by Chloe Walsh
"No." I shook my head. "My father didn’t leave me shit –"
"Yes, he did," Anton argued heatedly. "You just don’t remember."
"I was ten years old when he died, Anton, not two," I snapped, tears filling my eyes at the memory. "I think I would remember if my father gave me a fucking letter!"
"I don’t get it." His brows furrowed in confusion. "You were his whole world – he wouldn't have left you unprotected."
"Well, he did," I choked out, close to having a full-blown panic attack. "He gave me to a monster."
"No."
"Yes," I bit out, seething. "And if it wasn't for Trig, I wouldn’t have made it a day in that hellhole."
"You need to get away from Trigger," he warned me. "This world has twisted him. Fabio is in his head. He is not a good man, Ashton."
Now my back was up.
Hackles rising, I narrowed my eyes in defense and hissed, "Fuck you, Crellid scum."
"You're wrong." He took my insult on the chin like the emotionless bastard he was. "Trigger is a Crellid, Ashton. Not me, and not you, either. He's the one with the devil's blood running through his veins."
"I love him," I spat, venomously refuting his claim. "And I trust him, more than I trust you or any other damn man!"
"You shouldn’t," he warned, leaning over me. "You wouldn’t if you knew the truth." He shook his head in frustration before saying, "I can get you out of here. You're my sister. My flesh and blood. I can help you, Ashton. Find you someplace to start over – where none of the Crellids can find you –"
"What the hell are you talking about? Why in the world would I trust –" I started to demand at the exact moment that my bedroom door flew inwards.
Like a sick and twisted case of déjà vu, Trigger stood in the doorway, eyes locked on the scene unfolding in front of him.
The moment I registered the betrayal written all over his face, the undiluted hatred burning in his eyes, I felt weak.
"No, no, no," I began to protest, knowing exactly what this looked like.
Two years ago all over again.
Pushing and shoving at Anton's chest, I scrambled out from beneath his body and staggered to my feet. Still naked, I hurried towards him. "I promise you that it's not what you think –"
"Come any closer and I will end more than just your pregnancy," he warned, holding a hand up to warn me off, as he continued to glower at Anton.
Quickly halting in my tracks, I held my hands up in defeat. "Trig, please, you need to hear me out this time –"
"Do not speak!" he roared, and his voice was so full of venom and hate that I felt myself shrivel up inside. Pulling out his gun, he aimed it straight at my head. "One more word and I will end you."
He wouldn’t.
At least I hoped he wouldn’t.
Fearful for the life of my unborn child, I didn’t dare speak another word.
Keeping the gun aimed at my head, he looked to Anton. "That is twice you have taken what is not yours, brother." He turned the gun on him. "Twice you have taken what is mine."
Instead of explaining everything away like I desperately needed him to, Anton remained silent with his hands by his sides.
Just like two years ago…
After Yegor forced what I could only assume was ketamine down my throat, everything went foggy pretty quickly – and dark, and oh so warm.
I was hot.
My body was burning up.
My hands weren't moving.
And my lips?
Wow, they couldn’t stop moving.
I couldn’t seem to control myself.
I was floating away.
Every question thrown my way, I answered without a care in the world for the consequences.
Nothing's working, I thought to myself, and then cackled in delight.
This was fucking awesome.
I couldn’t feel a thing!
Boom, boom, boom, bo…om, b-boo…om.
Holy shit, was that my heart?
Did I have one?
Whoa, it was beating in my ears.
"Stay with us, baby whore," someone chuckled and I laughed right along with them. "Tell us more about your wolf."
"Wolf," I slurred, grinning in delight. "I love my wolf."
"Oh, I'm sure you do," the voice coaxed. "Where's your wolf tonight."
"With his sister," I slurred, mashing his lips together. "Wolf loves his sister." I sighed in contentment. "His secret sister," I added. "But shhhhh…it's a secret.. so much…"
"Bingo."
"I fucking told you he was hiding something."
"And where does wolf keep his sister, baby whore?"
"In the church," I slurred, feeling sleepy now. "The priest hides wolf's sister with the nuns…"
So sleepy.
So warm.
"Tell father."
Bah, bah…
"He already knows."
"What?"
Black sheep…
"Burn it to the ground."
Have you any…
"Mmm. I’m so sleepy," I slurred, lips numb and tingling. "Sleepy…"
"Go to sleep, baby whore," the voice told me. "We'll be right here with you."
And I did just that.
Drifting into the deepest sleep I'd ever had, I lost complete consciousness.
When I finally came around, several hours later, it was to a furious Trigger screaming in my face, and several naked men lying in bed with me.
Not just any naked men.
The Crellid brothers.
All three of them…
"You want her so much that you risk your life by coming here?" Trigger demanded, dragging me back to the present. "Then have her." He lowered the gun. "She is nothing to me now." He turned to glare at me. "Nothing but a worthless whore."
With that, Trigger Laperro walked away from me, and for the very first time, it felt like the last time.
"Trig, please, wait –"
The door slammed shut in my face, leaving me completely reeling.
"Oh my god, tell him!" I screamed, swinging around to glare at my so-called brother. "Please, Anton –" crying hard and ugly, I rushed to his side, "go after him and tell him the fucking truth!"
"It's better this way," Anton tried to assure me.
"For who?"
"For you," he replied. "It's why I went along with Yegor's plan two years ago. I knew that making him question your loyalty was the only way I could free you from his hold." He blew out a pained breath. "This is the only way he'll let you go."
"I don’t want him to let me go!" I screamed, delirious with grief, as I ran for the door. "I'm in love with him! I'm having his baby. And you made him hate me. You made him hate me two years ago, when he thought I sold him out, and you made him hate me tonight! He blames me for his sister's death. He won't ever believe me or forgive me for that. But we were moving forward. And now?" I choked out a pained sob. "You ruined everything!"
"Ashton, we need to get out of here," Anton called after me, but I wasn’t hearing a word of it.
Running at full speed, I rounded the staircase, calling out Trigger's name as I went. Panic was clawing at my insides. Pain was shooting through my heart. "Trig!" Racing down the staircase, I looked in every room and came up empty. "Trig," I wailed, heartbroken.
Stumbling blindly into the one room in the house that I actively avoided, I collapsed in a heap at my father's desk. "Trig."
"Ashton." Anton stood in the doorway. "I have to go. Come with me."
He draped his jacket around my trembling shoulders.
I shook my head and curled my arms around my stomach. "I can't."
"He'll kill you and I can't stay here to protect you," he warned, sounding torn. "You're going to end up getting killed just like our father. You will die at the hands of a Crellid –"
"I said I'm not leaving him!" I screamed at the top of my lungs and it was a feral, gut-wrenching sound. "So just leave, Anton! Please… Just go away…"
"Ashton –"
"I said g
o!"
Anton stared at me for the longest moment before shaking his head in defeat. "Your loyalty makes you blind, and it's going to cost you everything."
And then he left.
26
Sobbing uncontrollably, I sat on the floor of my father's office and willed myself to get a fucking grip.
Calm down, Ashton.
It's okay.
You can figure this out.
But I couldn’t.
If I knew anything about Trigger Laperro it was this; he was unforgiving and unwilling to believe a word I said.
It didn’t matter to him that I was pregnant with his child, because he didn’t want the baby anyway.
It didn’t matter to him that I had been framed because he didn’t believe me the first time and wouldn’t this time.
Dropping my head in my hands, I cried loud and ugly, too weak and weary to protect myself from the memories that insisted on tormenting me…
"…If something happens, Ashton, if I'm not around anymore, I want you to find your way back to this house. No matter how difficult it may be, I need you to come home, and I need you to do exactly what I'm doing now..."
No!
Block him out.
"You do this for me, do you understand? No matter what happens, or what you're told about me, you come home and you find this box."
Don’t do this.
You don’t need to remember.
"What's inside it, Daddy?"
"Everything you'll need. All you need to do is remember…"
Sniffling, I forced myself to crawl on my hands and knees towards the fireplace.
Towards the truth.
Breathing rough and uneven, I reached inside the fireplace, fingers feeling my way.
Don’t be there.
Don’t be there.
When my hands found the old tin box, I wanted to be anywhere but inside this room.
Shaking violently, I withdrew the box and placed it on the floor in front of me before wiping the soot and dust from the lid.
Don’t open it, Ashton.
Let it go.
The past should stay in the past.
My hands betrayed the warning signals my brain was shooting and I reached forward and opened the lid.
Almost instantly, I was flooded by a multitude of emotions that rushed through me.
Mister Daddy.
Oh god…
Daddy, don’t go!
Daddy, please, don’t leave me!
Exhaling a slow, steadying breath, I tipped the contents of the box on the floor. Purposefully keeping my mind blank, I flipped through document after document.
The deeds of the house.
A fake passport with a photo of ten-year-old me inside.
A thick stack of hundreds.
A bank statement for an overseas account containing several million dollars.
And a letter in my father's handwriting.
My fingers shook as I carefully unfolded the letter and began to read.
Hello, Miss Ashton,
If you are reading this, then the worst has happened and I am no longer with you. I can only hope that you are finding this letter quickly. The thought of you suffering is enough to bring me back from the dead. I don’t want to leave you, my little princess. There is so much I need to tell you, and so much that I could never expect a little girl your age to possibly understand.
You know that Daddy is not a good man, and you're probably going to hear some terrible things about me. Most of which, I regret to say, is true, but please remember that I love you fiercely and that you made my life worthwhile. You were the one good thing I ever did, and the absolute love of my life. My beating heart outside of my chest. Whatever happens, remember that. Remember that Daddy loves you – even in death.
Now, listen carefully to what I am about to tell you next because it is important. It is life and death, Ashton – your life.
Whatever happens, you must get away from Fabio. He is a terrible man and the reason I am writing this letter to you instead of protecting you like I should.
When the time comes, a boy will come for you. A boy of your own flesh and blood. When that happens, you must go with him. He will protect you. Trust me, Ashton, it is the only way you will make it out of this…"
When I moved to unfold the next piece of the letter, a polaroid photograph fell out from between the pages, distracting me. I reached down and picked it up.
It was a picture of my father standing next to a boy.
The moment my eyes landed on the boy, a gasp tore from my lips.
Trigger.
He was standing next to my dad.
Trigger knew my father?
My father knew Trigger?
What.
The.
Actual.
Fuck.
Scrambling to my feet with the picture clutched tightly in my hand, I bolted from the office. Thundering back up the staircase at full speed, I called his name at the top of my lungs.
"Trigger?"
Panicked, I threw open every door I passed, desperate for answers to the madness I had been thrust into.
"Trigger – get out of my way, Patrice," I warned when I found Patrice guarding the last door at the end of the wing.
"Ashton no go –"
"Now!"
Grimacing, he blew out a pained breath and slowly stepped aside.
"Trig," I called out, pushing the door open and rushing into the bedroom. "I know you're mad, but I can explain everything…"
My words trailed off when my eyes landed on the scene before me.
No.
No.
No, no, no…
Trig was there.
In the bed.
With a woman straddling his hips.
Not just any woman.
My goddamn whore!
A million different crippling emotions and feelings coursed through me, but, surprisingly, the first words that came out of my mouth were, "How do you know this man?"
"Jesus Christ," Tanya strangled out, springing upright. "Ashton, I'm so –"
"Fuck you," was all I replied, keeping my eyes locked on his. With tears streaming down my cheeks, I marched up to the bed and tossed the photograph on his chest. "How do you know this man!"
"How does it feel, corderito?" Trigger sneered, not bothering to cover up or make excuses for his twisted betrayal. "Hurts, does it not?"
"I'll leave," Tanya mumbled before quickly climbing off my wolf and bolting from the room.
"Well?" I demanded, crying inconsolably now. "How do you know him?"
"The fuck are you –"
"The photo!" I screamed, pulling on the ends of my hair. "How do you know the man in the fucking picture, Trigger!"
Brows furrowed, he picked up the photograph and studied it.
His eyes narrowed and his jaw clenched.
"This piece of shit? He pretended to help us. To protect my mother and keep us hidden. For years, he aided her – or so she thought. Until we found him with Fabio the day The Order caught up with us and cornered my mother.” He balled the photograph up and tossed it away, not giving it another thought. “Never fear. I put a blade through his traitorous heart."
Oh my god.
My dad.
He killed my dad.
Trigger murdered my father.
"You bastard," I strangled out, reaching up to clutch my aching chest. "You fucking bastard."
"It is no more than you have done to me," he countered. "Now we are even."
"No, we're not even, Trig," I replied, staggering backwards from the room. "We're done."
"What are you –"
"That's my dad!" I screamed, clutching and clawing at my hair. "You killed my father, you fucking bastard!"
“Your papi?” Panic flared in his brown eyes and he threw the covers off his naked body. “No, Corderito, wait!"
I didn’t wait.
Hell to the fucking no.
Turning on my heels, I bolted away as fast as m
y legs could carry me.
I needed to get out of here.
Anton was right.
I should have listened to him.
Maybe I could catch up with him.
He couldn’t have gotten too far.
Fuck!
"Ashton?" Tanya called out, chasing me to the top of the staircase.
"What!" I screamed, spinning around to glare at her. "Haven't you done enough, you fucking whore?"
"You were right not to trust me." A cruel smirk spread across her face. "I'm so much more than just a whore."
And then she leaned forward and slammed her hands into my chest.
The malice in her eyes was the last thing I remembered before falling backwards and tumbling violently down the marble staircase.
All that welcomed me when I reached the bottom was the face of my father, and the comforting cloak of darkness.
Thank you so much for reading!
I really hope you enjoyed reading about Ashton and Trigger.
Their story is to be continued.
Keep an eye out on social media for the next installment of their story.
Lots of love,
Chloe xx
Translations
Corderito – Little lamb.
Puta traidora – traitor whore.
Aplastaré tu coño, corderito– I will crush your pussy, Little lamb.
mi rey – my king.
mi reina – my queen.
Puta– bitch/whore.
No te preocupes – Do not worry.
No te morderé, corderito – I will not bite you, little lamb.
Eres un corderito – You are a little lamb.
Riéndose de un lobo – Laughing at a wolf.
Te vengaré, mi reina – I will avenge you, my queen.
Te haré sufrir por esto – I will make you suffer for this.
Perdóname – Forgive me.
Reina – Queen.
Rey – King.
Hijo de puta – Son of a bitch.
No puedo creer esto – I cannot believe this!
Me dejaste follarla como una puta – You let me fuck her like a whore!
La lastimé – I hurt her!
