by Fawn Bailey
"The fuck?" I asked, hearing Michael chuckling in the background.
"See?" he laughed at me. "Cracks in every armor and every fucking princess turns out to be a slut.
Ryker walked over to him, burying his boot in his father's already bleeding stomach.
The old man groaned while his son inspected him.
"He won't last much longer if we don't get to a hospital," he said, and I glared at him.
"Do I look like I give a shit right now?" I hissed, and Ryker raised his arms in defense.
"Just thought you might want to get out of here," he said, his tone sarcastic. "Since, you know, it's a crime scene and all..."
"Shut the fuck up," I growled at him. "So it wasn't enough to fuck my employee. You had to force my girl to watch?"
"Oh, I didn't force her," he laughed out loud. "I didn't fucking force her to do anything. She was all for it all by herself."
"What?" I asked, my attention shifting to Ophelia. "You wanted this?"
"I..." she started, but her sentence faded into nothing.
She just fucking stared.
With a howl, I threw myself at Ryker, surprising him with the force of my attack and knocking him to the ground.
"You piece of shit," I growled at him. "How dare you take advantage of her."
I started pummeling him with my fists, but I'd underestimated Ryker's own strength. He was attacking me too, hammering me with his fists and kicking my stomach with his boots.
Two brothers left, and still just the one girl... The odds were not in Ryker's favor.
"Oh, boys," our father interrupted, and I looked up from hurting his legitimate son to find the man had somehow pulled himself to his feet and was holding the gun to Ophelia's head.
Right away, both of us got up, glaring at Michael.
"I'll shoot, too," he warned us. "I don't give a shit about this little bird. She should have died years ago. I should never have fucking spared her."
Ophelia glanced from one of us to the other and finally took a deep breath, closing her eyes as Michael clicked off the safety again.
"And now you die," he told her plainly. "If it's the last thing I fucking do."
Several things happened all at once as Ryker and I threw ourselves at our father, Ophelia reached under her dress, and a shot rang out again.
We were a tangle of limbs on the floor, grunting, fighting, and finally breaking free, me with Ophelia in my arms, and too unmoving bodies on the floor.
Slowly, one of them stirred to life, moving slowly and sitting up straight.
"Ryker," I grunted, and my brother raised his wild eyes to mine.
We all glanced at the other body on the floor, the one that hadn't moved an inch since the scuffle. A pool of blood was gathering under Michael's body, and his eyes stared blankly ahead. The monster was gone once and for all.
I switched my attention to Ophelia, who put her gun back in the waistband of her dress, and grinned at me.
"It was about time someone took care of that, don't you think?" she asked, her words clear and brave, making me collapse to my knees.
"Ophelia," I rasped. "Is it... Are you..."
She touched her long, pale fingers to my chin, leaving a fleeting kiss on my cheek.
"I'm yours," she promised me. "And that's all that matters."
With those simple words, she scared away any doubt I'd ever had about her, making me see her as the goddess she'd always been.
She was irresistible, un-fucking-stoppable. My murderous raven-haired beauty. I would never stop loving her. I would never stop giving her what she so desperately needed.
"Don't let me disturb you over here," Ryker growled. "But your little boyfriend's kind of fucked up. We need to get an ambulance."
Only when he spoke up did I notice my tiredness; how much my knees were sagging and how desperate I was to just lie the fuck down. All my energy seeped out of my pores, but Ryker was there to help, stepping over the corpse of our father and holding me under the arms, following Ophelia out of the factory.
We used Ryker's phone to call for backup and stood awkwardly on the side of the road.
"Are you coming with him?" Ryker finally asked, motioning toward me, but his question aimed at Ophelia.
She nodded, holding his hand between her fingers apologetically.
"It's where I belong," she told him simply. "It's where I want to be."
"I understand," he said with a rough smile. "I understand it's the way it has to be. What about Ginger?"
Ophelia smiled at him knowingly, sharing a secret I desperately wanted in on. I still wanted to fucking kill Ryker, but for now, the edge between us was rounder, not as sharp. I was ready to let him have a free pass and just get the hell out of there. Our common enemy was finally fucking gone. It was time for our happily ever after.
"Ginger will come back and work for me, like she always has been," I informed Ryker coolly.
He stared me down hard, and Ophelia cut in, grabbing my hand and squeezing my fingers gently.
"Unless you have a better job offer for her?" she asked sweetly, shooting me a look to make me stay quiet.
I wasn't used to this feisty version of my little dolly, but I fucking liked it.
"I do," Ryker told us plainly. "I'm going to fucking marry that girl, and I'd like to see you stop me."
"I could think of a few ways on how to do that," I growled at him, taking a step forward, but once again, my woman stopped me.
"Don't," she hissed at me. "She'd be happy to come work for Ryker, I'm sure."
"We'll ask her," I replied, giving Ryker a fake saccharine smile. "How about that? She gets to fucking choose."
Of course I knew about Ginger's little crush on me, and I was going to play it in my favor. Ryker didn't stand a chance - he was going to get rejected twice in one fucking day.
"Sure," he replied icily. "We can go right ahead and ask her. I'm not fucking nervous."
We covered our heads at the sound of the helicopter nearing us.
I was shocked to find the vehicle being landed by Michael's men, and even more shocked when they bowed and muttered something in Italian to Ryker.
"What the fuck?" I asked him as they got us all on the aircraft.
"I'm the capo now," he explained ruefully. "I get all of this weighing on my shoulders now. What ruined the father is not going to bring down the son."
I clapped him on the back and laughed at him when he moaned in pain before leaving his side to join Ophelia's.
She was sitting at the window, staring out of the helicopter, and I brought over a blanket, wrapping it tightly around her shoulders.
I sat down opposite of her and spent several precious moments just staring at her.
No words would be able to say how I really felt...
But I was ready to try again.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Ophelia
3 months later
I could finally breathe.
The big lump in my throat was gone, the weight off my chest, and suddenly every breath filled my lungs with fresh, cool air that made me feel like a new woman.
Gone was the haze and the fear I had felt for weeks. In its place, I found a new gratefulness for my second chance. To be able to get Kain back, to move past what he'd done to me, to accept his most sincere apologies and finally let him back in my life again.
He had kissed me, had played with me the first night I got back, and I was eager for it. But not once had he been rough with me, and once again, I found myself missing the roughness of his touch, the way he dominated not just me, but everybody around us.
I wanted my Master back, and I didn't want to wait anymore.
He'd promised me three months after his father had died that we would try again.
Nothing serious, but I'd begged and begged until he'd agreed to ten lashings with the whip. And I was desperate for it, ready to let him have all of me.
We were going to play that night, and I was about to start getting ready w
hen I decided to ask Kain if he wanted anything special.
I walked into his study, smiling to myself only to find him deep in thought.
He raised his eyes when I walked in, and the crow's feet at his eyes deepened.
"What's the matter?" I asked instinctively, ready for the bad news that would surely follow.
Life had been good, too good, for the past few months. We'd been safe, off the grid, with barely anybody looking for us and the added protection of Ryker, grateful that Ginger had chosen him, and probably trying to show Kain he still had it.
The two had formed a strange, almost brotherly relationship that surprised me most of all. If I had thought one thing would come out of the family tryst, this sure as hell wasn't it.
But just because things had been working out lately didn't mean things were always going to stay that way.
"I've gotten some news," Kain said, turning his eyes to mine.
"What?" I asked worriedly, rushing forward. "What is it? Is Ginger okay?"
"Ginger's fine," he replied. "But this is... about Michael. Something we found in his records."
"What?" I asked, furrowing my brows.
What could there be?
We already knew about the debt.
The millions that would leave his wife, Ryker and Max's mother, destitute.
We also knew about the hidden millions she had no clue about.
The hidden millions Ryker had given to us, given that he inherited his father's business.
We were rich now.
"It's..." Kain started, staring at me and running a hand through his hair.
It had grown back and almost looked back to normal. The shorter style suited him.
"It's about your family, dolly," he said gently.
"My family is dead," I said. "I watched you kill them all."
He got up and covered his eyes with a hand.
"W-What?" I stuttered. "You haven't lied to me... Have you?"
He turned to face me and his eyes told me everything.
I gasped, covering my lips with my palms.
"W-Who?" I managed to get out.
"Vlada," Kain admitted. "Your little sister."
Memories flashed before my eyes.
My sweet little sister, so young when she died, so alike me. She looked up to me with everything she did.
"She's alive," Kain admitted. "And she's looking for you."
TO BE CONTINUED
Also by Fawn Bailey
All of my books are either FREE or available in Kindle Unlimited!
Rose & Thorn Series (COMPLETED)
Blush Pink Rose
Blood Red Rose
Pure White Rose
Last Broken Rose
The free prequel is a short novella, all other books are full-length novels with cliffhangers. These books follow Rueben Thorn and Harlow Granger, and take place in the Mansion. The story ends with a satisfying HEA.
Gilded Cage Series (2 books out NOW)
Feather
Wings
Flight
Nightbird
Once again, the free prequel is a short novella. The other 3 books are full-length novels complete with cliffhangers, and end in a happily-ever-after. The story follows Ophelia and Kain.
The Dazzling Court (COMING SOON)
Rich Man’s Toy
Dark Castle
Wicked Prince
Ever After
This story follows Amber from Rose and Thorn’s world.
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Writing as Isabella Starling
Emotional books (standalones)
Pet
Peep Show
Co-written books (all standalones)
Daddy’s Girl (with Demi Donovan)
Teach Me Daddy (with Demi Donovan)
Scandal (with Piper Hart)
Big Bad Wolf (with Frankie Love)
Savage (with Marci Fawn)
More standalones
Dark Blood
Daddy Dearest
Empire Sin Series
Wrath
Envy
Lust (COMING SOON)
His series (virgins and older alpha males, all books are complete standalones, no cliffhangers, no cheating, HEA guaranteed)
His Brat
His Doll
His Muse
Princess After Dark series
Collaring Cinderella
Breaking Belle
Bedding Beauty (COMING SOON)
