Total pages in book: 266
Estimated words: 250787 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1254(@200wpm)___ 1003(@250wpm)___ 836(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 250787 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1254(@200wpm)___ 1003(@250wpm)___ 836(@300wpm)
“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 screaming from 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 said what it 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 to train as 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?
She laughs, seeing the confusion on my face.
“There’s a rumor going around that Lords are given enhancements to produce twins.” She throws her head back, her laughter growing louder. “And you actually believe it. They are given…supplements, yes, but it’s the women who determine twins. Not the men. Take your friend Ryat, for example. His wife, Blakely. She comes from a founder. She’s about to give him twin boys, right?”
LeAnne. Now it all makes sense. Charlotte said her mother is best friends with LeAnne. I should have known.
“Who knows how many more kids they’ll have. Or their kids will have…see, Haidyn, it’s the Ladies who keep your legacies alive.”
“Except for you.” Hudson laughs like he knows a secret. “You’ll be here until you die, and well, let’s just say you won’t have a legacy to leave behind.”
I wish now more than ever that I hadn’t had Gavin put Charlotte on the shot. I would give anything to give my wife what she wanted—a family. Not because of the Lords. Fuck them! But because that’s what she wanted, and she deserves everything.
“A life span of a man in the United States is around seventy-seven years old. With my help, you will exceed that. Think of it as a gift from me to you—you’ll get to see Annabelle every day for a long…long time.” She looks behind me. “Return him to his room. Remove the IV and get him prepped for stage two of his initiation.” Then she turns and exits the room with his hand on her ass.
SEVENTY-SEVEN
CHARLOTTE
It’s been a week since Haidyn told me he loved me and left me tied to my bed. A week of absolute torture.