by Stella Hart
Devil’s Riches
Cruel Kingdom Book 2
Stella Hart
Copyright © 2021 by Stella Hart
All rights reserved.
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.
Contents
1. Alexis
2. Alexis
3. Nate
4. Alexis
5. Nate
6. Alexis
7. Alexis
8. Alexis
9. Alexis
10. Alexis
11. Alexis
12. Alexis
13. Alexis
14. Alexis
15. Nate
16. Alexis
17. Nate
18. Alexis
19. Nate
20. Alexis
21. Nate
22. Alexis
23. Nate
More Information
More by Stella Hart
1
Alexis
Nate stared at me, aghast. “What?”
I took another step back and gestured at the disheveled stranger. “This isn’t my father,” I said. “I have no idea who he is.”
Before Nate could respond or react, the stranger leaned down to pick up the heavy steel shackle and chain that had been attached to his legs until a few seconds ago. In a flash, he whipped it through the air and swung it right into the back of Nate’s head. The heavy metal made a sickening thumping sound on his skull, and blood sprayed through the air from the point of impact.
Nate let out a grunt and swayed giddily on the spot before crumpling to the ground. He lay there, motionless, as blood leaked out onto the concrete from behind his head.
I couldn’t tell if he was unconscious or dead.
Suddenly I felt as if I were the one who’d been hit in the head. My brain stuttered as I stared at the floor in a daze, trying and failing to collect my thoughts, and black spots appeared in my vision as my foggy mind struggled to comprehend what had happened.
From somewhere in the bunker, I heard a wretched keening sound, like a mortally wounded animal’s cry. Then I realized the sound was coming from my own mouth. I was screaming my head off and I hadn’t even noticed it until now.
With my brain finally catching up to my body, I turned and bolted up the passage, toward the steps that led to the exit. My chest heaved with terror as my feet flew over the dusty ground, and my heart pounded so hard and fast it felt like it might explode right out of my ribcage.
The stranger caught up with me before I made it to the end of the passage. He wrapped his wiry arms around my waist and yanked me backward, toward the main room of the bunker.
His fetid breath on the back of my neck made my skin crawl. I kicked, screamed, and clawed as he dragged me down the passage, using every bit of strength I had to try to free myself, but it was useless. He was a foot taller and ten times stronger.
When we returned to the main room, he wrapped one hand around my throat and lifted me off the ground before slamming me against the nearest wall. “Stupid bitch,” he hissed, eyes gleaming with sick enjoyment. “Did you really think I’d let you get away?”
“Nate!” I choked out, desperately clawing at the hand around my throat. “Wake up!”
Out of the corner of my rapidly blurring eyes, I could see him on the floor. He was still lying in the same spot, and he wasn’t moving a muscle. More blood was leaking out from his head, pooling behind him on the concrete.
Shit. He wasn’t going to help me anytime soon.
I had to save myself.
With a guttural cry, I brought my right knee up and jammed it into the stranger’s groin. He let out an agonized groan and dropped his hand from my neck, jaw clenching as he stumbled backward.
I tried to run back out of the room, but his reflexes were lightning fast, and he caught me within a few seconds. “You little cunt,” he spat out, eyes wild with fury. His face was suffused with red, and his upper lip was curled with hatred.
He slapped me in the face, sending me reeling. Then he punched me in the chest and stomach, knocking me down to my knees. Before I could even begin to recover from the blows, he hit me in the guts again and knocked me right onto my back. The force of the impact snatched the air from my lungs, and for several seconds I was stunned into immobility. I couldn’t even move my fingertips.
The man stepped away from me as I gasped for breath on the concrete, and when he returned, he was holding something white in his hands. It was hard to tell what it was with my vision swimming in front of me, but it looked like the thick fabric belt from a bathrobe.
He grinned down at me and swiftly kicked me in the ribs. I cried out and rolled onto my side, face scrunching up as pain coursed through my system.
“You could’ve made this so much easier,” he hissed in my ear as he wrenched my arms behind my back. “Stupid little bitch.”
I let out a whimper as he tied my wrists together. “Please… stop,” I begged. “I don’t know what you want, but we can work something out. Please!”
The man chuckled at my futile pleas and tightened the rope. When he was finally done, he stood up and stared down at me, eyes glittering with warped delight.
I thrashed on the cold floor, trying to escape my bindings, but it was useless. I couldn’t move more than a few inches without feeling as if I were dislocating my shoulders.
The stranger kicked me again, sending me rolling over to my other side. As I moved, I saw Nate stirring. His eyelids fluttered halfway open as his chest rose and fell in a series of short, ragged breaths, and a muffled groan slipped out of his mouth.
A rush of adrenaline swept through me. I never thought I’d be so happy to see Nate Lockwood open his eyes and take a breath.
“Don’t…” He touched one shaky hand to the back of his head. It came away wet with blood. “Don’t hurt her.”
The stranger looked over at him. “How sweet,” he said sarcastically. “He’s trying to save his little girlfriend.”
Nate’s eyes closed, and his bloody hand dropped to his side.
The stranger stepped over to him and stooped to grab the shackle. He clamped it around Nate’s right ankle, securing him to the long chain attached to the base of the bunk.
“Who… who are you?” Nate muttered, eyes fluttering open again.
“Who am I?” The stranger snarled and spat at his feet. “You still don’t recognize me?”
Nate grimaced and rubbed the back of his head. “No.”
“Christ, how insulting.” The stranger turned back to me, face twisted with a mixture of anger and amusement. “Isn’t that awful, Alexis? He doesn’t even recognize his own blood.”
Nate sat up straighter. More blood leaked through his fingers as he held his hand over the back of his head. “Greg,” he rasped, staring up at the stranger.
The man’s thin mouth curved into a sneer. “Finally, he gets it!” he said, throwing his hands up in a mock celebratory gesture.
I stared up at him, eyes wide. “I… I don’t understand. Who are you?” I stammered.
The man’s cold sneer twisted into a menacing smile. He looked like the Devil himself. “Tell her, Nate,” he said, cocking his head.
Nate looked over at me, ashen face contorted with pain and confusion. “He’s Greg Lockwood,” he said. “My uncle.”
2
Alexis
Coldness struck at my core as I stared at the man in shock. “But…
you’re dead,” I said, voice barely above a whisper. “You died in an accident ten years ago.”
“Yet here I am,” he said, letting out a snort of amusement. “Though not for much longer, thanks to the two of you.”
He leaned down and stuck one hand in Nate’s jacket pocket to fish out his car keys. Then he slipped them into his own pocket and stepped back over to me. “Get up,” he said, snapping his fingers. “You’re coming with me.”
It wasn’t easy to climb to my feet with my hands tied behind my back, but I did it as quickly as I could, fueled by the fearful adrenaline streaming through my veins.
Nate leaned against the bunk and pressed his hand down harder on his bleeding head. “Don’t hurt her,” he muttered, lips twisting into an agonized grimace. “Take me instead.”
“Hm.” Greg rubbed his chin. “Let me think about that for a minute.”
He crouched down in front of Nate, grabbed his face on either side, and smashed the back of his head into the metal edge of the bunk, knocking him out again. Then he turned back to me.
“Doesn’t look like he can go anywhere now, does it?” he said with a broad grin, gesturing to the blood seeping down the side of Nate’s face as his head lolled over his chest. “Guess I’ll have to stick to the original plan and take you.”
My skin prickled with terror. I had no idea what the hell this man was doing here or what he intended to do with me, but I knew one thing for sure. He was completely psychotic.
“Walk,” he said, prodding me in the back.
My legs felt like jelly, but I forced myself to do as he commanded. “Where are we going?” I asked as I shuffled up the passageway.
“I don’t know yet, but I’m sure we can figure it out together,” he said with a nasty chuckle. “Right, sweetheart?”
He shoved me again, making me stumble on the dusty ground.
I kept my mouth shut until we stepped outside into the freezing night air. Then I finally spoke up again, too morbidly curious to stay silent any longer. “Why are you doing this?” I asked in a hollow voice, turning my head over my shoulder. “And why were you locked down there?”
“Don’t ask so many questions,” Greg growled, jabbing me between the shoulder blades. “I need to think.”
I pressed my lips into a tight line and fell silent.
Ten minutes later, we stepped out of the woods and headed over a sprawling expanse of lawn that stretched between the trees and the Lockwood mansion. Above us, the stars and moon shone brightly, making the patches of frost on the grass glimmer like tiny crystals.
Greg suddenly stopped and pulled me around to face him. He took a deep breath and tilted his chin toward the sky above us. “Do you know how fucking good this feels?” he said, throwing his hands up in an exuberant gesture. “I haven’t breathed fresh air like this in ten years.”
“I’d ask why, but you told me not to,” I muttered.
He grinned and kept his gaze trained on the night sky. “You have no idea how long I’ve waited for this,” he said. “No idea how long I’ve thought about getting out of there and getting back on the game. I honestly thought it would never happen. But now…”
He trailed off and looked back at me, eyes lit with devilish amusement as they raked over my body. I gulped and took a step backward as a chill shot through me. “What do you want from me?” I asked, trying and failing to keep the tremor out of my voice.
“I don’t think you want to know the answer to that, sweetheart,” he replied, arching a brow.
“I do.”
“No. You think you do, but you really don’t.” He pushed me back around. “Keep walking.”
Terror flushed through my veins as I considered his ominous words. I fell silent again, trying to concentrate on my breathing and my steps. They were the only things I could control right now. I knew it wouldn’t help me in the end, but it still made me feel slightly better for a few seconds.
When we were halfway across the lawn, Greg spoke up again. “You know something, sweetheart?” he said, hot breath spidering over my neck as he moved his face closer to me. “At first I was fucking pissed that my nephew didn’t recognize me. I mean, can you believe that? His own fucking blood, and he looks me straight in the face and says he has no idea who I am.”
I let out a vague grunt of acknowledgement and kept walking.
“I know we didn’t spend any time together when he was a kid, but I thought he might’ve looked at a fucking photo album at least once in his life. So yeah, I was pissed. But then I realized who he thought I was, and I figured I could use it to make him think he needed to let me go. That’s where you came in. You were the perfect distraction.” Greg let out a dark chuckle and slapped me on the ass. “I still can’t believe it worked.”
“Why didn’t you just tell him the truth?” I asked. “If he knew you were his uncle from the start, he would’ve let you go.”
He snorted. “I doubt that. I would’ve had to explain why I was locked down there when I supposedly died ten years ago, and if I told him that story, there was no way he’d ever let me out.”
“Why?”
“Didn’t I tell you to stop asking questions?” he snapped.
“Yes, but it’s not easy when you keep talking to me,” I said, looking at the frosty ground ahead.
“Smart-mouthed bitch.” Greg smacked me on the back of the head, making me stumble again. “How long have you been dating my nephew, anyway?”
“I’m not dating him.”
But right now I wish I was, I added silently, picturing myself in a different universe where Nate and I were regular people who’d hooked up because we desperately wanted each other. Not because our lives had crashed together, twisted by mayhem and madness.
I never thought I’d reach a point where I’d long for a guy like Nate and fantasize about a world in which he was mine, but right now it was all I could think about. If that imaginary place was real, none of this shit would’ve happened, and the incredible sex between us would’ve been just that: incredible sex. Nothing more, nothing less.
Greg scoffed. “I don’t believe that for a second.”
“It’s true,” I muttered.
“Well, whatever’s going on between you two, I have to count myself lucky, don’t I?” he said. “What are the odds that Peter Covington’s daughter would wind up being friends with a Lockwood after what happened all those years ago?”
“What happened?” I asked, lifting my brows. “Did you kill my father? Or is he still alive like you told Nate?”
He let out a cruel, mirthless laugh. “Wouldn’t you like to know?”
“No shit. That’s why I asked,” I mumbled, earning myself another hard slap on the back of the head.
Greg fell silent after that. When we reached the front of the estate, he paused and fumbled in his pocket for Nate’s car keys.
“This has to be it,” he said, clicking a button on the fob as we approached Nate’s sleek black car. There was a loud clicking sound as it unlocked.
He wrenched open the back door and shoved me inside. My forehead smacked against the window on the other side, making pain rocket through my skull, and my fingernails felt like they were about to snap right in half as my hands broke my fall on the seat. Swallowing my cries of pain, I rolled onto my back, clenched my teeth, and started kicking at the door and window on the other side.
Greg opened the front door and slid into the driver’s seat. He turned to look at me and sighed. “You’re going to be trouble, aren’t you?”
“Fuck you,” I spat.
He rolled his eyes and turned back to the front with another sigh, as if I were just a kid throwing a tantrum because I didn’t want to go to school. “Please tell me my nephew keeps money in here for emergencies,” he muttered to himself as he leaned over to the glove compartment. He opened it up and let out a triumphant whooping sound. “Perfect. Look at this, sweetheart.”
He turned back to look at me, waving a thick wad of cash in the air. There had to
be at least a couple of thousand dollars there.
“I think this’ll get us everything we need for our adventure,” Greg went on with a grin, like we were two best friends about to head off on a road trip together. He dropped the cash in the center console and turned back to rifle through the glove compartment again. “Huh… what’s this?”
He held up a small bottle. “Why does Nate have trichloromethane?” he asked, raising his brows as he turned to look at me.
I gritted my teeth. “I don’t know what that means.”
“It’s chloroform, sweetheart,” he said, leaning over to the back seat to shake the bottle in front of my face. “Why the fuck is it in here?”
I didn’t reply, even though I knew the answer. Nate must’ve left the bottle in there after using it to incapacitate me when he and his Skull friends ambushed me in that dark alley several weeks ago.
Greg narrowed his eyes at my stubborn silence. Then he lifted one shoulder in a casual shrug. “Oh, hell, why am I even asking? It’s like looking a gift horse in the mouth,” he said, tipping some of the chloroform onto his left shirtsleeve. “I don’t think you’ll be much trouble now, will you?”
He smirked, leaned closer, and held his wet sleeve over my mouth and nose. I thrashed around, trying to evade the sweet-smelling chemical, but it wafted up my nostrils anyway.
I felt a blanket of blackness descending upon me, making my eyelids feel heavier and heavier by the second. My mind went into freefall as my consciousness ebbed, swirling with fear and disorientation, and my body went limp.
“That’s enough.” Greg lifted his arm and turned back to the front.
