I look over at Devin and Gavin and nod my head to them. Devin begins to pass out a paper to Blakely, Charlotte, and then Ryat. I don’t need one. I already know. Found out this morning while Charlotte was sleeping next to me and immediately messaged Ryat that I needed him and his wife to meet us here.
“What is this?” Blakely asks, reading over the paper in her hand.
Ryat’s body goes stiff while reading his before wadding it up in his hand.
“While we were running the blood tests on all the wives, Haidyn thought it would be a good idea to run another test.” Gavin addresses everyone. “And as you can see looking at the results, there’s a match.”
“I don’t understand.” Charlotte’s brows pull together as she looks up at me. “What does it mean by fifty percent match?”
“Goddammit.” Ryat sighs, hanging his head.
“What?” Blakely gets to her feet, her paper falling to the floor. “Ryat, talk to me.”
“Your mom…” He pauses, looking up at her and the color drains from her face.
“What about LeAnne?” she asks slowly. I know enough about their relationship to know that they’re not close. And if Ryat had his way, her mother would be dead.
He cups her face and lets out a long breath. “She’s a twin.”
“What?” Blakely steps back, and his hands fall to his sides. “No. I would have—” She cuts herself off because she realized she doesn’t know jack shit about her mother. “What does that mean?”
“It means that you and Charlotte are related,” I answer. Charlotte and Blakely both spin around to face me. “LeAnne has a twin…and it’s Isabella, Charlotte’s mother.”
Ryatand I leave our wives to speak while we step out into the hallway. He begins to pace, and I shove my hands into my pockets. “I thought they deserved to know.”
I had Adam do some digging, which led to him finding out that both Isabella and LeAnne legally changed their lastnames while attending Barrington. My question is why? What happened that they needed to sever any connection that could prove they’re related?
Ryat nods more to himself than me. “I just…I don’t understand.” He turns to face me. “You told us that Charlotte had an initiation…she was branded, and you were her assignment.” He runs a hand down his face, feeling the past week. It’s weighing on all of us. I’m going to crawl into bed with my wife and pass the fuck out after I fuck her. “The Ladies are all from founders, but the Lords didn’t make Blake finish her second initiation and Elli had one, but no assignment. Of course, Lake didn’t have to do anything because of what Ty had negotiated. But it still doesn’t answer why the Lords didn’t require more from the other Ladies like they did Charlotte.”
I filled them all in the other day on everything that Charlotte went through, and they were all as confused as me. “I can’t answer that question,” I say honestly, hating that I don’t know everything.
“I can.”
We both turn to see Bill walking toward us with Tyson, Sin, and Saint. We haven’t kicked him out yet due to how much help he’s been. Without him, I’d still be locked in a cage, and my wife would be getting raped and beaten on a daily basis.
They come to a stop in front of us.
Ryat nods his head. “I’m listening.” He sighs, tired of the bullshit games.
“Blake’s mom was never part of her life. Her stepmom set up that deal with Matt and his mother. If you hadn’t intervened with Blake, who knows what would have happened.”
Ryat fists his hands, imagining the possibilities of the life his wife could have had.
“Then of course, Elli…” He turns to face a pissed-off Sin. “They wanted to prove she was mentally unstable. They didn’twant to give her any initiations to prove she could pass. But you marrying her changed the game. Once the Lords realized she was your wife, they had to give her something to at least prove her loyalty to you.”
Sin runs a hand through his hair, dropping his eyes to the floor.
“And Laikyn—her father didn’t want her to be part of the Lords because he was going to sell her.”
Tyson’s jaw sharpens at his words.
Bill goes on. “Anything can change the course the Lords want you on. Nothing is set in stone,” he goes on. “And Ashtyn. Nothing went as planned with her. When you denied her, things changed.”
Fuck!I close my eyes. Not this…
“Wait. What do you mean whenhedenied Ashtyn?” Saint asks.
Opening my eyes, they land on Bill, and he mouths, “Sorry.”
