“I feel like we’ve gotten off to a rough start. Let me introduce myself. My name is Isabella, but you can call me Costello.”
“Fuck you, bitch.” Kash groans, his head falling back to look up at his restrained wrists as his body hangs from the ceiling. “I’m not calling you shit.”
She sighs, shaking her head. “Do you know why I chose to move into this hellhole for six months?”
We say nothing, and she steps into me. I bow my chest and fist my hands that want to rip her head from her body. Too many of her men are here, and they outnumber us. Kash looks as weak as I feel, and who knows how Saint feels since his surgery or what they’ve done to him.
“I wanted to be part of making the next generation of Spade brothers “good boys,” but the real reason is for revenge.”
Giving me her back, she claps her black Versace heels on the concrete floor, splashing the puddles of blood and water as she walks over to a rolling cart that contains scissors, knives, and pliers. “You…” She picks up a knife, running her fingers up and down the rusty-looking blade, and her red lips turn up. “Killed my husband.”
“Fucking…lying…bitch.” Saint gets out, finally speaking. “The Lords wouldn’t allow you to come here for revenge.”
“As you’ll learn during our time together, I can be very convincing.” Her smile grows. “They knew I’d get the job done. Plus, revenge is the best motivation.”
I slowly approach her, and she doesn’t even flinch as she tilts her head up to meet my glare. “If I did kill your husband, he deserved it.”
Her face turns red, and she slices the blade against my upper thigh, cutting me.
I grind my teeth. “Goddammit.” I hiss under my breath, placing all my weight on the other as I assess the damage, watching the blood run down my leg. It’s not deep or anything. My main concern should be an infection due to how filthy it was.
“When I leave Carnage, you will remember Isabella Schults as the one who taught you how to be men.”
“Schults?” I repeat out loud, my pulse starting to race as I recognize it. Fuck, our initiation last year…the yacht that was named Isabella, and her husband owned it.
“Let them down.” She waves her hands toward Saint and Kash. “Put them in the pits. They deserve a time-out.”
“No!” I growl, and she turns to face me once again.
She holds the tip of the nasty bloody knife to my neck, and my nostrils flare as my eyes look down my nose at her. “You want me? I’m right fucking here.” I won’t make my brothers pay for something I did. Especially when I was just following orders from the Lords.
“We’re only sixteen days in, Haidyn. Let’s not get ahead of ourselves.”
My shoulders are screamingfrom my arms being pulled behind my back, and my knees are killing me from kneeling on the concrete. Her voice is making my ears ring. I just want to go back to my room. “What does that have to do with Charlotte?” I snap.
Isabella’s eyes narrow at her daughter’s fake name. She stands and takes the few steps, closing the space between us. “She was always meant to be great.” Holding her arms out wide, she adds, “Annabelle will one day take over for me. And you will answer to her.”
“To us,” Hudson adds.
My eyes shoot to his and back to hers. Bill told me that Charlotte wouldn’t be happy with what the Lords give her if she fulfills her assignment. But he never saidwhatit was. Hell, I still don’t know what Isabella’s talking about exactly.
She gives me a soft smile. “She will marry Hudson.”
I shake my head. “She’ll never do it.” I leave out the fact that Charlotte is my wife. I’ll save that for another day. Since I’m going to be here until the day I die.
She throws her head back, laughing. “You think I’ll give her a choice?” My chest tightens at the thought of her not having any control over her life. After everything she went through, she’ll hate where she ends up. It was for nothing. “But just like you and the other Spade brothers, Hudson and I will prepare her to take over here when I’m done. And she will do whatever the fuck she is told to do.” Her eyes look me up and down with a smirk. “Something tells me she won’t be as hard totrainas you and your brothers were.” Smiling, she turns and goes to walk hand in hand with Hudson.
“How many?” I ask, my heart now racing, knowing the shit that she’ll put her own daughter through.
Charlotte is strong but not that strong. I will burn this place down to the ground with both of us in it before I sit back and watch this bitch train my wife. All I can do is hope that my brothers keep her hidden from the world.
Isabella stops and turns to face me. “How many what?”
“How many of you fucking bitches run this society?”
She smirks and takes a step toward me. “There’s power in numbers,” she says vaguely. “Just like women are given medications to be fertile.”
I frown. That’s not something I was aware of. But after what Bill told me about the breeders, it too makes sense. Fuck, why didn’t I put all of this together sooner?
