Hadley

 

The house is quiet.

Too quiet.

I’ve been lying in bed all day, fighting sickness, but by evening it fades and I’m left feeling antsy. My curiosity gets the better of me and has me exploring Koyn’s massive home. Though I’m checking out the rooms of the other guys, my mind isn’t on them. It’s on me. I’m pregnant. I still can’t believe it, though it’s not completely shocking considering Koyn’s inability to use a condom or pull out. The thought of my stomach swelling to accommodate our baby has my heart stuttering. Absently, I stroke my nearly flat stomach through the hoodie I’m wearing.

“Everything’s going to be okay, little one.”

I peek my head in a room that must be Dragon’s. Everything’s been painted black and there are knives of all variety sticking out of the sheetrock. It makes me wonder if Koyn cares that Dragon has destroyed the walls. Knowing Koyn, he doesn’t care.

All Koyn cares about is revenge.

The thought is paralyzing because I’m a part of his revenge plan. I’d much rather be a part of his happiness. I’m carrying his child after all. My eyes water as I think about my near future. Dad will find out where I’m at since they took me and he’ll find a way to take me back.

And I can’t go back.

Never again.

I need to talk to Koyn. To convince him to let me stay and not as his prisoner.

As I wind my way through the house, I eventually hear the murmur of voices behind a closed door. I’m just turning the corner to find Stormy hovering near the door.

“They started the meeting without us,” I joke as I approach.

She nearly jumps out of her skin. “You scared the shit out of me, brat,” she hisses and smiles broadly at me.

I fall into her embrace the moment she opens her arms. After the year I’ve had, it feels really good to just be held by a friend. Stormy is a good person and I like her.

“How are you feeling?” she asks, stroking her fingers through my hair, but not pulling away.

“Better.”

“Good. Did Koyn hurt you?”

I squeeze my ass cheeks. Yes, I’m sore as hell after the way he took me earlier, but he didn’t hurt me. “We had sex. It was typical Koyn sex.”

She pulls away to frown. “Consensual?”

“Yes, Detective Nosy.”

Her eyes roll so hard I think they’re going to fall out of her head. “I just worry about you, kid.”

At least someone does.

“Why do you stay?” I ask, my brows knitting together. “With Filter, I mean. Is it that serious?”

Her gaze darkens. “I do what I have to do.”

“Because you want to be his old lady?”

“Maybe,” she says, a far cry from what she told me before. Before, she said she loved him and was trying to get him to commit. I wonder what’s changed.

“Do you still want to be his old lady?”

“No.” She pauses, seemingly flustered over her admitting it to me. “I mean, I want to be someone’s old lady one day. I just don’t know if Filter and I will last.”

“How come?”

She shrugs. “He doesn’t want to commit. He keeps me at arm’s length. Always has.”

“So why not break up with him and date someone else?”

“Like Koyn?” she taunts, her lips curling up on one side.

“I was thinking his brother.” I smirk at her.

My words throw her for a loop because she presses her lips together and her nostrils flare. “No. Why would you think I would want Copper?”

“Because he’s hot…” I say slowly. “And he’s Koyn’s brother. Next best thing, I guess.”

“Oh.” She lets out a sharp breath and laughs. “Oh. Hmmm. Guess I never thought about him in that way.”

“Better scratch him off the list then,” I tease. “What about Bizzy?”

Her lip curls up. “He’s a manchild. No.”

“Dragon?”

“I’d like to live to see thirty-two.”

“Thirty-two?! Damn, Stormy, you’re old enough to be my mom!”

She slaps my shoulder. “Bitch!”

We both giggle. The door we’re standing in front of flings open. Both of us snap our heads to meet the amused face of Bermuda.

“Can you take the slumber party elsewhere? You’re distracting as hell,” Bermuda says, his brow lifted and a familiar smile tugging at his lips. He was so cold, but right now he seems more like himself. It warms me to my soul.

“Actually,” Koyn calls out from the room, “Hadley can come in. Bermuda, take Stormy and cook us some fuckin’ grub.”

Bermuda does a playful salute and then escorts Stormy away. As soon as they walk off, I close the door behind me, eyeing each of the men sitting at the conference table.

Intense.

Brutish.

Mean.

All of them stare at me with accusation in their eyes. As though I’m enemy number one. I shuffle on my feet, shooting Koyn a questioning look. Where the others look angry, his eyes are alight with madness. A predator about to kill. He seems victorious as though he’s conquered something big.

He has me.

Little ol’ me.

Daughter of billionaire Marron Genworth.

Okay, so maybe not so little.

“How are you feeling?” Koyn asks, his voice even. Curious. Surprisingly caring.

“Fine. Should I, uh, sit?”

Koyn’s face morphs into a wolfish grin as he pushes back slightly from the table and pats his lap. “Here.”

Ignoring the stares of the other bikers, I saunter over to Koyn as though I’m prancing across a pageant stage, vying for the number one spot. In this competition, I am. I know these bikers are brotherhood above all else. I need to somehow take the throne above brotherhood. As I pass Dragon, I fear he’ll snatch me or stab me or do some other crazy ass thing, but all he does is chuckle under his breath.

These men wear leather cuts. Some have beards. Most have tattoos. Each has a weapon within reach. They give off the dirty MC gang vibe, but intelligence gleams in each pair of eyes, even Bizzy’s. They’re smart and loyal and rich. I’m not sure how Koyn created this band of brothers, but he did it with precision. Each man here is a reflection of the man at the head of the table—brilliant, calculating, hard. They’re obviously a team—a force to be reckoned with. And though I’m technically their prisoner, I’m rooting for their team.

Because the other team…the other team is scary.

Magna and my dad have always made for a wicked team. My dad is rich and has connections, therefore he gets Magna to hop around on his feet, trying to get the carrot he dangles. When not dazzled by Dad’s ungodly amount of dollars, Magna is on his own team. Hell-bent on creating the best world he can for himself. It was never about his son or his old MC or my father. It was all about Magna.

With Dad’s money and power coupled with Magna’s brutality, I wonder if Koyn and the other Royal Bastards will even stand a chance against them.

“You going to stare all night or come sit in my lap?” Koyn asks lowly, his dark eyes pinning me in place.

I suck in a deep breath, lift my chin, and strut the rest of the way toward him. My heart is racing in my chest, but I try not to seem affected by him or his men. Plopping down on his thigh, I try not to wince at my sore asshole.

“What now?” I demand, feigning irritation at having to be at a boring meeting.

Koyn splays a possessive hand on my stomach and pulls me back against his chest. “We were just discussing how poor your father grows by the second.”

“Poor?”

Koyn leans forward and hits a button on his laptop. I stare in fascination at my dad’s online banking. All the accounts are down to zero aside from his checking account, which has five hundred bucks in it.

“You missed some,” I mutter.

Koyn laughs. “I had to leave him some gas money for the trip up here.”

I tense in his arms, my fingernails digging into the flesh of his forearms. “He’s on his way?” My throat aches as bile creeps up. A wave of dizziness has me sucking in sharp breaths of air. Tears burn and sting my eyes.

“Scared I’ll hurt your precious daddy?” His taunted words are low and menacing.

A tear leaks free and I catch Filter’s somber stare. Quickly, I look away from him and swipe my cheek with my thumb. “No,” I utter, five seconds too late.

“You’re mistaken,” he growls, his fingers brushing along my stomach. “You should be scared. I won’t go easy on him. I’ll make him fucking pay and then I’ll kill him.”

“I’m not scared you’ll hurt him.” I swallow and look over my shoulder at Koyn. “I’m scared of what he’ll do now. To you. To them.”

Koyn’s eyes narrow to slits as he inspects me, searching for truth in my words. I feel as though he can see right inside my head. Disgust washes over me. Can he see the filthy, dirty parts I hide from everyone? The ones that solely involve my father? My throat tightens as I blink rapidly to rid myself of memories of the past year. Magna may have fucked me like I was his, but I could handle him. It was Dad who tore pieces of my soul away each time he stepped into my bedroom. The wrongness of what he did will haunt me until the day I die.

Which very well could be soon.

Today even.

Will Koyn have any use for me if he manages to kill my father?

Or will I be expendable?

What about our baby?

Feeling a fierce protectiveness ripple through me, I clutch my stomach as though I can somehow protect the tiny life from the horrors in my world. But Koyn’s hand is still there. Still holding my stomach like I own a piece of him. My fingers flitter over his skin, unsure if I should link my fingers with his or pull away. His other hand covers mine, making the decision for me.

“A man like your father is a coward,” Koyn states, matter-of-fact. “He’s nothing without his money and his minions. Take away his checkbook and he’ll freak the fuck out. Take away his muscle and he’ll piss his pants.” His thumb strokes over the back of my hand. “Take away what he owns—something he created with his own blood, and it’ll end him.”

If only it were that easy.

Dad is rich and powerful because it’s not easy to take him down. He’s ruthless and cunning. A shark in all aspects of his life. When Mom killed herself, I was left alone in the deep end with the shark.

She was disgusted by pictures she’d found in his study—erotic pictures of me that Junior had taken when I was around fifteen when we’d first started having sex. Pictures Dad was using to pleasure himself with. I’d heard the yelling as I hid behind the stairs. She’d called him every name in the book. Threatened to take me far away from him. Vowed to financially drain him and ruin his reputation.

And the next day she was dead.

Overdose.

She was depressed. At least that’s what Dad told them. Not a word was spoken about his sick compulsions.

Though I don’t have definitive proof, I know my father had a hand in her death. Either he drove her to suicide after what she found out, or he forced her to end her life. All I know is she was gone.

I was all alone.

In the water.

With a shark.

Circling and circling and circling.

Each day, I avoided my father’s predatory stares. Tried not to think about the horrible things I’d overheard. Stayed busy with school and friends and activities.

But I was tired.

Losing Mom and trying to keep my head above water was nearly impossible. I almost drowned. Fell into the depths of my own despair, curling up in my bed for days at a time as I tried to make sense of my life.

And waiting at the bottom for me was a shark.

Him.

My father.

He drew blood. Took that forbidden bite. Sank his teeth into my soul. Devoured all the good, innocent parts left inside of me until I knew I had to get away or I’d end up just like her.

So I ran.

Straight to Junior and Magna.

To safety.

A choked sob escapes my throat. It’s then I realize the room has long since emptied and Koyn holds me against his chest, stroking his fingers through my hair. He’s supposed to be my enemy because he hates my dad, but he’s the safest haven I’ve ever known.

“I’m scared,” I whisper tearfully, clutching his leather cut. “I’m so fucking scared, Koyn.”

Same words I’d muttered late at night to Junior. Words he never understood. He thought I was scared of leaving the MC life with him and getting pulled back home to my rich girl life. He didn’t know who I was afraid of. He didn’t understand.

I’ve told Koyn nothing, but something shifts in the air.

I can almost taste it.

Knowledge. Understanding.

His possessive palm clutches my hip and he nuzzles his nose in my hair. “I’m going to ruin him,” Koyn murmurs, violence dripping in his words. “I’m sorry.”

He knows and yet his revenge is still the most important thing to him.

He’s sorry he’s going to ruin him.

Because that means ruining me.