Lake's Reign

by A. E. D

  Running my hands through my hair I give it a just had sex vibe and take one last look in the mirror before deciding everything is perfect. Taking one last deep breath I try to steer the nerves away as I make my way out to Mason, who’s dressed in a black suit and standing in the middle of the room looking just as nervous as me while getting a pep talk from Monty. As soon as I entered the room Monty’s eyes widen at the view.

  “Holy shit.” At this, Mason turns around and almost salivates as his dark eyes roam up and down my body hungrily.

  The more his eyes roam my body the more I feel myself wanting to fuck the date and fuck Mason instead.

  “Ahem, guys, the date?” Monty reminds. Even as he unsuccessfully tries not look at my body.

  “Yes, yes.” Mason clears his throat and stalks towards me with a calming fire in his eyes. As much as he wants to ravage me right now, I know he really wants to make this date perfect.

  “My queen?” He holds his elbow out for me to grab. Holding on with my good arm, we walked out the door with Monty snapping pictures with his phone. Both rolling our eyes at his parenting antics, we head to the elevator.

  “So, where are we going?” I ask. I still need some sort of control in this relationship we have. I’m not, nor will I ever be fixed from the shit I went through. I can’t change overnight and I doubt I will ever truly change from who I am. I think he could tell my train of thought too because he finally relented.

  “We’re going to The Blue Hydrangea.”

  “Really? I wanted to go there, Keenan just went last night for a date.” He laughs a deep masculine laugh before replying.

  “I know. The shit called me to get him a reservation last minute. He’s lucky I know the owner or else he would have had to wait eight months.” That cheeky shit rang him?

  Of course, he would.

  ✧✧✧

  Half an hour later we arrived at our destination. The restaurant was on the 35th floor with a beautiful 180 view of Manhattan. We were greeted by a well-dressed man who looked to be in his early forties, maybe even younger. He greeted Mason with a strong familiar handshake and proceeded to take us to our table in the corner of the restaurant with the best views in the house, the man said.

  And he was right.

  The views were absolutely astonishing. I hadn’t realized I was so zoned out until Mason’s warm hand encased my own.

  “It’s beautiful isn’t it.” Nodding, I couldn't agree more. With twilight upon us, the city lights were slowly becoming brighter as the sky darkened. It looked thousands of stars surrounded the beautifully darkening night sky.

  It was perfect.

  “Welcome to The Blue Hydrangea, this is with compliments from the owner.” The waitress placed the thousand-dollar bottle of champagne on top of the table in a bucket of ice. After pouring two glasses for us, she proceeds to take our order.

  “I’ll have the Lobster Lasagna Di Carnevale and a side of your house fries.” The lobster lasagna did sound good but I’m in the mood for a nice piece of steak.

  “And for you, miss?” I take a quick glance over the menu again before making my final decision.

  “I’ll have the Wagyu Rib Eye on a bed of mash potato and grilled asparagus and a side of pepper sauce, thank you.” God, my stomach rumbled just from pronouncing all those words. I didn’t realize how hungry I was until I finished ordering.

  As the waitress left my whole world felt like it stopped and came crashing down. Those eyes! I couldn't stop the panic attack that tore through me as I abruptly stood from the table. It was him!

  “Lake?! What’s wrong?” Mason instantly stood up, racing around my side and holding me against his chest in a protective hold. Roughly pushing away from him I look back towards the entrance of the restaurant. He was nowhere to be seen.

  Did I imagine it?

  Of course, I did! He’s dead, I killed him. I saw the light exit his eyes as I plunged the knife deep into his chest. My breathing became erratic as panic gripped my throat. Mason lightly rubbed my back again as I kept my eyes on the entrance. I searched all the tables and never saw the man I was looking for. I thought I saw him but it was probably my imagination. So much in my life has changed since the first meeting with Mason. My head hasn’t had much time to process everything that’s happened and it’s not uncommon to walk down the street and see someone who looks like someone you know.

  Calming my breathing down, I kiss Mason gently on the lips before sitting back down. He stares at me for a moment with worry in his eyes before heading back to his seat.

  “I’m sorry. I..I thought I saw someone but I imagined it.” I look down, unable to see the disappointed and embarrassed look on his face.

  “Hey, look at me.” His voice demands and I find myself complying.

  “Don’t be ashamed or embarrassed. We are all human. No one will judge you for being just that.” His words seem to resonate in my head and I nod, feeling a weight lift off my shoulders.

  “Now let’s enjoy our meal, my queen.” I hide my blush just as our meals arrive. I don’t even know how he knew our meals were coming because his eyes were on me the whole time. It wasn't even ten minutes later that our food arrived. How quick was the service here?

  An hour later we had finished our delicious mouthwatering meals and spent the rest of the time finishing up the bottle of champagne as we talked about anything and everything. He made me so comfortable around him that I was ready to talk about my past. Something that I had never done willingly or ever wanted to.

  “My dad, he-” I was interrupted by my phone ringing. Mason nodded as I looked at him apologetically and reached for my phone. Instantly seeing Keenan's ID pop up, an unnerving feeling washed over me.

  “Keenan?” Nothing. I don’t hear anything, only shallow breathing. My heart starts to beat rapidly. That bad feeling starts to intensify as a fleeting thought crosses my mind. I knew everything was too good to be true. If anything happened to Keenan, I would never forgive myself.

  “Keenan! I’m coming!” I panically scream as I stand up, racing through the restaurant towards the exit. With Mason hot on my heel and screaming out my name, I slam my hand against the elevator button repeatedly.

  Dread falls over me and I just hope I’m not too late.

  Chapter Forty-Nine

  After getting into the elevator I quickly pressed the basement button as Mason called Monty, telling him to meet us at the apartment immediately.

  Mason sped the whole way to my apartment building, weaving in and out of traffic as tears started streaming down my face and all I could think of was that I was right.

  We decided to check there first before I remembered the GPS tracking app I have that tracks Keenan's phone. Quickly going into the app to check Keenan's location, his phone shows him at home. That made me worry more as no one has security clearance to be on our level unless Keenan or I give them the code. I know I have never given the code to anyone, plus I changed it after Mason was able to make it up. I also took the spare keys from the reception desk and upgraded our security on our level. I should have been notified of any movement but I wasn’t.

  I clutch my phone in my hands tightly. Not even our security cameras on our level are working. It’s like someone cut the power.

  “Deep breaths, Lake. We’re almost there.” Mason tries to calm me down but nothing will work. Not when Keenan is involved.

  He’s just an innocent kid. He’s never done anything wrong to deserve an attack. The only thing he’s done wrong was befriend me. He should never have done that. There’s no doubt in my mind that this is my fault. It’s always my fault. I wasn't careful enough and now he’s going to pay the price.

  Fuck! He..he can’t die. He just can’t.

  ✧✧✧

  A few dreadful minutes later we pull up in the underground carpark. I fling the car door open, not even bothering to close it. Keenan is my priority and anyone who gets in my way will get an instant death. I continuously press the up button on the elevator. M
ason and Monty come to stand beside me as the doors ding open. We rush in as I go straight to the keypad, typing in the new code. Standing back, I watch the doors close.

  I feel like ever since the call, everything has been in slow motion. Even with a splint on my arm, nothing will stop me from getting to Keenan, not even time. Lost in my thoughts, I feel Masons fingers entwined with mine. My heart beats, loving the feeling of our hands together. It feels as though I can finally breathe. I take the strength from his hand in mine and use it to calm myself. Monty looks all business, like at any moment he will need to strike. Mason looks like he could kill anything that moves. Feeling a bit relieved to have these two strong men beside me, who have only recently met me properly are willing to do anything for me. I feel like finally, I’m not alone in this fucking God-awful world.

  The sound of the doors opening pull me out of my thoughts. I pull my hand out of Masons to run through the doors that have barely begun to open and rush towards to Keenan's front door which looks untouched. No broken in door that I was expecting to see. Entering his code, I push the door open before freezing on the spot. Monty and Mason stand close behind as I hear Monty draw in a sharp breath.

  There’s blood everywhere.

  Some of his furniture lays smashed and broken along the ground, which means he put up a fight. But not hard enough. I see him lying on the floor holding his bleeding side. I rush to him the moment I saw his stomach rise and fall.

  He’s alive!

  Quickly pulling him against my chest, I hug the life out of him as my tears continuously fall.

  “Keenan! What happened? Tell me who did this!?” I swear I’ll burn the whole fucking world down. You can mess with me all you like, but you hurt him? You’re dead.

  He coughs, spitting blood out of his mouth from his heavily bleeding lip. He opens his eyes, cheeks already bruising from a beating. He looks at me relieved, why would he look relieved? He’s the one who got hurt!

  “Th..thank god you’re okay, Lake.” He says slowly. As he breathes in and out painfully, I lift his shirt up and find a few small cuts on his ribs. They aren’t bad enough to do any damage beside scarring. His cuts remind me of the scars on my ribs.

  “You’ll need stitches, Keenan. I’ll get my kit.” I say standing up quickly.

  “Lake, I’m fine. It’s just a few cuts.” He says as he pulls himself up off the ground, wobbling over to his couch as his shirt stains more from blood.

  “You’re not fine, Keenan! Ne bud' glupym.” I snap. He’s bleeding profusely and he says he’s fine. Why do men always have to do that? Pretend they’re okay than admit that they aren’t.

  “I’m not being stupid. There’s just more important things to worry about than me.” He says laying back against the couch and looking up at me with a worried expression on his face.

  “What is it?” I ask. The look on his face has me feeling nervous. What would make him more worried about me than his bleeding body?

  “The man..who did this. He said it’s a message for The Handler. He said they all know who you are.” His eyes flick to Mason and Monty before back to me.

  Sending me a silent message. The only people who could have told anyone about who I am, are those two. I breath in deep, calming the raging fire that’s taking over my body. If Keenan is hurt because of them, I will make them pay.

  Making sure his hands are correctly pressing against his wounds, I turn around calmly, walking past Monty before quickly turning around, grabbing the gun from his belt before putting him in a headlock with the barrel of the gun pointed at his temple. Looking at Mason, I can’t help but feel my heart hurt as tears start to well in my eyes again.

  How could he.

  “Wait, Lake, it wasn’t us. I swear on my fucking life it wasn’t. You can check our phones, laptops, fuck! Anything, please just believe me, we didn’t tell anyone who you are.” He says stepping forward, hands up in the air. Monty’s head nods up and down quickly with every word Mason says. When he gets too close, I point the gun at him with a trembling hand. He walks into it, making the gun press against his chest right where his heart is. He looks at me like he’s staring deep into my soul, willing me to believe him.

  “If you don’t believe me then pull the trigger. Because I swear I would never hurt you, Lake.” He looks at me so calmly like he doesn’t have a gun pointed at his heart. I feel a tear slide down my face as I slowly lower the gun. My grip on Monty loosens but he makes no move to escape.

  Every bone in my body is telling me that Mason didn’t do it. The sincerity in his pleading voice and his eyes. They say the eyes are the windows to the soul and they’re right. They are. Which is why I trust Mason so much. I can see his soul. I can’t see anything but love, loyalty and admiration in them. Taking the gun from my hand, he pulls me into his body. Hugging me with everything he has as I do the same. My breathing starts to calm down, just being in his arms is enough to help keep me sane. We lose track of time, standing there holding each other, until Keenan makes a hissing sound as Monty presses a bandage against his cuts. I pull back, wiping my face clear of tears as Mason leans down to place a gentle kiss upon my forehead.

  I turn back to Keenan, the bleeding has slowed down but without stitches, it will take hours to stop.

  “Right, stitches. I’ll get my kit.” I start to walk away with Mason right behind me.

  “Um, Mason can I talk to you?” Keenan asks.

  I leave them be as I race out the door, hurriedly running to my apartment to get my stitching kit.

  MASON

  “What’s up, kid?” I don’t want to leave Lake alone but something in the kid's eyes told me to stay. He looks to the closed door, checking to see if Lake has gone before looking back at me. Now I definitely know somethings up.

  He gingerly sits up, scrunching in pain as Monty helps up before composing himself.

  “Mason, the man who attacked me. He..he looked like Lake.”

  “What?”

  “Mason. He fucking looked like Lake. They had the same eyes, hair, everything. Do you get what I’m saying?!” No, that can’t be right. Lake said that he..

  “Fuck!” The restaurant. I need to find Lake now!

  I run as fast as I could, straight out the door I come to a stop in front of Lakes apartment. The doors locked. I step back and rear my foot back ready to break this fucking door down.

  She’s not safe.

  Chapter Fifty

  LAKE

  Sprinting to my bathroom to grab the kit, I was on my way out when I noticed the door to my snake pit was slightly open. With my nerves growing increasingly worried I make my way towards the door. Goosebumps cover my arms at the thought of someone being in my personal space, as well as entering one of my most secured rooms. Even if the power went out in my apartment, the backup manual locks would still have kept the room secured.

  With a shaking hand I push the door open and walk in. The sight before me had my knees buckling, sending me crashing to the ground.

  “No!” A scream rips through my throat as my heart constricts. Pounding rapidly at what my eyes are seeing, I cover my mouth as tears continue to stream down my face. No..not my babies.

  In front of me, the twenty glass snake tanks were splattered with blood from their lifeless bodies. Each lay dead in their own glass tank, heads separated and missing and their bodies coiled in a perfect circle. A note sticks out amongst the blood covered glass on one of the middle tanks. Slowly getting up, I carefully take the note, the words I read are ones I thought I’d never hear again.

  I thought I’d make myself known, Little One.

  Are you ready to play?

  To be continued...

  Announcements

  Book two:

  Drakon’s Game

  Book two of the trilogy will be out late 2019. Thank you everyone for reading my first book, Lake’s Reign. It has been such a fun journey writing about Lake’s life but we’ve only just begun.

  Get ready for the ride of your life.
<
br />   When all starts to seem perfect in Lake’s life, one note will change everything. She must fight to keep the ones she loves safe from the man that made her who she is. The one man she thought she had killed.

  Her father.

  Can Lake survive the twisted games he’s thrown her in? Or will she be his downfall?