Her Prince (Twisted Royals #2)

by Sidney Bristol

  She flopped back on the bed.

  This had to stop.

  There was no leaving. No escaping. This was her life. The consequences of her actions set into motion before she fully understood what she was doing. There were no excuses to be made. Simple reality sufficed.

  A meal would be nice. She was, after all, a willing prisoner.

  “Can a girl get something to eat around here?” she said into the silence. “Anyone listening? Hello?”

  Fat lot of good talking to herself was.

  Shelby curled up on her side and settled in for a nice, long pity session. She’d be wallowing in it for a while.

  Her options for sustenance were limited to the tap water. She didn’t know if she could trust it, so she hadn’t chanced it. But how long would that hold out?

  Ogden hadn’t hurt her before, but was that because he was saving her for himself?

  There just wasn’t any way to tell.

  A beep in the stillness startled her.

  “Lunch will be served in ten minutes,” a mechanical voice announced. “Please dress appropriately.”

  “Dress? Are you fucking kidding me?” Shelby groaned and eyed the rack of clothing she’d been avoiding. Given what she knew about Ogden now, it wasn’t outside the realm of possibility that those dresses were what she suspected they were.

  Her mother’s.

  They were pretty, but impractical. Forcing her to wear them would fit with Ogden’s MO.

  Still, Shelby wanted to eat.

  She pushed to her feet, grabbed a blue-purple slinky dress off the end, and got in the shower. The opaque curtain was about the only privacy provided her. She stripped down and slipped the dress on. If she were choosing to wear it, she’d have different under-things. Other women might even choose to go bra-less, but Shelby had no intention of letting it all hang out. She had no clue what she was walking into.

  “Okay, I’m dressed.” She pushed the curtain back and stepped out.

  Slinky dresses didn’t exactly pair well with boots, but it’d always worked for Alice from Resident Evil. And it wasn’t like she’d been provided with shoes. Just dresses. A lot of them.

  She folded her clothes for lack of anything else to do and left them on the bed. Worst case scenario, they were gone when she got back.

  The moments dragged by.

  She tapped her toes, dug imagined bits of something out from under her nails, and once more reminded herself that she’d chosen this. For Kade. For the future they both might get if she did what was asked of her.

  After what felt like a century of waiting the door swung open.

  Not a soul was on the other side.

  Shelby tiptoed forward and peered out.

  Nope.

  Really no one.

  She examined the door, noting the electronic locking mechanism, the sensors. If she had to guess, it was remote controlled. And that meant she was being watched. Right now.

  Shelby straightened.

  A camera pointed at her.

  The hall was lined with similar doors.

  What the hell kind of place was this?

  The smell of garlic and ginger caught her attention.

  Food.

  She walked forward, but didn’t try the other doors.

  Ahead, the hall emptied into a room.

  She hugged the wall and peered out.

  Whatever the space was supposed to be, it had been refashioned.

  The arch entrances sported iron bars. The fireplace had some sort of glass wall around it. The room was divided into thirds. One third, a living room space clustered around the fire. Another third a four-poster bed. And the last third, a long dining table set for two.

  The man seated at the head of the table was no surprise. She’d assumed from their little chat that he’d be personally interested in her.

  This was it. She was going to face her future.

  She straightened her spine, pushed her shoulders back and stepped into the room, letting her boots clomp on the marble. She wasn’t her mother.

  “Am I supposed to ask for permission to sit?” Shelby nudged the grand chair back from the table a bit and plopped down.

  “No, of course not. Sit where you like.” Ogden leaned back in his chair and sipped from his glass. “Help yourself.”

  “Is this where I’m going to live? In a cage?”

  “Here?” Ogden frowned. “No, my dear. We are guests. This fine place does not belong to me, but I do make use of it from time to time.”

  Shelby considered climbing up onto the table and throwing whatever she could reach first into her mouth, but desperation wasn’t her. She leaned forward and snagged what appeared to be a plate of chicken breast.

  So, there was someone else watching them. A third party. And that meant staff. People to watch her. People to cook. People to clean. Someone to keep tabs on where everyone else was. She wasn’t surprised he’d outsource a time-consuming job like that.

  “What now?” she asked.

  “What now, indeed?”

  Shelby cut up the chicken, hunger warring with restraint. She hated how good the food tasted, the instinctive urge to groan in bliss.

  “Rusty tells me you are unaware of my relationship with your mother.” It was a crime that someone with such a rich, velvety voice was basically the devil incarnate.

  “Yeah, so—want to tell me about it?” Maybe she’d get some insight, finally. And maybe she’d just have more questions.

  “Your mother was a beautiful, gifted woman. You’re a lot like her.”

  “Thanks.” Shelby popped another bite in her mouth.

  “Did you know that your mother and I were a couple for a while?” Ogden tipped his chin up. Something about his tone didn’t ring quite…right. “I was a different person, then. I bought and sold boats. I was wealthy. Happy. All I needed was a queen.”

  “Mm.” She chewed to keep from calling his bullshit.

  She’d seen his record.

  The year her parents met, Ogden was spreading his wings, testing international black markets. He’d started with South America and worked east. He could lie all he wanted, that much of the truth she knew.

  “A mutual friend set us up. Said there was this beautiful woman I just had to meet. Your mother…Sharon was something special. She showed me her studio on our first date. Her work. It was magical.”

  Shelby chewed slowly.

  Mom never wanted anyone in her studio. Not Dad. Not Shelby. No one. If she was painting, she wanted to be left in peace. So what had he done? Broken in?

  “I thought things were going well. We made plans to go out for her birthday.” Ogden stared at the table, his gaze focused on something not here in the present. “I was buying her a present. I got held up. It was before cell phones were so common. I couldn’t text her like I might today. I get to the club and…she’s with another man. He didn’t deserve her. He didn’t love her like I did. He ruined her.”

  Shelby had forgotten to chew.

  Her mother’s version was different. She’d gone out for her birthday for a blind date, and the man hadn’t shown. Had she lied? Did her parents want to forget the truth? Or did Ogden see the past through the lens of his choosing?

  She swallowed her food and cut the last bit into manageable bites.

  “What happened, then? Did you kill her?” Shelby wanted to know, even if she couldn’t trust what he said.

  “Her husband killed her.”

  Shelby flinched at those words.

  They were a lie.

  “He got her hooked on cocaine. They couldn’t support themselves. I brought them business. I made sure they could pay their bills, keep her painting, and…” Ogden wiped his mouth with a napkin and eased back in his chair.

  The man was crazy.

  Shelby’s parents had never been drug addicts. Ogden had ruined them. What version of reality was he living? It wasn’t this one.

  “We had a daughter, you know?” A flicker of a smile ghosted across his lips.<
br />
  What?

  Wait—did she hear him right?

  Ogden, and her mother, had a child?

  Then where the hell was it?

  Or like everything else in his life, had Ogden smothered that, too?

  “They needed money. I was foolishly in love. I paid Sharon’s husband, and we had a child.” Ogden lifted his gaze from the table. “You.”

  Oh, hell no.

  Shelby sat back.

  He was crazy, if he thought she was going to believe that for an instant.

  She might look like her mother, but she had her father’s mannerisms.

  “Hello, Shelby.”

  “The fuck I’m your daughter.” She shoved to her feet. This man was living some sort of crazy dream.

  “Maybe not. Doesn’t really matter. You’re mine now, and I plan on enjoying you.” Ogden’s gaze traveled over her body, down to her boots, and back up. “I figure, we’ll get it right this time, Sharon.”

  “I’m Shelby.”

  “Sharon, Shelby—it doesn’t really matter.” He waved his hand.

  She whirled, but it was too late. Two people wearing medical masks were closing in. They pinned her to the wall, one on either side, and stuck a mammoth Q-tip in her mouth.

  This man could not be her father. He couldn’t be…could he?

  29.

  Kade followed Jaxon in through the back door of Trinity Hall. They took the stairs up to the second-floor apartment. Erik kept the place outfitted, in case employees or friends needed a spot to crash for a bit.

  Today, it would serve as their staging location.

  “Shit,” Jaxon muttered under his breath.

  Kade climbed the last stair and stopped, almost toe-to-toe with Owen.

  “When were you going to bring me in?” Owen tipped his chin up, the glare hard enough to cut stone. Too bad Kade didn’t care.

  “I wasn’t. Glad you’re here, anyway.” Kade slapped Owen on the shoulder. If he wanted to be part of this, then he’d have to sort out his own conscience. All Kade cared about was getting Shelby back. It was a short-sighted plan, but he had to start somewhere.

  “What do you know about the missing girls?” Owen followed Kade deeper into the room.

  “A little, not a lot.” Kade glanced toward the stairs.

  “Who was your source? Maybe I can get them to talk?”

  “Not likely.”

  “Let me worry about it. Who is it?”

  “You can’t talk to them.” Kade stared at Owen.

  Kade saw the moment Zach entered the apartment on Owen’s face. The detective’s gaze narrowed into a glare. Zach’s secrets were his own. Kade couldn’t fault the man’s priorities, or what he was risking.

  “He helped,” Kade said.

  “I’ll bet he did,” Owen muttered.

  “You have a problem with it, there’s the door.” Kade slapped Owen on the shoulder and took a step away, only to stop short. “What the fuck are you doing here?”

  The question could have applied to Ian, Ryan, Vito or any number of the other guys who’d shown up without being asked, but it was for Rusty, who sat on the chaise part of the sectional that took up most of the apartment.

  “To help?” Rusty flopped his hands. Everything about the man spoke of defeat.

  “What does he want you to say?” Kade circled the sectional, his vision narrowing to Rusty.

  “Easy, man.” Ian stood, catching Kade by the shoulders. Ian ducked his head and stared at Kade. “You can’t hit a Fed, no matter how pissed you are.”

  Kade should have choked him harder.

  “Now—what the hell are you into?” Ian nudged Kade away from the others.

  “You shouldn’t be here.” Kade glanced at Ian and the others. He’d dragged Zach and Owen into this out of necessity, and Jaxon had been at the wrong place at the wrong time. The rest, they didn’t really know what they were here for.

  “Well, I owe you.” Ian shrugged. “We’re all friends. So, what’s it goin’ to be?”

  “I…wound up helping an undercover FBI asset with a case. My brothers were involved. I helped the feds, my brothers got off easier. Only, this fucking asshole betrayed us, and now Shelby is in danger.” Kade glared daggers at Rusty.

  “Okay, obvious question,” Owen said. “Why aren’t the FBI looking for her?”

  “Want to share what you told your boss with the rest of the class?” Kade asked.

  “Because.” Rusty lifted his head and sighed. “Because I told them Shelby was a flight risk. That she left.”

  “How does he fit in?” Ian gestured at Rusty.

  “This guy, the one we were after, has something on Rusty. So, what does Ogden want?” Kade stood back and crossed his arms over his chest.

  Rusty looked ready to hurl.

  “Ogden called me an hour ago. He said to come to you and say I changed my mind. That I want to see you take him down the man’s way.” Rusty wiped his palms on his thighs.

  “What’s he really doing?” Kade couldn’t begin to wrap his head around why Ogden would want a face off like that.

  “Don’t you get it?” Rusty laughed, a bitter sound without joy. “It’s about Sharon, Shelby’s mother. He wants to recreate history. With Shelby. Which means he needs you to play the part of her husband or boyfriend or whatever he was, when this nightmare started. It’s suicide, man. I told you, but now I’m telling you don’t go. Don’t do it. He won’t hurt her.”

  “Not now, but when I don’t show up, who do you think gets the brunt of it? Who’s responsible?” Kade didn’t need to be a psychologist to know that the hands-off-Shelby policy had a shelf life.

  “You’re right,” Owen said. “If she is the object of his affections to the degree that he’s willing to do this, it is only a matter of time until it turns toxic and dangerous for Shelby. When she doesn’t fulfill his dreams or when she disobeys, he’ll turn violent. I’ve seen it more times than I care to admit.”

  “Then what are we goin’ to do?” Ian asked.

  “No, I can’t let you guys help. This is going to be dangerous.” Kade knew the risks. He’d played the odds his whole life. The rest of these guys? They didn’t know what they were up against.

  “What are you? My fucking father?” Vito scowled, his thick New York accent flavoring every word. The former mafia prince glared right back at Kade. “You saved my neck. This? It’s the least I can do to help. Say the word. No problem.”

  “We don’t turn our backs on each other. That’s not how this works.” Ian rose to his feet. “So, do we want to keep arguin’ about it? Or do we want to get shit done?”

  “Who the fuck called these guys?” Kade glanced at Zach, then Jaxon. The latter didn’t meet his gaze. “That’s the last damn time I trust you.”

  “Hey.” Ian pushed Kade’s shoulder.

  This time Kade glanced away.

  He wasn’t used to people he could count on. With the exception of the men and women he’d served with, everyone else had let him down in some way or another. These guys? They were different. They stuck by when others would split. He didn’t deserve their friendship, especially if he was going to be a dick.

  “Jax?” Kade forced himself to look across the room. “Thanks.”

  Jaxon nodded.

  “That’s more like it.” Ian grinned. “What’s the plan, man?”

  “I think we should give him what he wants.”

  The way Kade saw it, Ogden wanted to rewrite history. The problem with that was, Shelby and Kade weren’t her parents.

  “Sir? It’s done.”

  Iestyn flicked his fingers at the man, but never took his eyes off the screen.

  Sharon had grown up. He’d always loved her gentleness, the way her muse dictated her actions, but she’d never been particularly strong-willed. At some point during the years apart, she’d found her backbone, that was for sure.

  He couldn’t wait to do it right this time.

  “Have the club room prepared. Make sure to freshen
up the guests.”

  Iestyn leaned forward and put his elbows on the table.

  Sharon struggled with the house attendants. One of them got a boot to the face.

  Iestyn was looking forward to a very eventful future.

  “Get your god damned hands off me, you fucker!” Shelby landed a second kick at the man. She made sure to stare into his eyes, memorize them.

  If they’d do this to her, what would they do to others? To people like this, she wasn’t human. She wasn’t a person. She was a thing. An animal to be tamed and taught.

  Shelby was going to do everything in her power to make sure they knew her. That they had the marks and bruises to take home to their own families.

  “Use it. Use it now.” The man holding her arms was the weak link. His voice broke. The panic was beginning to leak through his voice.

  Shelby rammed her head back against his jaw.

  “Ow—fuck. Just use it already,” he roared.

  The other man backed up and reached inside the cloth jumpsuit.

  Shelby did not want to find out what they were doing.

  She twisted, doing her best to get an arm free.

  The man let her go.

  She spun away, her head swimming.

  Why the hell would he—

  Pinpricks of pain stabbed her in the back. She gasped—only her body stopped responding. An electric charge overwhelmed her. Her muscles seized. Her knees gave out. She crashed to the floor, hands and feet convulsing as electricity coursed through her body.

  Fuck, that hurt.

  The second man leaned over her and yanked something from her back.

  Shelby heard herself scream. It was an involuntary reaction, as if she still weren’t completely in control of her body.

  “Get her boots off, now. Where’s the dress?”

  “On the rack somewhere.”

  Shelby tried to open her mouth.

  No.

  Stop.

  What are you doing?

  Those were all on the tip of her tongue.

  They yanked her boots off, dragging her across the floor. The second man went to the rack of clothing and began rummaging through the hangers while the first grabbed the hem of her dress.