Total pages in book: 214
Estimated words: 199879 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 999(@200wpm)___ 800(@250wpm)___ 666(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 199879 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 999(@200wpm)___ 800(@250wpm)___ 666(@300wpm)
“Altus isn’t here,” Haidyn announces.
“Meaning?” I snap.
“Meaning…her brother and her father are both missing…” Kashton trails off.
I run a hand through my hair. “Maybe he’s…”
“His wife is dead. His son is MIA, and his daughter is supposed to be dead. All ordered by the Lords. You think the fact that he wasn’t home or not here is a coincidence?” Haidyn snorts at his own question. Our fathers have been gone for three days, but they came back this morning. I just saw her dad two hours ago in his office. Where the fuck has he gone in the meantime?
“I…”
“Saint.”
The soft sound of my name cuts me off, and I spin around. Ashtyn stands before me, arms crossed over her chest. She’s naked and parts of her wet hair stick to her heaving chest. Tears fill her pretty eyes, and she sniffs. “He said he’d come back for us.”
I step closer to her. “Who? Adam?”
She nods, her eyes dropping to her bare feet.
“When did you talk to him?” Kash asks her.
“Five days ago. After Saint took me home, Adam came by my house.”
I had asked him to check on her, but I never got a response from him, so I figured he hadn’t seen her.
“Did he tell you where he was going?” Haidyn asks.
She shakes her head.
“Did he say why he was running?” Kashton speaks.
Licking her trembling lips, she speaks softly. “Something about being framed.” I look at Kash before I turn to Haidyn. He shrugs, also not sure how much of that is true.
“What did Tyson and Miles say?” Kash goes on.
I can always call and ask Tyson, but I want to see if what he tells me matches what she says. I trust her more than any Lord.
Her eyes drop to the floor. “Tyson texted him a picture of me…Adam called my cell. I begged him…” A sob erupts from her throat. I wrap my arms around her, holding her shaking and wet body.
I look up at Haidyn, and he sighs heavily while Kashton watches her closely. When his eyes meet mine, he nods, telling me he’s thinking the same thing I am. “If he’s got his cell, he can be tracked.”
“He called from a blocked number,” she mumbles into my neck.
The guys both stand there staring at me, and I bend down, picking her up in my arms, and carry her back to the bathroom. I set her down into the warm water that fills the tub and push the hair from her face. “I’ll be right back,” I tell her, stepping back into my bedroom and shutting the bathroom door.
“What do you think?” Kashton asks.
“I think Adam is on the run to save his own ass.” Haidyn snorts. “And if we can’t track him, we’ll never find him.”
“He could be anywhere by now. Ashtyn said she saw him five days ago,” Kash adds. “Adam can cover a lot of ground in five days’ time.”
My bedroom door is shoved open. “What the fuck is going on?” my father demands, entering the room.
I place myself in front of the bathroom door, knowing Ashtyn is in the bath naked. He watched me fuck her in front of the Lords. That was required in order to solidify that she belonged to me. Now things have changed.
“Saint?” he snaps. “I just got a phone call. Ashtyn and Adam are missing, their mother is dead, and Altus isn’t answering his cell.”
None of us says anything.
He crosses his arms over his chest. “Saint…where the fuck…?”
The door behind me opens, and my father trails off. I don’t have to turn around to know that Ashtyn just walked out of my bathroom. The way Haidyn bows his head and Kashton’s sigh tells me all I need to know. Spinning around, I see her again with a towel wrapped around her, wet hair stuck to her reddened skin from the hot water.
My father’s eyes go from her to me, and then he looks at Haidyn and Kashton as if he wants one of us to explain how she got here and why she’s practically naked in my bedroom.
“I—”
“Father, give us a minute.” I interrupt whatever she was about to say.
His eyes slowly look her up and down before he meets mine. “My office. Ten minutes,” he orders before turning and rushing out, slamming my door shut.
I turn to face her. “Ashtyn—”
“Are they all dead?” she asks, her watery eyes meeting mine. “My father too?”
Placing my hands on her upper arms, I lie, “No. He’s fine.” The poor thing has already lost her mother and possibly her brother. I don’t need her thinking she has no one left. Not when she has me. “I’m going to go talk to my dad. I’ll be right back.”
She nods as if I asked for permission. “A moment.” I gesture to the bedroom door, and the guys follow me out into the hallway. Closing the door behind me, I turn to face them. “Stay with her. I’ll be right back.” I turn my back to them and head toward the office when Haidyn’s words stop me.