by Katee Robert
His Tormented Heart
An Island of Ys Novel
Katee Robert
Trinkets and Tales LLC
Copyright © 2019 by Katee Robert
All rights reserved.
Cover design by Oliviaprodesigns
Cover art by The Reed Files
Ebook ISBN: 978-1-5323-9808-7
Print ISBN: 978-1-951329-97-6
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
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Also by Katee Robert
The Island of Ys
Book 1: His Forbidden Desire
Book 2: Her Rival’s Touch
Book 3: His Tormented Heart
Book 4: Her Vengeful Embrace
* * *
The Wicked Villains Series
Book 1: Desperate Measures
Book 2: Learn My Lesson
* * *
The Thalanian Dynasty Series (MMF)
Book 1: Theirs for the Night
Book 2: Forever Theirs
Book 3: Theirs Ever After
Book 4: Their Second Chance
* * *
The Kings Series
Book 1: The Last King
Book 2: The Fearless King
* * *
The Hidden Sins Series
Book 1: The Devil’s Daughter
Book 2: The Hunting Grounds
Book 3: The Surviving Girls
* * *
The Make Me Series
Book 1: Make Me Want
Book 2: Make Me Crave
Book 3: Make Me Yours
Book 4: Make Me Need
* * *
The O’Malley Series
Book 1: The Marriage Contract
Book 2: The Wedding Pact
Book 3: An Indecent Proposal
Book 4: Forbidden Promises
Book 5: Undercover Attraction
Book 6: The Bastard’s Bargain
* * *
The Hot in Hollywood Series
Book 1: Ties that Bind
Book 2: Animal Attraction
* * *
The Foolproof Love Series
Book 1: A Foolproof Love
Book 2: Fool Me Once
Book 3: A Fool for You
* * *
Out of Uniform Series
Book 1: In Bed with Mr. Wrong
Book 1.5: His to Keep
Book 2: Falling for His Best Friend
Book 3: His Lover to Protect
Book 3.5: His to Take
* * *
Serve Series
Book 1: Mistaken by Fate
Book 2: Betting on Fate
Book 3: Protecting Fate
* * *
Come Undone Series
Book 1: Wrong Bed, Right Guy
Book 2: Chasing Mrs. Right
Book 3: Two Wrongs, One Right
Book 3.5: Seducing Mr. Right
* * *
Other Books
Seducing the Bridesmaid
Meeting His Match
Prom Queen
The Siren’s Curse
Contents
Content Warning
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Content Warning
This book contains depictions of a character with a history of abuse (off-page).
Chapter 1
Ryu shouldn’t be in the club. There were a thousand and one things to handle, and double that number he couldn’t bear thinking about. After the events of the last couple weeks, he didn’t know if the Horsemen were planning an assassination … or a war. And, because he didn’t know, because the truth of their enemy shredded him to pieces again and again over every waking hour, this was where he gravitated to. This was who he gravitated to.
To Delilah.
To watch her dance.
She moved around the stage as if she owned it, as comfortable in a tiny thong as most people were fully clothed. Her dancing …
It defied description. Strength and beauty and a very specific kind of power. Each motion radiated it to the extreme. Add in the gravity-defying moves she pulled off with ease on the pole and Ryu was like every other person in this place.
Captivated.
Enraptured.
Most importantly, distracted.
When he watched Delilah spin her web of desire through the room, he wasn’t thinking about the next step in their plan. He wasn’t going damn near cross-eyed from yet another hour on the computer, looking for answers Ryu wasn’t sure existed. And he sure as fuck wasn’t dealing with the truth that had set fire to whatever he thought he knew of this world.
In the darkness of the corner booth, he could be anyone. Some random rich asshole who patronized the Island. The kind of man who hadn’t a care beyond where he’d make his next million.
She regained her feet lifted her arms over her head, putting her body on full display. Her light brown skin glowed with perspiration, leading the mind to all kinds of filthy fucking. Small, high breasts with brown nipples gone taunt in the icy air conditioning. Muscles moved with every sway, belying the strength and training it took to do what she did. A white lacy thong which almost, almost gave a glimpse of her pussy.
Ryu forced himself to lean back, to breath the tension from his body, but he couldn’t look away as she twisted and bent at the waist, putting her ass on display in a way that made his breath catch.
Every. Single. Time.
And then it was over. The music trailed away and she gave a brilliant smile which seemed like it was only for him. A final wave and she sauntered off the stage, ignoring the piles of cash the other customers threw at her. One of the other employees would come pick it up before the next set and deliver it to her backstage.
Ryu reached for his drink with a hand that shook, just a little. He didn’t pick up the glass, didn’t need more alcohol. He’d had more than normal tonight. Not just tonight. Every night since the day they learned the name of their enemy.
Fai Zhao.
Or, as Ryu and Amarante knew him—Father.
He shuddered and grabbed the glass, downing the rest of the scotch, wishing it could burn away his memories the same way it burned his throat. Ten years of his childhood filled with pain and suffering beyond comprehension. Another fifteen spent planning their revenge. Only to discover the person who put them in that hellhole was their own goddamn father.
He hadn’t come to terms with that truth. Ryu didn’t think a person could come to terms with a truth that reprehensible. So here he came, night after night, seeking out the one thing that lightened the weight he carried.
Delilah.
A woman he hadn’t exchanged two words with. One who didn’t even know his real name. One employed by the Horsemen. Thre
e very good reasons to turn around and leave. To find something else to do on the nights when the truth rode him too hard. Every night.
He didn’t leave.
He never left.
Instead, Ryu finished his drink and climbed to his feet. This was his chance to make the right choice, to head back to his rooms and sleep off the sick feeling in his chest. He didn’t go back to his rooms. He never did. Instead, he headed for the private dancing rooms they had situated around the club.
Technically, club wasn’t the right word. The business was part of Pleasure, one of the two casinos the Island of Ys hosted. Outside this darkened room, there were a thousand and one ways to gamble and drink and fuck your way out of a truly absurd amount of money. Most of that profit went into the Horsemen’s pockets, but they ensured that their people were paid and paid well.
The dancers at this club didn’t have sex with customers. If the people lingering on the darkened floor, waiting for the next show, wanted the sort of entertainment that came with touching privileges, there were other places in Pleasure to have
their needs met. Similarly, if the dancers wanted to indulge, it was arranged as required. There were rules for a reason.
Rules that he broke every time he came here.
Oh, none of his siblings gave a fuck if he liked to watch the dancers strip, to watch one particular dancer. They each had their own ways of quieting the memories, one of the things they rarely spoke about. No, it was Ryu’s own rules that should have kept him from walking through the door.
The second his attraction to Delilah flared to life, he should have put a stop to it. And when he realized he preferred watching her to anyone else in this place?
If he had anything left resembling a soul, that would have warned him off.
And yet here he was, walking into Delilah’s private dancing room. The rooms weren’t large, but they held enough space for a curved couch which could fit a few people and a small round stage and pole. That was it.
The lights dimmed, giving him half a breath to school his expression before she walked into the room. In the time since she’d left the stage, she’d changed into his favorite outfit. It was a short black dress that appeared to be made of nothing but beaded strings. With every move, it revealed swathes of skin. The strings covering her breasts were spaced wide enough that he could see her nipples, and she’d pulled her hair up into a high ponytail. Delilah stepped onto the stage on sky-high heels and gave him a surprisingly sweet smile. “The usual?”
Ryu nodded. He never spoke during these illicit dances. Bad enough that he was here. For all intents and purposes, he was her boss. That should be enough to keep him away on its own. Add in the sheer amount of baggage Ryu carted around and it was a lost cause. A conversation, even a short one, opened the door to him dirtying this woman. She deserved better than that.
She sure as fuck deserved better than to be his life raft, too.
Music ground through the speakers cleverly hidden around the room, a slow, grinding melody that Delilah picked up effortlessly. She ignored the pole for the time being, simply rolling her hips and letting her body move to the beat. In moments like this, Ryu had no doubt that she loved dancing as much as he loved watching. Not because he was watching. She loved dancing for the sake of dancing. It was written in every move she made as she circled the pole once, twice, a third time, and went to her knees facing away from him. She spread her legs and kept up that delicious rolling of her hips. Because the couch was several inches shorter than the stage, he could see her lace panties, the scrap of fabric barely enough to cover her. The curves of her ass …
Fuck.
Ryu dragged a hand over his face. If he was going to insist on doing this, he should at least keep his shit on lock. It never happened, though. She bent over and he lost control of his blank expression.
Every. Single. Time.
Delilah worked her way around to face him and straightened enough to grasp the hem of that sad excuse for a dress. Her dancing had parted the beads farther, her breasts now fully on display. She tilted her head to the side. “Would you like me to take it off?”
Even though he knew this was a game to her, that she gave this show to anyone who paid the high premium, his mouth went dry as he nodded slowly. He forced his hands to relax as she worked the dress slowly up her body and over her head. And then it was gone, leaving her in only the panties. She bit her bottom lip as if debating with herself, and finally climbed off the stage.
Ryu froze.
This wasn’t part of the show.
Delilah moved to stand between his knees. The position left her breasts level with his face, so close he could see the way her nipples peaked under his gaze and goosebumps spread across her skin. She stopped before she closed that last bit of distance between them. “Can I ask you a question … Pestilence?”
Pestilence.
Each of Ryu’s siblings had taken a moniker of one of the Four Horsemen when they founded the Island of Ys. It may have started as their own private joke—a marker of their determination to bring a very personal apocalypse to their enemies—but over the years their reputations had become something else altogether. They evolved into a kind of living legend that made all sorts of people sit up and take notice. People might not look twice at Ryu, but they worked hard not to piss off Pestilence. Everyone knew what he could do, how he could make people disappear without ever laying a finger on them. He might not be the most violent of his siblings, but aside from Death, he was the one people whispered about most.
Delilah lifted a dark brow, and he realized he was staring instead of answering her question. Finally, he nodded. She gave a small smile. “I’ve worked here for two years, and the only time I’ve seen you around is in the last three weeks … when you started coming every single night.”
There wasn’t a question in there, so Ryu leaned back and propped his arms on the couch. Waiting.
“Every night, you come in here and watch me dance, and every night you book a private dance immediately after.”
Still no question.
Her hand drifted down to his chest. The second her fingers pressed against him, his lungs turned to concrete. He couldn’t breathe, couldn’t think, couldn’t do more than grapple with the instinct to fight or flee. If he didn’t do something right now, the pain would come. It always came after a stranger touched him …
Delilah made a pained squeak, and Ryu blinked at his hand gripping her wrist tightly enough to have her fingers splayed. He released her instantly and she staggered back to sit on the stage. Shit.
Shit. Shit. Shit.
He needed to apologize. Needed to explain that he didn’t like being touched, especially not here in this room that suddenly reeked of fucking. He inhaled and he could taste the scent on his tongue. Even though he knew it was all in his head, he couldn’t get the smell out of his nose, his mouth, his throat.
Oh fuck, I’m going to puke.
Ryu shoved to his feet and stalked out of the room. He couldn’t think, couldn’t plan, couldn’t do anything but move. He barely made it to the bathroom down the hall in time to lose every bit of the alcohol he’d just consumed. His stomach heaved again and again, leaving him lightheaded and woozy.
Not woozy enough to forget what just happened.
He stumbled to the sink and splashed water on his face. He needed to go apologize to Delilah. But as he looked at his haunted eyes in the mirror, Ryu had to admit if he sought her out again, he couldn’t guarantee his control would hold. He wouldn’t hurt her again. He’d cut off his fucking hand before he did. But stringing words together into coherent sentences?
No.
The past twisted too close to the surface to trust himself completely. He wouldn’t find the right words. Odds were that he’d actually make it worse. Ryu pulled a hand towel out of the basket and carefully wiped his face. He didn’t have the control to smooth his expression out right now, but it’d have to do until he could get back to the hub. One deep breath to fortify hi
mself and he pushed out of the bathroom and stalked down the hall.
He couldn’t handle the thought of being alone right now, and if Ryu wasn’t currently capable of making amends, one of his siblings would have to do it. He ducked through one of the doors that led to the warren of private hallways that wove through Pleasure’s core. Many of them were used by staff to move about unseen, but a good portion were for Horsemen use alone. Ten minutes later, he walked into the central hub where he and his siblings kept their private rooms and hesitated.
Not Kenzie. She was the sister of his heart, if not his blood. She might understand better than any of them why he reacted the way he did, but these days she didn’t room alone. Seeing her partner, Liam, having to explain to someone who hadn’t been there … He couldn’t do it.
He veered right toward Amarante’s suite, and barged through the door without knocking. His sister sat at her desk wearing shorts and a tank top, her long black hair piled in a knot on her head. She wasn’t messy enough to have come from the gym, so she must be heading there after she finished whatever she was working on.
She looked up. Her eyes widened the tiniest bit, the only tell she’d allow, even with him. “What happened?”
“I fucked up.”
Amarante pushed to her feet and pointed at the chair she’d just vacated. “Sit. Now.”
“Te—”
“Sit down before you fall down.” She strode behind him to the door and closed it softly. Once he stumbled to the chair and sank onto it, she crouched in front of him. “You went to the club again.”
