She grips my chin with her pointy nails and pushes my head up so I have to look down at her as she stands in front of me. I’m six-seven, and my feet aren’t touching the concrete floor. She’s maybe five-nine with her heels on.
I spit blood onto her face, and all she does is smile at me. “Funny how the girl you were supposed to have, you gave to your friend, and now he can die because of her.”
“He’s not going to die,” I grind out.
She shoves my head back, and I look up at the chains wrapped around my wrists just to make sure they’re still there. I can no longer feel my busted hands from fighting in the arena.
“You killed your fathers because of her.” She goes on. “And now I’ve been brought in to make sure it never happens again.”
“They’re dead,” I state the obvious and joke when my head falls forward to stare at the bloody concrete floor once again. Pretty sure I have a couple of broken ribs since it hurts to breathe. “Can’t kill someone more than once.”
“The Spade brothers are supposed to be THE Lords. You take care of the ones who betray your oath that you hold so high. But you all went fucking weak over pussy.” I hear her heels clanking on the concrete as she walks away from me. “I volunteered my assistance to the society to train you boys. Make you men again. Remind you of who you are. They said I couldn’t kill you, but I’m allowed to do whatever is necessary to get you back on track.”
“Take me to Kash.” I try to take a deep breath, but the pain in my side makes it hard. Where could he be that he thinks he’salone? Have they told him that Saint and I are dead? Maybe they told him I didn’t survive the fight.
Her laughter fills the cold room as she comes back to stand in front of me. “I like you, Haidyn, and I’m going to enjoy breaking you.”
“Fifty-eight,”I breathe. “Fifty-nine.” Another breath. “Sixty.” Dropping the bar, I step back as the weights hit the padded floor in my home gym.
I fall onto the bench behind me and hang my head, running my hand through my sweaty hair. My chest is on fire. I’m overdoing it, but it is what it is. I’m trying to get back to who I was before I got shot. I’m not lifting heavy, but consistently.
Reaching over, I pick up my cell off the bench and hover over Kashton’s number and press call.
He answers on the first ring. “Haidyn?—”
“Want to go for a ride?” I stand and walk over to the floor-to-ceiling windows that run the length of the back wall. The sun is just starting to set over the mountains. I love riding at night. It’s my favorite time.
“Yeah…wait! Are you in town?”
“For the night,” I decide to say. Not a total lie.
“I’ll ask Saint…”
“Just you and me,” I tell him before he can involve Saint. I’m definitely not in the mood for that argument right now.
“Okay. Where do you want to meet?”
After a quick showerand thirty minutes later, I pull into an empty parking lot and see Kashton waiting for me on his bike—a Ninja H2R. Coming up next to him, I shut mine off.
He wears a backwards hat and no helmet. “What the fuck is going on, Haidyn?” he asks, getting off his bike. “Why are we meeting here like it’s off the books? And why the hell wasn’t Saint invited?”
I sigh and reach into my leather jacket pocket, pulling out the picture. “Do you know who this is?”
He walks over to my R1 and takes it from my hand. Scrunching his face, he shakes his head. “Only Benny looks familiar. Who is the other guy?” he asks, handing it back to me.
“That’s what I’m trying to figure out.”
He lets out an aggravated sigh. “And you can’t do that from Carnage?”
I could return, but not now. Not with Charlotte. I’m not letting her out of my sight, and it’s too risky to bring her into our world. The guys will start questioning her and who she is. As far as they know, I’m no longer seeing her since I’m not there for our session. “I’ll come back soon,” I assure him.
He runs a hand through his hair.
“Found anything else out since I spoke to you last?”
He shakes his head. “Nothing. The bastard is almost dead by this point. But he’s not going to give anyone up.”
“And Laura?”
