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)
She comes to a stop and stares at the trees. I look over the metal bar high up in the branches. A piece of rope hangs from the center and two cinder blocks are on the ground. They too have rope wrapped around them.
Ashtyn stands quietly staring at it as I watch her. The soft wind blows her dark hair around and I hear her sniff.
I go to turn around and leave her alone…to give her a second when her voice stops me. “He kept me tied up for four days.”
Turning back to face her, my stomach drops at her words. I lick my lips. “I’m so, so sorry…”
She turns to face me and cuts me off. “I’m not like them.”
“Who?” I ask, wondering who she’s referring to exactly.
We know that Benny is connected to Hudson and my mother, but we don’t know the extent of it. My mother refuses to talk, and Benny is practically dead. No one has spoken to Hudson yet. He’s been in the hospital since I shot him twice.
“Our husbands…our parents…the Lords in general.” Her eyes go to the house behind me before they find mine again. “I’m not going to blame you for who your mother is. Or what part she played in my life…no matter how big or small.” Her hand goes to her stomach before she walks over to me, closing the small space. “I’m not going to pretend I know anything about your marriage to Haidyn.” Reaching down, she takes my hands in hers. “I bet he put you through hell.” Giving me a small smile, she adds, “But I do know he fell in love with you. And I can’t tell you how happy I am that he found you and to have a sister.” She pulls me in for a hug, and I feel her shoulders shake.
I hug her tighter as my eyes land on the rope that hangs from the metal bar in the trees. Swallowing the knot that lodges in my throat, I promise to be a better person to her. Because she’s right, our husbands are brothers, making her my sister.
EIGHTY-SIX
HAIDYN
We’ve moved her mother to a cell, and today is the day we bring out Hudson. He’s strapped in the same spot as Isabella was several days ago. He’s remained silent. Tyson’s men brought him back with them, and he’s been in the hospital. It was the first time I saw Kash actually smile since they rescued me from that hell. His face lit up when he told me my wife shot Hudson. He was so proud of her.
My wife stands next to me while Adam stands on the other side of her. Saint and Kash stand by Ryat, Tyson, and Sin. Bill is still here as well.
“What can you tell us that Isabella can’t?” I ask.
He purses his lips and lifts his chin. I’ve slept beside my wife the past few nights, wanting to put a fucking knife through his chest but have refrained. I know what he was going to do to her, and it makes me sick to even think about it.
I know what I hallucinated wasn’t far off. He’s a sick fucking bastard.
“He asked you a question, motherfucker!” Kash steps forward, and I grab his shirt, pulling him back.
“I know something.” My wife speaks, and everyone in the room turns to face her.
“You don’t know shit, bitch.” Hudson laughs at her. “You didn’t even know that I was in on it. You thought that I was actually interested in you. You’re pathetic,” he spits.
She turns to face me, ignoring him as she speaks. “He was the one who slit your wrists.”
I stiffen at her words, and Kash spins around to face him. “You what?” He looks back at my wife. “How the fuck do you know that?”
“He told me when he and Bill threw me in the cell with Haidyn at Dollhouse. He was bragging. Said that my mother should have let him slit your throat…” Her eyes fill with unshed tears, and she adds, “I just put two and two together.”
Saint steps up to him. “So you were here…? In Carnage with Isabella when she was training us?”
He gives us a cruel smile.
Saint punches him, knocking his head to the side. He spits blood from his split lips. All this time, this piece of shit had been with my wife long before I even knew who she really was. Isabella told me that he set her up for me to find her car on the side of the road. Once I got that call from Adam informing me of who she was, I spent the next two weeks setting up cameras in her house, preparing her basement…he knew all of that. That’s why I never saw him on the cameras. I had her tell everyone that she was going out of town, and it gave him an excuse to stay away, and she never questioned his distance. Then he showed up pretending to be mad when he found her notebook. He had to give her a reason to walk away. To make her feel like she betrayed him. He was just playing with her mind, adding to her mother’s bullshit game. And I never took the opportunity to check the cameras when she told me he had been there while she sat in her bathtub. I was too busy making sure she married me that night. If I had just checked them, I would have seen him in her house. I would have recognized him. I never showed her the picture I had of him in my pocket. She never saw it when I showed Ryat and Tyson. LeAnne showed up, and my wife was attacked. It just never seemed important.