Happily Ever After: A Contemporary Romance Boxed Set

by Piper Rayne

  She scowls. “I’m not leaving you here. They’ll kill you. Have these last couple of weeks meant nothing to you?”

  I keep my voice level, looking straight into her eyes as I say what she needs to fucking hear. “No, they meant not a thing. Now go home, Rae, before I do something you regret.”

  She narrows her eyes and edges closer. I wet my lips, unable to tear my eyes away from her. I can practically taste her. “You don’t get to decide. This is my life too.”

  “You don’t know what you’re asking.”

  “I do. I wasn’t lying when I told you, I’ve wanted you my whole life.” Her voice cracks, like it’s hard to speak.

  “They’ll come after us. They’ll kill everyone you love. Everyone.”

  She closes her eyes, breathing deeply. When she looks up at me with wide, moist eyes, the anger in her seems to have evaporated. “Then we’ll fight them, together. I need you, Darius.”

  “No, you don’t.” You and I don’t need anyone.

  “I fucking do. I love you, Darius.” she says, softly, leaning into me, resting her head on my chest. I sigh into her shoulder. My hands wrap around her waist and I pull her into a solid embrace.

  Tonight, I have to fight and kill, because that’s the only way they’ll let us go—if I destroy them. I exhale and close my eyes, breathing in the scent of her, brushing my lips over her sweet skin. My throat is as dry as hell and all I can think about is sinking into her, making her mine.

  She has no idea what she’s asking.

  13

  Rae

  A bang at the door breaks the spell—and us—apart. Darius looks at me with relief, eyes and heart closing down. I see him lock his emotions deep somewhere where the sun doesn’t shine and throw away the key.

  “Just ignore whoever it is,” I say as the door bangs again.

  Darius firms his jaw and turns heel, leaving me abruptly while he answers the door.

  How can he act like this after…

  Fuck him. He couldn’t say it back.

  The ache of him shutting down rips through me.

  Coward! I yell it in my mind, if only he could hear me. I watch him as he opens the door amid banging, and Nadine stumbles inside. She looks surprised, like she really didn’t expect me to be here. And from the look on Darius’s face, he wasn’t expecting her either.

  Nadine is fast becoming my least favorite cockblock.

  “Come in, why don’t you?” Darius exhales as she storms past him. She’s dressed immaculately; a crisp white shirt tucked into a belted, long and flowing blue skirt complete with kitten-heeled cowboy boots, but unlike the times I’ve seen her before, she seems flustered.

  “Rae, finally, I’ve found you. You need to come with me.” In her hand she holds up a key. Elias’s key.

  I frown. “How did you…? Oh, never mind.”

  “It was on the floor in the penthouse after you both left. Elias was totally out of it when I met him up there. He’s in a terrible rage this morning by the way. Hungover, if you can imagine that.”

  “Nadine, why are you here?” Darius asks, arms folded.

  She ignores Darius, focusing on me. “I need you to help me one last time.”

  “Nadine, it’s over. My brother—”

  “Is here, in the building!”

  My eyes widen as a flare of hope sparks inside of me. “Where?”

  Darius comes to stand between me and Nadine. He looks at her and then me with suspicious eyes. “Does someone want to tell me what’s going on?”

  When I don’t say anything, Nadine starts to explain to Darius what she suspects her brothers of while I stand there with my arms crossed. Childish, I know but I’m tired, and Darius being a stubborn ass is making me feel hot and bothered.

  He was never going to leave here. He likes this life more than he wants me. I offered myself on a plate and he just shut me down.

  It takes me a few minutes to calm myself enough to think rationally what to do next. The fight is in seven hours... seven hours! I need to find Dylan before then. If Nadine knows where he is, then I’m going with her.

  I stand up and catch Nadine’s eye mid-sentence. “Are we going then? I’m done here.”

  “Yes, yes, let’s go.”

  “Rae, you’re not going with her. This feels wrong. If the Twins find out what you’re going to do…”

  “I’m going to save my brother, that’s what I’m going to do.”

  “Why does she need you? What’s in it for her? This makes no sense.”

  “Needing me makes no sense? Fuck you, Darius Reyes. I’m not entirely useless.” And with that, I grab my abandoned killer heels and walk out the door. I don’t bother to look back.

  Nadine appears beside me a few steps later, her boots clattering on the concrete as she catches up.

  “That was awkward. No better than my brother then?”

  I chew my lower lip and shake my head, still scowling.

  “No, he’s fucking worse.”

  After I’ve showered and changed into a spare set of clothes in the clinic, Nadine explains, since she conveniently spent a night at the apartment, how she overheard Alexei this morning talking Elias down from killing someone called Hunter. She’s also shown me a copy of all the evidence she has against Elias and Alexei swindling their family’s company. Mostly, it’s all Elias. Alexei seems to be tarred with the same brush just for being his twin. But however much she has, it’s not enough to get them kicked off the board of the family trust. Not yet anyway.

  “They must have forgotten I was in the next room. Hunter is your brother, right?”

  Elias was going to kill him?

  I can’t help but clench and unclench my fists, just hearing his name so casually on her lips has me on edge. “So, he’s here, in the warehouse, you just don’t know where exactly?”

  “Either the warehouse or their apartment next door. It sounded like he was close.”

  “Okay, so how do we find him?” I ask, unable to hide the exasperation in my voice. Any minute now, I’m going to start pacing the room.

  Nadine grins at me and holds up the key. “We break into the main office. They’ll have some evidence somewhere.”

  “We can’t just break in.”

  “Elias and Alexei are on their way to an emergency meeting with the board that I called. This is our only chance. If we leave it any later this place is going to be swarming.”

  She goes to hand me the key and what Darius said comes back to haunt me. Why does she need me?

  “Darius is right, you could just break in by yourself. Get your evidence. Why do you need me? Are you really wanting to help me?”

  Her brow creases as she tilts her head to look at me. “I assumed we were friends. Are we not?”

  “I hardly know you,” I say honestly.

  “Look, you’ve every right to be cautious. I’m only giving you a chance to find your brother. You helped get the key, after all. This is your win too. If you don’t want it…” She pulls back the key.

  “No. I want it. I just don’t understand why I’m the one breaking into the office.”

  She frowns and tilts her head. “Because I’m not supposed to be anywhere near The Pit, remember. I also need to be at the board meeting too, since I called it. I need you because you’re not family. They won’t suspect you. They trust you.”

  “Elias thinks I drugged him,” I spit out.

  “Elias’s fine. I told you, he’s hungover. I made him eggs and bacon this morning. Elias only allows greasy food to grace his plate when he’s been drinking heavily.”

  I absently rub at my temples. “Sorry, I just feel like I shouldn’t be trusting anyone right now.”

  Nadine’s expression melts into a smile. “Oh, hush, I would be asking the same questions given everything that’s happened. Now, are you in or not.”

  “I’m in,” I say, holding my hand out.

  She places they key in my palm along with a flash drive of some sort. “Copy everything you can onto this
and then call me. I’ll come and get you.” She looks at her watch. “Now I must go, I’ve got an emergency board meeting to fake,” she says, eyes sparkling like she’s enjoying this whole thing.

  I watch her disappear down the tunnel and when I’m certain she’s gone, I dig in my bag for my own keys to the clinic and open up. On the back of the chair is my white coat, still in the place I left it. I walk over and slip my hands into the pocket, feeling for my own evidence. My hands close on cold enamel and I pull out the item, inspecting it before popping it into my bag and taking out my phone.

  Before I can even release a breath, I’m calling the only person I can think who can fix all this.

  It rings, once, twice, a dozen times.

  I’m just about to hang up when he answers.

  “Hello?”

  I take a deep breath and try to calm my stupid, thumping-all-over-the-place heart with a count to three. “I have something you will really want.”

  14

  Darius

  I’m angry tonight, more than usual.

  Occasionally my demon surges to the fore, unleashing fury in my movements as I pace down the tunnel leading to the main arena. The crowd swells. Spotlights burn, the heat of them slashing across my bare chest. As the announcer’s voice rings out, the music kicks in, and I walk out to the cage alone.

  I always walk out alone. It’s my thing.

  I can’t help but scan the chaos and the crowd even though it’s apparent she isn’t here. I’ve honestly never felt loss so acutely until now. She didn’t give me a chance to help her find her brother. She just up and left, trusting Nadine over me. That little fact hurts the most.

  After Rae stormed out, the day passed in the blink of an eye until there was nothing left to do but prepare for the fight. Some feral part of me retaliated by screwing up; heading straight to the gym, pushing myself harder than I would before a match. I’m tired, beaten down, and ready for this to be over… not the greatest mentality for someone about to try and take out two trained fighters at the same time.

  I get to my corner—if there could be a corner in an octagon—slip off my robe and hand it to one of the trainers. He offers me the bucket filled with broken and crushed glass, incase I want to coat my gloves. I’ve never needed glass to win and I’m not about to start now. I shake my head. He gives me a sorry look, takes it and my robe, and leaves after a quick check of my wraps. He knows well enough now than to wait around. I shut my eyes and allow myself to think of nothing but Rae. The girl who stole my heart and claimed my soul, who just hours ago told me that she needed me. The girl who isn’t here.

  Why couldn’t I say it back?

  The music starts again, darker this time. For a moment nothing happens, then a figure appears on the catwalk above. Elias in a black silk robe edged with red. The audience hushes as he outstretches his arms to quieten them.

  He jumps onto the catwalk rails and drops his robe. Then he steps off the rail as if falling, only to land on his feet with a massive boom in the center of the cage. His entrance shakes the foundation of the ring and jars the metal, Staff appear and rush in to unhook him from the aerial wire that stopped him from cracking his head open.

  The guy knows how to make a fucking entrance.

  “And now… Ladies and gentlemen, the ultimate fight of the year, the one battle you’ve been dying to see. Introducing the deadliest, one of a kind fighter to ever grace this fight club…”

  As the announcer carries on, Elias smirks at me from across the cage, stretching his deltoids with dark eyes as everyone around us roars to life, screaming for more.

  Fuck. I should have kept my eyes closed. Now I have to watch this douchebag parade about.

  “… Elias ‘The Ripper’ Lexington!”

  Out of habit I look up to the viewing platform. With no sign of Alexei yet, confusion must show on my face and everyone else’s.

  Where the fuck is Alexei? Does Elias think he can take me alone?

  “And for the first time ever as our challenger, the reigning champion of The Devil’s Pit. The Bare-knuckle Wonder, Darius Reyes!” Challenger? What happened to Defender?

  Still, the crowd goes insanely wild, cheering much louder for me than they did for Elias. My opponent scowls from across the ring, holding up a hand until, as if by magic, the noise around us stops.

  Silence.

  With the lights glaring, it’s almost like it’s just the two of us.

  Elias surveys the crowd slowly and then speaks, raising his voice until it booms across the hushed arena.

  “Ladies and gentlemen! My brother has been detained and will not be joining us, however—” Someone has the balls to boo in the back, but Elias whips his head and glares until it dies out. “However! We don’t need a slaughter here, we need a fight, and what better fight than one between two evenly matched, undefeated reigning champions who will fight for your pleasure to the death? Ladies and gentlemen, I give you… the fucking fight of the century!”

  The crowd bursts into an explosive cheer, but still Elias re-raises his hand, cutting them off.

  I’ve no idea why he wants silence but I’m happy to go with it.

  Elias cocks his head and looks over at me with an amused smile. “Reyes, not Archer?”

  “Yes, Reyes, I was never an Archer.”

  “So, you know… well, good for you,”

  “Where’s your shadow? Alexei chickened out?”

  “One of us is enough to tear you from limb to limb, Reyes.” Elias says, starting to circle me.

  “Oh, so do you think you can take me alone?” I ask, circling him back. Again, not my usual technique. I’m getting sloppy, letting this dickhead get to me.

  “I’m going to rip you apart, Reyes. I’ve done it before and I’ll do it again. How do you think you lost your fucking memory the first time? And after, I’m going take what you stole from me last night. Poor Little Saint. She won’t even get to say goodbye.”

  “Not if I kill you first,” I sneer as the ref comes between us.

  The bell rings.

  And we’re on.

  I go in hard and fast, jabbing, aiming for the head. If I can get a blow to his skull while his guard is down, I might stand a chance. Whenever I get a moment’s reprieve, I look for Rae but she’s nowhere to be seen.

  Something must have happened to her.

  Rage consumes me at the thought, my imagination running wild with the possibilities. Elias slams another hook into my side, cutting me up, jarring me back into the fight. I’m covered in small wounds from the glass molded to the surface of Elias’s wraps. He’s bleeding me out slowly and I can’t return the favor. I should have taken the glass when I had the chance. My inner demon rages to rip his head off, but the fucker is well trained. Elias won’t let me get that close.

  “Where is she?” I shout, over the jeers of the audience. They’ve started chanting like they always do. It’s strange how you get used to something, night after night. This could be like any other night, except…except, I’m bleeding everywhere, and suddenly I’m too slow, too light-headed.

  The crowd appear to double. I stumble, losing my footing.

  Two Eliases laugh in my face as he rams me up against the metal and razes me over it, then slashes me with the knuckles of his wraps again. I try to block but the bastard gets under it and rams me in the ribs. Raw pain erupts in my side, taking my ability to breathe. The smell and taste of blood burns the back of my throat.

  My eyes fall on the spinning crowds as Elias grapples me into a corner.

  “Who are you looking for? Your Little Saint? She’s keeping my brother company,” Elias hisses, as he slams into me again. I retaliate with a blow to the head, but he dances back out of harm’s way. It’s like I’m moving underwater. I’m the slowest I’ve ever been while Elias is lightening fast.

  Something is wrong.

  All I can see is red as blood runs down my face from a gash above my eye. Every punch I throw misses and every blow my opponent lands hits hard.<
br />
  Fuck, I’m going to die.

  15

  Rae

  “Do you think Elias bought it?” I ask Alexei. Being here with me instead of at the fight, taking me to my brother, was one of the conditions of our agreement.

  As much as I hate him and what he did to us, I can’t let that get in the way of rescuing my brother.

  Dylan comes first.

  The older twin nods as we walk through the dim tunnels of the old factory vaults. “My brother thinks I’ve captured you. He’s enjoying all this; the prestige of facing Darius and bringing him down alone, the thought of you caged and waiting for him after he kills your boyfriend. Even though he’s my brother, he doesn’t like to share much.”

  I grimace. Elias not sharing is the whole reason we’re in this mess.

  As much as it aches me to leave Darius to fight Elias right now, one twin is better than two. It’s the most I could do for him while I rescue Dylan.

  After Nadine left and I raided the office, I met with Alexei and told him what Nadine had been up to and what I wanted in return for the evidence on his brother. As much as I wanted to trust Nadine, she has already tried to get me killed—twice. I’ve no idea what I’ve done to her but it’s obvious she had no real interest in helping me.

  She set me up with the mugger just so she could steal my keys and break into the clinic, and then left me to fend for myself with an over intoxicated Elias. Alexei confirmed he found Elias passed out and high on some crazy-inducing drug not long after Darius carried me out of the club. The last drink Elias had was the one Nadine gave us. As much as women should stick together, I don’t like the thought of her using me like that.

  “Elias won’t like you helping me,” I say, voicing my thoughts out loud.

  Alexei looks over at me, gray eyes clouding like a storm about to hit. “Elias can go fuck himself. He’s landed us in this shit storm and I refuse to rescue him this time. My sister’s right—the family aren’t happy with the way he’s run the business. It’s only a matter of time before they decide to teach him a lesson.”