyalty. What’s the point of making her see me hurt her? What’s it got to do with loyalty to the Lords? Maybe they wanted her to be terrified of me? Walk away from me? I won’t ever let that happen.

“You’re the only person to ever pre tend to love me,” comes her soft voice.

“I’m not pre tending.” How could she think that? I knew she’d need more training than just kneeling in front of a mirror one time. She told me that she knew I loved her, and now she’s saying some thing different. It’s that doubt that creeps in when she re members what she went through. “I do love you.”

She ignores my confes sion. “They want me to fear you. Taint your image in my mind. That’s why they had you take me to Dollhouse.

Why my hallucination made me your offer ing.”

That…doesn’t make any sense. “An offer ing?” I re peat and she nods. “How so?”

She bites her bottom lip. “You tied me up…and let men line up to rape me. Said that the Lords wanted you to prove that I was use‐ less.”

I’ve never told her she was useless because she can’t give me an heir. That was her mind playing tricks on her. Just like the Lords wanted.

“You gave them razor blades, and after you watched them rape me, they got to cut me.” She lowers her voice. “Anywhere but my face.”

My hands fist. “I would never—”

“It doesn’t matter what you would or wouldn’t do,” she shouts, in‐ terrupting me. “All they needed was to plant the thought.” Huffing, she takes another drink. “I’ve literally puked at the idea of me and Evan, and that’s the part you played in my hallucination. Why, Kash?” she barks at me. “Why did I see you instead of him?”

“They wanted me to scare you,” I say through gritted teeth.

“Exactly.” She throws her arms out wide. “And they know I can’t give you kids.”

She’ll never get over the fact that she can’t get pregnant. “I don’t need children.” I thought we discussed this last night.

“Funny.” She snorts. “When we were hid ing out at Blackout, you were ready to adopt as many kids as I wanted.”

I can’t win with this conver sa tion, so I say nothing to that.

“But don’t you see?”

“It doesn’t matter.”

“Of course it fucking matters,” she shouts.

I open my mouth, but before I can speak, my cell rings. She turns and picks it up off the night stand. “It’s Saint.” She hands it out to me with a sigh.

Why the fuck is he calling me this late? I hit Answer. “What?” I growl. They know I’m away with her.

“The woman didn’t make it,” he says in greeting.

I give my wife my back and run a hand down my face, then hang up with out even re sponding. What is there to say? I toss my phone

into the chair in the corner.

“What did he have to say?” Eve asks.

I turn back to face her and see her standing there with her hands on her hips, waiting for my re sponse. “The woman passed.”

With out a word, she turns, enters the en suite bathroom, and slams the door shut.

It’s time for another lesson. An other re minder that it doesn’t matter what she saw in her hallucination. This is her life now.

I grab some things from the bag and enter the bathroom. She’s standing at the sink, washing her face. Her narrowed eyes meet

mine before they drop to the cuffs and collar in my hands. “I’m not in the mood.” She turns off the water and grabs a towel.

I smile to myself. The honeymoon isn’t over yet. “I’ll take that chal‐

lenge.”

EVERETT Kashton brings the car to a stop in the circle drive at Car nage. I stay in the passenger seat un til he opens my door. It’s not that I can’t do it myself, it’s because I’m re luc tant to re turn. Worried about how things will go.

It’s been over a week since I ran out of here and he chased me to the run-down mo tel. Kashton told me he’s been avoiding his broth‐ ers, and I hate that I’m the reason. They are all he has. I don’t want to come be tween them.

I could feel the tension between them when we had our meeting at Blackout. And I never asked Kashton what was said after I went up to the apartment. He didn’t offer up any information, so I figured he didn’t want to share.

He grabs my hand, and we en ter the building and ride up to their office in silence. He holds the door for me, and we step into the room.

Saint and Haidyn are arguing but stop mid-sen tence when we walk in. All eyes swing to us. Even Ashtyn and Charlotte are present.

Haidyn turns to fully face us and takes a step in our direction.

I step back, but Kashton’s hand in mine stops my re treat. So does Haidyn. He looks away and runs a hand down his face. I’m not ready to have the uncomfortable conver sa tion with him. That’s why Kash‐ ton is going to do it alone. We discussed it on the way back from New York.

“Will you girls give me and my broth ers a minute?” Kashton asks, breaking the uncomfortable silence.

Ashtyn looks like she wants to stay, but Saint takes her hand, pulling her from his chair, silently telling her to get the fuck out.

Charlotte kisses my brother on the cheek, and Kashton turns to face me. “I’ll be right there,” he assures me, and I nod.

The girls and I get into the ele vator, and since I was first stepping on, I press the button for the birdcage. Ashtyn begins to laugh. “Se‐

ri ously?” Her eyes drop to my ring. “How did you get Kash to pro‐ pose to you so soon?”

“Well, for starters, I didn’t fuck his best friends,” I re mark.

She huffs, and Charlotte’s eyes go wide while she bites her lip to try and hide her smile. The mo ment the door slides open, Ashtyn stomps off and rushes to her room, slamming the door shut behind her.

I know I’m baiting her. If I’d be nice, it would be easier, but I’ve never been fake. I’m not going to pre tend I don’t know what she did to Saint and his broth ers. Or that she left them high and dry for four years.

I’ve fallen in love with Kashton, against my better judgment. Still, I couldn’t imag ine shooting him and leaving him for dead and then just forgetting he ever existed. I would give my life for him. That is what a Lady does. When you marry a Lord, you no longer get to think about yourself. You’re part of a team. And I know that Kashton would do anything for me, there fore I will give him nothing less of me.

Stop ping at Kashton’s door, Charlotte gets my attention. “Haidyn would never hurt you.”

I turn to face her. Giving her a soft smile, I speak. “I know.” Every‐ one in the office saw me take a step back from Haidyn. It wasn’t be‐ cause I’m afraid of him, though. I’m just used to being on my own.

Kashton is all-con sum ing, and I know Haidyn wants to make up for lost time. The two of them will be suffo cating.

“He’s confused.” She sighs heavily. “Worried…he wants to be a big brother and pro tect you, but he thinks you hate him.” Her eyes drop to the floor, low er ing her voice. “Be cause of what your guys’ father did to you—selling you to Dollhouse.”

I know he knows more than that, and I wonder if he’s told his wife.

I glance away and run a hand through my hair nervously. “It wasn’t his fault.” You don’t get to pick your parents. And in our world, they’re pretty much all pieces of shit. It’s rare to find some one who actu ally cares about you. And if you do, you’re one of the lucky ones.

“Haidyn pro tects who he loves, and he hates that he wasn’t able to do that for you.” She adds, “I know you have Kashton, but I just want you to know that Haidyn would do anything for you if you’d let him into your life.” With that, she turns and enters their room.

I open Kashton’s door and fall onto the bed, staring up at his ceil‐ ing. I wish we were still in New York, drinking champagne and eat‐ ing choco late-covered straw berries on a yacht while floating out on the ocean. But nothing about my life has ever been a honeymoon.

Life must go on at some point. And we’ve re turned to it.

The door opens, and I shoot up to see my husband enter. “How did it go?” I ask right away.

He re moves his cell and the keys to his car from his pockets, toss‐ ing them onto the night stand. “Haidyn is pissed, and Saint didn’t say a word.”

“What is Haidyn mad about exactly?” I nibble on my lip.

“That I married you.”

Right. Be cause I’m not good enough for his best friend. I drop my head, and Kash lifts it by placing his fin ger under my chin and forc‐ ing me to tilt my head back. “He’s pissed that he wasn’t there,” he

corrects himself.

Pulling away, I nod to myself.

“I’m go ing to take a shower. Join me?”

“Yeah,” I answer, and he’s al ready head ing to the bathroom. “But I think I should talk to Haidyn first.” I don’t want him to think I’m afraid of him.

“He went to the basement.” He reaches up and re moves his T-shirt.

“He’ll be down there for a while.” Kashton starts the shower.

Turning, I exit the bed room and ride the ele vator down to the base‐ ment. I’m not a coward, and I don’t want my brother to think I’m one.

I exit when the door opens and step out, passing through the plas‐ tic cur tain strips, and don’t see him in the pits area.

Continu ing on through the hallway, I see a woman ahead of me.

She looks frail. Her head is down, and her dirty hair covers her bare shoulders.

The sound of “Hallelujah” by No Re solve echoes throughout the hall, and I know Haidyn is in the process of torturing some one. He’s been in a sour mood because of me. Even Charlotte won’t be able to pull him out of it. I’ll have to do it.

I know a part of Charlotte likes that about him. No Lady willingly gives herself to a Lord with out knowing what he’s capable of. You have to crave that kind of darkness to allow it into your life.

The woman’s bare feet drag across the concrete floor, and she holds a piece of rope in her right hand that pulls a baby doll behind her. Looking up, her eyes meet mine, and my heart races when she speaks. “They took my baby.” Her voice is raspy as she steps into me, and I turn my shoul ders to avoid her touching me.

“They took my baby,” she repeats, shoving my chest and pushing my back against the cold concrete wall.

I go to shove her in re turn, but she’s yanked away before I get the chance. “Laura.” Haidyn places himself between us. The smell of blood hits my nose when I see it’s all over his clothes. “What are you

doing out of your cell?”

“THEY TOOK MY BABY!” she screams.

“Here it is.” He bends down and picks up the doll and holds it out to her. The rope she grips is wrapped around the doll’s neck several times. It’s naked, an eye missing and covered in dirt. One of the arms is twisted backward.

Her wild eyes go from his to mine, and I wonder if she knows who I am. She looks back at Haidyn, throw ing the baby to the floor.

He sighs. “Come on. Let’s put you back where you belong.”

She begins to scream at the top of her lungs. The screech ing sound makes my ears hurt. He bends down, wraps his arm around her thighs, and picks her up, throw ing her over his shoulder, then carries her down the hallway while she drags the baby be hind them.

I follow after him, passing cell after cell until we come to an open‐ ing. It has a set of stairs on either side that goes up to the second floor of cells. The basement is huge. Covers the entire length of the building. I’ve been everywhere down here. I could navigate it with my eyes closed.

Haidyn throws her in the cell, making sure to toss the doll in there as well, and slams it shut, locking it.

Turning around, he looks surprised to see me. “Are you lost, Eve?”

His voice is cold, and I swallow nervously. “Kash isn’t down here.”

“I was looking for you,” I tell him, and my tongue feels heavy all of a sudden.

His eyes soften, and he looks hopeful, asking, “What do you need?”

“I was wondering if you wanted to have lunch with me tomorrow?”

I ask ner vously.

“Of course.” He frowns as if there isn’t another option.

I take a step back, nodding awkwardly. “Okay. I’ll see you then.”

Be fore I can make a fool of myself, I rush through the hallway and to the ele vator.

Stepping into Kashton’s room, I lean against the door and close my eyes, try ing to catch my breath as my shaking hands come up to my

face.

“What took you so long?”

I jump at the sound of my hus band’s voice. Dropping my hands, I see him standing in the bed room with a towel wrapped around his hips, water still drip ping down his tatted chest. “I’m having lunch with my brother tomorrow,” I say, trying to wrap my head around it.

There’s so much happening so fast. I went from having no one but myself to rely on to having a husband and a brother who has a wife of his own and babies on the way. I’ve got a family.

Kashton strolls over to me and gently kisses my fore head. “That’s great, an gel.”

The following afternoon, I’m standing in our bedroom when there’s a knock on the door. I take a shaky breath and run my hands down my shirt. I’m so nervous. I’ve been around Haidyn several times, but never just the two of us. And never as brother and sis ter. Opening the door, I find Haidyn standing in the hallway.

He places his hands in his jeans pockets and rocks back on the heels of his boots. He’s nervous too. That helps me a little. Neither one of us knows what to say or what to talk about. Our childhood is

out of the question, and I’ve mar ried his best friend. What else is

there to know?

“Ready?” He clears his throat.

“Yep.” I nod and close the door behind me. Kashton left early this morn ing. He said he had somewhere to be and that he’d meet me back here after my lunch with Haidyn. I’ve been too nervous to worry about where he went.

We get into the ele vator just as the door at the other end of the hall opens, and I get a glimpse of Ashtyn stepping out of her and Saint’s room, giving me ago-to-hell look before the ele vator door closes.

I follow him to the garage, and he opens the door for me to get into his black Lamborghini. As we pull out of the gates of Carnage, he says, “What type of music do you like to listen to?”

Is he like me? Does he have to have noise too? I know for most, it’s just habit to get in the car and turn the radio on. “Anything. Doesn’t matter.”

He fiddles with the controls for a mo ment, and then “Hate Me” by Blue October starts to play through the speakers. He keeps it low enough that we could have a conver sa tion if we had something to talk about, but instead, we choose silence.

Carnage sits out in the middle of nowhere by itself, so it takes a good thirty minutes to get anywhere when you’re not speed ing. The particu lar restaurant we go to takes us forty-five minutes.

He opens the door for me to enter, and I thank him before he tells the hostess his name. We’re taken to our ta ble and sit across from one another. It makes me wonder if he chose this place or if Char‐ lotte did. Either way, I like the fact that they took the time to get reser vations at a nice, quiet restaurant.

We each order a water, and I rub my sweaty hands on my jean-clad thighs. I don’t know why I wanted to do this. I should have begged Charlotte to join us. At least then we’d have a buffer. It’s not that I didn’t want her to join us. I think she would have insisted we go alone. She wants Haidyn and me to have this time together.

Picking up the menu, I cover my face and try to calm my racing heart.

“I guess congrat u la tions are in order,” he finally says.

Setting down the menu, I see he’s staring at my wedding ring.

“Yeah. Thank you.”

“You wanted to elope?” He frowns as if that’s hard for him to be‐ lieve.

“I didn’t think anyone would want to be there,” I say truth fully. He stares at me intently, and it makes me shift in my seat. “Not like I’d expected you to give me away or anything.” I give a nervous laugh.

“I would have,” he answers, and my stomach knots. He pulls his cell from his pocket, and after unlocking it, he shows it to me.

It’s a group text. I arch a brow at the name. “My bitches?” I ask with a smirk.

“Sin named the group.” He rolls his eyes.

I laugh softly and look over the picture that Sin sent to him and Saint. It’s of Sin, me, and Kash ton. The one he took with our cham‐ pagne flutes on Hooke’s yacht. I sit back and sigh. “We didn’t know he was coming. We used his jet, and he just showed up right before take off.”

I don’t want Haidyn to think that I purposely left him out. It wasn’t like that at all.

He locks his cell and puts it away. “Why…” He pauses. “Why didn’t you come to me?” His eyes drop to the ta ble before glancing back at mine. “Why didn’t you want to know me?”

I hate that I am the way I am. That I pre fer to be by myself. I’ve become my father. I’ve made oth ers feel less than because of my ac‐ tions. “It wasn’t you. I’ve al ways been a no one, and I think it was hard for me to admit that you were my brother.”

He frowns.

I weave my fingers together on the ta ble as I speak. “I was at the cathedral the night Bill was telling you about the breeders and what Charlotte’s fu ture looked like.” I sigh. “Bill was al ready with Isabella when he saved me, and I stayed clear of her. For good reason. So when I found out you were with Charlotte, I had to re main staying away from you.”

“I haven’t been with Charlotte for very long.” He calls my bluff, sit‐ ting back in the seat and crossing his tatted arms over his chest.

“You’ve been my sister your entire life.”

Looking away, I answer, “I couldn’t go back to Carnage.” Dropping my eyes, I add, “I fought too hard for too long to get away from there.”

“You went back for Kashton,” he re minds me.

Fuck. I want to crawl under the ta ble and hide. “Re jection was also

a factor.”

“Re jec tion?”

I knew he was nothing like our father, but that didn’t mean he’d ac‐ cept who I am. “What if I tried to speak to you and you wanted nothing to do with me? Or what if you didn’t believe me? I’d feel like a fool. I’ve done just fine on my own, and I didn’t need anyone else.”

“Look”—he runs a hand over his hair—“I want to get to know you, but I’m not going to force a brother-sister re la tionship. Just know that I’m here if you need me.”

I nod and pick up the menu once again, but I can’t concen trate on anything that’s written on it. We’re out for lunch. Just the two of us.

There’s a reason… “Why did you pick her?” I ask, slamming the menu down harder than I mean to.

His eyes meet mine while he slowly lowers his to the ta ble. “Pick who for what?”

“The other woman. That night at Carnage. Why did you choose her to be the one…” I lower my voice to whisper. “To die? Why not me?”

He sighs, looking away from me. “I picked her because of Garrett.”

His eyes come back to mine. “He never even gave the other woman a single look. He was fo cused on nothing but you. And I knew…he wanted me to pick you. So I picked the other one.”

I’m silent for a long second, letting his words sink in. And then I burst out laughing. He quickly looks around the quiet restaurant be‐ fore giving me his attention once more. “You’re telling me, I’m alive today out of spite?”

He chuckles and picks up his water. “Yeah.”

I laugh harder, and he joins me.

He takes a sip and places his drink on the ta ble. “In all se rious ness, I’m sorry about everything.”

I shake my head. “None of it’s your fault.”

“I guess we’re even, huh?”

I frown, not un derstanding what he means.

“Bill told us that you were the one who told him I was in Dollhouse.

That you reached out to Evan, and he confirmed I was there…you saved me.”

I drop my gaze to the ta ble, catching sight of him twirling his wed‐ ding ring.

“I owe you everything, Eve.” He speaks softly, and I look up at him through my lashes. “Be cause of you, I get to be with my wife and be a father.”

I sit in my bed and read over the text that Adam just sent me. My heart rac ing, I bite my bottom lip and call the last person I want to talk to. It’s not even an option. It rings once before his voice fills my

ear. “Well, hello, dolly.”

My teeth grind. “I need a favor.”

He chuckles, and it makes me sick to my stomach. “It’ll cost you.

How much depends on what it is.”

“Haidyn,” I start. “I think Isabella has him.”

He snorts but doesn’t say anything.

“I think he’s at Dollhouse, but I need ver ification.” I bite my nail. I can’t go back there. No matter how much I want to save Haidyn.

This is my only option. Plus, Isabella will know some thing is up if I walk into that hell. She wouldn’t let me near him.

Evan sighs. “I’ll see what I can do, but I can’t prom ise anything.

And Eve…you owe me either way. Understand?”

“Yes, sir,” I whis per, feeling a knot in my stomach.

“Someone had to stop her. I knew your broth ers could do it,” I tell him hones tly. The Spade broth ers would have done anything for each other, and I knew they would burn that place down to get him back.

Haidyn nods and sighs. “I know it doesn’t mean much now, but had I known I had a sis ter, I prom ise your life would have been differ‐ ent.”

I swallow the knot in my throat at his words. I believe him. Char‐ lotte wasn’t wrong. Haidyn will go to hell for the people he loves. I

never re alized until now how much I needed to hear that. That some one would have stepped up and pro tected me. “It means some thing. And thank you,” I tell him.

He gestures for our server to come take our orders. I haven’t even looked to see what they have. “And I don’t doubt that you can take care of your self, but if Kashton hurts you, just know, I’ll break his fuck ing legs.”

I laugh and the server comes over. Once he walks away, I tell my brother, “I’ll keep that in mind.”

Sitting here with Haidyn makes me think of Ashtyn. I think this could be a part of why I dislike her. She grew up with four guys who would have done anything for her. Hell, they did, and she gave it up.

I watched her fuck it all away in Ve gas while they were being pun‐ ished here for her actions be cause she thought her husband was dead.

I’ve been cheering Haidyn and Charlotte on since Bill had Haidyn meet him at the cathedral.

I exit the cathedral just as I watch the bike pull out onto the two- lane road. I make my way down to the Rolls-Royce Wraith, and the driver opens the back passenger door for me. I slide in, and he shuts the door but makes no move to get behind the wheel. He re‐ mains stand ing out side the car.

Pulling my cell out, I speak. “A little harsh, don’t you think?” I say to Bill, who sits next to me. He just had Haidyn meet him at the cathedral in the middle of the night to show him Charlotte’s fate as a breeder if she fails her as signment. I was hiding in the back, eaves‐ dropping.

“That’s what Haidyn needed. He can’t help but be a savior.”

My phone beeps in my lap and I read the text from Fuckface.

You free tonight?

I type back.

Yes.

It beeps again.

The bar. 11 P.M. Info to come… “He’s going to get you killed,” Bill states, openly gawking at my cell.

“We’re all going to die.” I lock the screen.

“Eve,” he growls. “The Lords are going to find him. He can’t run for‐

ever.”

“How is that my problem?”

“They’re going to take out everyone around him. I won’t let you be collateral damage.”

“Tell me about Charlotte,” I urge. “How did you meet her?” I know their story, but I want him to tell me.

He rubs the back of his neck nervously while a smile plays on his lips. “She was my therapist.”

My brows arch. “Therapy? No offense but you don’t seem like the type to sit through therapy sessions.” We were raised to not have feelings. All Lords are machines. You kill, you fuck, you groom your children to do the same. If some one is forc ing you to seek therapy, it’s to manip u late you.

Chuckling, he nods to himself. “It’s a long story.”

“I’ve got time,” I say, holding my arms out wide.

He doesn’t hesitate to tell me about how he met Charlotte and tricked her into mar rying him with Adam’s help. His smile is infec‐ tious as he talks about her like she’s the only woman in the world.

And I know that in his eyes, Ashtyn could never compare to his wife.