by Sarah Bailey
I promise I’ll make this up to you, little girl. I promise I won’t let you fall. I promise I won’t let you go. I love you.
The words were on the tip of my tongue. I clenched my jaw shut. If I showed my feelings towards his daughter, Russo would use it against me. You didn’t show your enemies the soft parts of you they could use to their advantage. You didn’t show them your heart.
Ash would hate me for what happened next, but I hoped in time she’d understand. I hoped she trusted me and would see this was all to play her father for a fool. This was all so I could keep her. So we could keep her.
“Ashleigh,” came the dulcet tones of her mother, Isabella.
She ignored her husband as she moved with determination towards her daughter. Ash flinched when she saw her mother and took a step back, almost knocking into Eric who put a hand up to steady her. It didn’t stop Isabella as she grasped Ash’s cheeks and stared down at her.
“I’ve missed you. Are you okay? Have they been treating you well?”
Ash’s eyes were wide and she slapped her mother’s hands away, stepping further back into Eric’s space. Isabella looked pained at Ash’s blatant rejection.
“Why are you here?” Ash asked, her voice unsteady.
“We’re here for you, Ashleigh. We’re here to take you home.”
That’s when Ash looked at me and all I could read was betrayal. I tried not to flinch, instead, begging her with my eyes to heed my words from earlier. Then I looked away from her eyes, schooling my features once again.
“Home? Home? I don’t have a home, Mother. The only place I’d be returning to is an ivory prison.”
From where I was standing I could see Ash’s hand slide into Eric’s behind her, but her body was blocking the view from her parents. He gave her hand a squeeze but his face bore no indication of what was happening between the two of them. Fuck, I hoped it meant she understood.
“You are going to come home with us, with me and your father, you need to do as he asks,” Isabella all but whispered. “Please, I’m sorry, my darling girl, please.”
I almost shook my head. If only Ash knew her mother was directly involved in her kidnapping. The betrayal would cut her deeply. Except I knew the reason why. I knew Isabella wanted Ash as far away from her father as possible despite the fact that likely Russo wasn’t Ash’s biological parent. The thing is, Ash looked a hell of a lot like Viktor Bykov. She had his eyes, which were very similar to her mother’s so it would be hard to recognise unless you’d seen her together with Viktor like I now had. Now I understood where she got her height and lithe build from as he wasn’t a particularly tall man. So really there was no doubt in my mind about her real parentage. I wondered if he knew the truth. If he knew Isabella had passed his daughter off as Frank Russo’s for twenty one years.
It said a lot about Isabella’s opinion of me and the boys that she’d changed her mind and told Frank where to find Ash. She hadn’t expected her daughter to want to be with me intimately.
“Why, Mother? Because he’ll hurt us if I don’t?” Ash let out a hollow laugh. “He’s already hurt me enough to last a lifetime. He’s given me invisible scars I will bear for the rest of my life. You think I want to return to my tower and be a good obedient girl? You think I want to be the heir to corruption and greed? To death? That’s what this family is. They bring death and destruction to everything they touch.”
Isabella took a step back, her mouth dropping open and her eyes widening almost comically. Ash pointed at her.
“And you’re complicit in it all too. Your own fucking brother is in prison for keeping women chained up against their will. For abusing them. For raping them. Uncle Gil is a disgusting excuse for a human being, but do you think you’re any better than him or Papa?” She pointed at Russo. “Let me tell you, Isabella, you’re just as despicable for turning a blind eye to all of this.” She waved her hands around. “In fact, you’re worse. You knew what Uncle Gil was doing and you did nothing to stop him. You knew all about the Daniels and you sat by and watched from the side-lines just like Papa did because you don’t give a shit about anything but yourself. So spare me the distraught mother act since no one else here believes you.”
The silence in the room said it all. No one expected Ash’s outburst or her words, least of all me. I knew what her mother’s older brother was in prison for, but for Isabella to know? Well, that screamed elitist bullshit to me.
“Excuse me?”
“You heard what I said, Mother. Now everyone knows what kind of woman you really are.”
Russo began to clap slowly. Both Ash and Isabella turned to him.
“Oh, my dear daughter, always with the dramatics. You should’ve been an actress.”
His amusement faded as quickly as it had come on.
“Now, come here.”
Chapter 39
Anger tore through me. Anger at my mother, at my father, at the men I trusted. Nothing could prepare me for the sense of betrayal I felt when I realised what they’d allowed me to walk into. That was until I remembered Quinn’s words.
“Things are never what they seem.”
He might not have told me what was going on, but I could read between the lines. If he had a choice, he would never have brought me here. He’d never give me up to my father. Quinn cared. I knew that much. The way he looked at me, held me, encouraged me. Even through his discipline he was trying to teach me, ground me, keep me from shattering into tiny pieces. He’d given me so much in the short time I’d known him. So I just knew. And I trusted him implicitly.
“No.”
My single word echoed around the room. I’d said it loud enough for everyone to hear clearly.
“No?” Papa asked, his voice almost incredulous.
I met his eyes. They were dark with barely repressed anger. A look I’d seen many times. Whilst outwardly he might seem calm, inside he was a ball of rage just waiting to strike at the most convenient moment. I knew all of my father’s tells. I’d studied him my entire life. Studied him so I could become like him when I took over the Russo family. Except the more I learnt about my father, the less I wanted to be a part of this world. The less I desired to live the life of a ruthless leader. I no longer had any inclination to become the corrupt queen he wished for when he passed over the mantle to me.
“No, Papa. I will not come heel. I’m not a dog you can teach new tricks to and who will do as you say without question. I’m no longer beholden to you and your rules nor your desire to see me made in your image.”
Was I shit scared of my father?
Yes.
Did I want to run far, far away from this situation?
Double yes.
His eyes narrowed and he seemed to stand taller, his broad shoulders shifting under his suit jacket. I bit the inside of my cheek, wanting to fade into the background, but I would stand my ground. My father no longer controlled who I was. This time away from him made me see I could make my own choices in life. And I chose a life with Quinn, Xavier, Eric and Rory… if they still wanted me that was. This whole situation made me nervous. I trusted Quinn, but was I also a pawn in his games? He hadn’t told me much about his plans for my father or what he intended to do next. Was he just using me?
I couldn’t think like that. Distrust wouldn’t help my cause. Besides, even if he was using me, it didn’t matter. I still had absolutely no intention of going home with my mother and father. The small taste of freedom had whetted my appetite for more. I needed to be away from their controlling nature. Away from family demands and duty. I wasn’t like them. I didn’t have a cruel bone in my body and it was time I showed my father his rule over me was over.
“Is this what we’ve come to, Ashleigh? Your defiance has gone on long enough. It’s time you came home and took your place by my side as my heir. This little ‘I don’t want to hurt anyone’ act has gone on for far too long. You are a Russo. My blood runs in your veins. You were born to be a queen.”
>
I almost spat in his direction. I hated I was related to such a ruthless man who cared very little for anything but his own self-interests.
“You think this is defiance, Papa?” I took a step towards him. “I’ll show you fucking defiance.”
His brows pulled down and his eyes darkened further.
“I suggest you shut your mouth before you say something you can’t take back.”
I took another step towards him dropping Eric’s hand. His presence helped ground me. Reassured me I was doing the right thing. Even if I was just part of a game, I didn’t care. I was picking a side and it was not with the man in front of me. The man who’d terrorised me my whole life.
“Why should I listen to a man who forced his own daughter to watch him beat another man to death with brass knuckles? And let’s not mention the time where you hacked into another one with a butcher’s knife, laughing all the while as I tried to stem the bleeding. Or how about when I begged you to stop when you beat a man and stabbed him to death whilst one of your men held me back? Those aren’t actions of a father who gives a shit about his daughter. Those are the actions of a psychotic killer who shows no remorse for anything he’s done.”
I knew saying that in front of everyone was probably a mistake but I no longer cared. My eyes flicked to Nate who looked outright horrified by what I’d revealed. He had no idea what my father had subjected me to. I never told him in the two years we were together.
My eyes fell on my mother next. She was staring at my father with hatred written all over her features. They couldn’t stand each other these days. She was too scared of him to leave though. Scared of what he’d do.
“That’s enough, Ashleigh. You will come here and you will be leaving with me. I will not tolerate further insolence or excuses. We will discuss your behaviour when we return home.”
I clenched my fists at my sides. He’d just ignored everything I’d said. Dismissed it like it meant nothing. I was done. Done with him and his controlling ways. Done with my life as a Russo. I glanced at the boys one by one and knew what I had to do. Knew the decision I had to make.
“No. No, Papa, I will not.”
This was it. My final act of defiance. The one which would show where my loyalties really lay.
“I’m staying here with them.”
I pointed towards where Quinn, Rory and Xav stood together. My father’s eyebrows shot up and his eyes fell on the boys.
“What did you just say to me?”
I took a step towards them away from my mother. I noticed Eric moving around behind me and came to rest next to Rory. My four men. The ones who’d freed me from my father’s prison. They were who I wanted to remain with. They were who I saw my future with.
“I said I’m staying right here with them because they don’t treat me like dirt or force me into being someone I’m not.”
“You would rather stay with the men who kidnapped you and kept you against your will than come with your parents?”
“Yeah, I would.”
He smiled and it was chilling.
“Are you sure you want to stay with the man who just agreed to pay me to take you off his hands?”
I almost clammed up at his words but I refused to believe that Quinn would actually go through with that. When I glanced at him, his expression was neutral, but I knew deep down he would say anything to keep my father from hurting him or the boys. He would say anything to protect his family.
I turned back to my father, uncurling my fists and relaxing my shoulders.
“Yes, Papa. I’m sure. And you want to know why?”
“I’m so eager to hear your reasoning.”
He looked anything but. Who cared? He could try to hurt me, but he couldn’t force me to go with him. He couldn’t force me to do anything any longer. I was done pretending. Done hiding. I was putting everything out in the open and that was that.
“I love him. I’m in love with Quinn and I won’t leave him no matter what you say.”
My father didn’t need to know I was attached to all four of them. The vein in his temple would probably burst if he knew I’d slept with two men at once and was actively pursuing a relationship with all four of them. It was the truth though. I was totally and irrevocably in love with Quinn. He’d become everything to me and I couldn’t imagine being without him.
“I love him, Papa, so you wasted your time coming to get me.”
I didn’t dare look over at Quinn because I hadn’t told him to his face that I was in love with him. This was possibly the worst moment to reveal that piece of information, but I didn’t care any longer. My father made me feel as though I’d been backed into a corner.
The terrible look in my father’s eyes at my pronouncement sent a wave of fear racing down my spine.
“It’s a pity for you he doesn’t feel the same.” He indicated Nate with his hand. “Take her.”
It was if the next moments happened in slow motion. Nate advanced on me almost immediately and I didn’t have time to back away to the safety of my four men. He grabbed me roughly by the arm and started pulling me from the room.
“Stop it, get off me!”
I dragged my heels, but he wrapped both arms around me and picked me up.
“Let me go! I won’t go with him. I won’t!”
I looked around frantically, my eyes landing on the boys. They all just stood there doing absolutely nothing, their expressions completely blank. Something inside me broke at the sight of them. Why weren’t they stopping him? Why were they letting my father take me? Why?
“Don’t let him do this. Don’t… please, don’t let him take me away.”
Nothing.
“Please! Don’t you care? I thought you fucking cared about me!”
I pushed against Nate’s hold, staring at them as he backed away towards the door.
“Please… Don’t let him take me. Please… I can’t live without you. Please…”
Nate shoved the door open and the last glance I got from the four men I thought were my future before it closed was dull lifeless eyes. My struggling against Nate stopped. All I felt was my heart shattering into a million pieces because they’d given me back to the man who would break me until there was nothing left of the girl they knew. And that was the absolute worse fate they could’ve left me to.
To be continued in
Three mixed with four. The captive became an ally. Who will break first?
It started when they betrayed me. The ones who I’d come to trust. The ones I was starting to love.
My world flipped upside down and nothing is as it seems. Everything was unravelling before my eyes, tearing us apart whilst pulling us closer together.
I’m caught between two worlds. The one I grew up in and the one I’d started to forge with the boys. Everything came to a grinding halt when long hidden secrets came to light. The truth changed the rules and made us realise nothing in life is ever as it seems.
Sometimes the only way out of a situation is through. Never before had been truer when it came to the five of us and our future together.
Did we have a future? Or was everything too much for us to handle? The pieces were starting to fit together, but there’s always something holding us back. My family. My loyalty. My duty. And whether to throw it away or stand and fight by their sides.
Get Derailed Now
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Sarah’s Sinners
Music is one of my biggest inspirations for when I’m writing my books. If you’re curious about what songs inspired
me, have a listen to the playlist.
The Devil's Syndicate Playlist
Titles by Sarah Bailey
Dark Romance
Corrupt Empire
Betrayal
Sacrifice
Revenge
Benson Siblings
Provoked
Promises
Prohibit
Protect
The Devil’s Syndicate
Deceived
Defied
Derailed
Debauched
Depraved
Paranormal Romance
After Dark
Demon’s Destiny
Vampire’s Kiss
Witching Night
Cursed Heart
Death’s Angel
Lucifer’s Cage
Blood Magic
Erotic Romance
Dirty series
Dirty Dom
Dirty Cop
Dirty Chef
Acknoweldgements
Thank you so much for taking the time to read this book. I really appreciate all of my readers and hope this book gave you as much joy reading it as I did writing it.
Sab – thank you to my beautiful, wonderful and incredibly talented in her own right CP who gives me life every day. Even though when I wrote this book, a certain scene made you stop talking to me for a whole day and demanded I fix it so the characters weren’t unhappy any longer (side note: I didn’t fix it at all), you’re still always there for me when I need you. This book wouldn’t be the best it could be without you. I live for you shipping my characters! Love you, bruv.
