Lawless Kingdom: A Dark Romance (Reign & Ruin Book 1)

by Natalie Bennett

  That shouldn’t have bothered me. So, of course, it did. A small trickle of possession wormed its way into my psyche. Judas sweet and charming? I found that hard to believe, especially after this morning. Furthermore, I wouldn’t want him that way. Not that I wanted him at all.

  “He’s the king of this school. This town. Always has been. And Maisie will always be the queen. It won’t be long until you’re back to a nobody. Except now you’ll be tainted by Judas Barron.”

  I half scoffed; half laughed. I had never been a nobody and regardless of whether I was with Judas or not, I never would be.

  These people seriously had life all screwed up along with their priorities. As for this Maisie chick…this wasn’t my first time hearing that name today, but I’d never heard it at all until I came to Pesadilla. I wondered if she was Judas’ best kept secret or something.

  “I’ll be sure to send Judas back to her when I’m done with him,” I replied with extra pep in my tone.

  I was totally screwing with her, and while it would be all too easy to splinter her precious ego, I had better things to do than sit around and discuss the one topic I couldn’t escape these days. Since the teacher seemed inclined to keep out of our conversation and not make her shut the hell up, I stood and grabbed my stuff.

  I guess the library was the better option after all. It was just my luck to see volleyball girl coming up the hall as I was heading down. A catty grin was on her face, promptly disappearing when I shoulder checked her like the stupid jock had done to me, knowing it was her who put him up to it.

  My arm screamed at me the moment it connected with her shoulder. She yelped, going down hard. Perhaps to some that was wrong and petty, but to me it was worth it to see the bitch on her back. If one of us belonged down on the floor, it wasn’t me. I left her where she needed to stay, not uttering a single word as to what I thought about her shitty judgement.

  Continuing on my way to the library, I text Audrey to make sure she was good. There hadn’t been enough time to do so when I finally made it to class.

  I slipped inside the book haven as quietly as I could.

  The level of conversation had me worrying about disrupting others for nothing. Gabe spotted me and flashed a friendly smile. I returned it and went to sit at the table with him, his sister, and a dark-haired girl. I set my stuff up and spent the next ten minutes pretending to know what was on the page in front of me.

  “Hey, Rhiannon,” Gabby’s soft voice broke through my bubble of concentration.

  I glanced away from the portion of text I was reading and realized the other girl was gone. Clearly, I was doing something right if I hadn’t noticed her departure.

  “What’s up?”

  “You and um, Judas…you’re okay?”

  For a second all I could think was, Jesus, not her too. Then I noticed the genuine concern in her eyes and determined that was an odd question to ask someone. In my opinion, anyway.

  “For the record, there is no me and Judas. Not like everyone around here seems to think. Our…situationship is complicated, but I’m fine. Are you okay?” It seemed only right to make sure she didn’t have a bleeding heart or something after what Kelly told me.

  “Yeah. I’m great now. It took me a minute to get over him. He’s so intense and consuming, you know?”

  “Mhm,” I hummed, suddenly wishing I hadn’t asked. I knew that about him all too well.

  “Under all that pretty exterior is something flawed and dangerous. He can be a bit manipulative. Hot and cold too. He kinda used to have my head all over the place.”

  I shifted uncomfortably, and so did her brother. This girl was forthcoming and…sweet.

  “I think you’ll be good for him,” she chirped with genuine enthusiasm.

  I’d just told her we weren’t together. Deciding to not beat a dead horse, I let her continue to ramble.

  “I really hope it works out for you two. I know a few other girls he’s been with and it always ends up the same. Mandy was probably the worst, since she never came back after their break-up.”

  That was another nugget of information I hadn’t had before. “Why are you telling me all this?”

  “Because I worry about him still. I’ve known him a long time, and at this point, if you don’t love him, who will?”

  Wow. That was sort of deep. But did she just say love? That was crazy talk. Loving Judas would be like agreeing to slice yourself open and bleed just to see the color of blood—painful and beautiful, but ultimately deadly.

  Needing a quick change of subject, I looked at Gabe and gave him a much-needed distraction.

  “Do you get any of this for real? It’s all numbers and lines to me.”

  Gabby sighed as her brother jumped at the opportunity to ignore everything she’d just said. And for the next twenty minutes, he made me see math in a whole new light.

  “You’re amazing at this,” I mused. “I need to hire you as a tutor.”

  “I’m free on Thursdays. I could come by your place?”

  I’d been partially joking. I mean, I would like to have a tutor, but that’s not all he wanted. I’d just spent twenty minutes dodging his flirtations.

  “Do you have a death wish?” Gabby interrupted with a glare aimed at her brother. “Do you know what they would do to you? What Judas would do to you?

  “I don’t think Judas would care,” I muttered.

  Gabe suddenly sat taller, looking at something behind me. I felt a heated aura a second before his hands landed on my shoulders and he spoke, his voice deceptively soft.

  “Judas most definitely would care.”

  “Sup, Dave,” Owen greeted, intentionally getting Gabe’s name wrong as he slid into the only empty chair at our table.

  Seeing his happy face, I understood who the ‘they’ was Gabby had been referring to. Brianna and Gavin weren’t with them, though. I wondered why.

  “What are you guys doing in here?”

  “We can’t come see our new queen?” Owen asked in the same innocent way Audrey did when she was up to something.

  “Sure, you can. Where is she?”

  “You’re not funny,” Owen retorted, his grin still in place.

  “It’s a long-standing tradition. You’ll learn all about it soon enough.” He winked then shifted his focus to Gabe, who looked as if he wanted to disappear.

  Judas’ hands tightened and I tried not to flinch, but my right upper shoulder still had a dull throb in it.

  “Can I talk to you?”

  Was he asking permission? Now I knew hell was freezing over. I nodded and slid out of my chair, shooting Owen a look before I walked away.

  He was eyeing Gabe as if he were about to flay him alive. Seeing the warning on my face only made him grin bigger, showing his pretty teeth and making a dimple pop that I didn’t know he had.

  Judas led me up to the second level and then back to a corner that was obscured from below by the L-shaped shelves and a giant fake fiscus plant.

  “Take your shirt off,” he demanded.

  I stared at him in shock, and then anger. “That’s what you wanted to talk about?” I hissed lowly. “Go eff yourself, you perverted dick.”

  His expression pinched into one of brief confusion, replaced by a skewed smirk and knowing glint in his eyes. “If I wanted you up here for that, the cock you fantasize about would already be meeting your gag reflex.”

  I scoffed, then grinned at him deviously.

  “Your ego is bigger than your dick is, Judas.”

  He laughed lightly, genuinely for once. I turned into such a girl when I heard that, practically swooning inside. Without asking or waiting for permission, he stepped closer to me and began to undo my top three buttons.

  I just sighed and rolled my eyes. I could only begin to imagine how spoiled he was growing up, since he had no idea what boundaries or being told no meant.

  I studied his face, a mask of concentration as his fingers moved with agility and ease.

  “Done this befo
re, have you?”

  “A few times.”

  “It was rhetorical,” I stated solemnly.

  He smiled at me, looking so good it wasn’t fair for a specimen like him to exist.

  “Sound a bit jealous, principessa.”

  I diverted my gaze to his shiny dress shoes so he wouldn’t see my scowl. A finger hooked beneath my chin to bring my gaze back to him.

  “Always keep these pretty things on me.”

  Pretty? I quirked a brow. My eyes were a simple, plain brown.

  “And don’t worry,” he continued in the same gentle tone, “the only person who will be riding my cock and sleeping in my bed is you.”

  I had a smartass remark on the tip of my tongue. It vanished when a look came over his features I hadn’t seen before. It took me a moment to place it. He was…angry. A different kind of anger than he’d been when I mentioned Dax.

  I glanced down and saw the bruise he was staring at, but it wasn’t the end of the world. I hadn’t broken anything, and my shoulder checking volleyball girl hadn’t done me any favors.

  “I had to be sure I was making the right decision. I am.” He touched my skin lightly, causing goose pimples to erupt everywhere his fingers trailed.

  I looked back up at him questioningly.

  “Audrey’s taking you home today. I’ve got something to do.”

  “That something better not have anything to do with this. I’m not your problem or your responsibility.”

  “You’re wrong, and for you even to say that means that beautiful brain of yours is failing. You are mine. Not just for today or tomorrow, but until I decide I’m done.”

  “I am not yours. I was essentially told to stay away from you, Judas. And this—” I twirled a finger between the two of us “—This is toxic.”

  He cupped the side of my face. “Even toxic things can be beautiful.”

  I didn’t know what to say to that.

  “We don’t know anything about each other, other than that we’re both screwed up individuals,” I pointed out.

  He clucked his tongue at me and stepped away. “Why are you so hellbent on denying the inevitable? You don’t have to answer, it won’t change anything that’s going to happen between us. Like I said, we haven’t even begun yet.”

  Without bothering to wait for a response, he glanced down and took a minute to rebutton my shirt.

  I couldn’t comment on any of that without giving away the fact that I wanted him. He was everything wrong for me, which made him even more perfect.

  I wrapped my fingers around his wrist. “Don’t do anything on my behalf, okay?”

  “Can’t promise you that,” he replied. “I’m very peculiar about the things I own. I always make sure they’re in perfect condition. If or when I want to break my possessions, I never leave a mark when I do it.”

  “I remember the way my body looked after our little incident,” I retorted.

  “That wasn’t me breaking you. That was me leaving you with a reminder of how it felt to be thoroughly fucked.”

  That confession was disturbing, but I liked it. Way too much.

  So much that I felt touched by it. He peered down at me through his dense lashes, and my body began to warm for another reason. My emotions were giving me whiplash.

  “Are you going to replace my key-fob?” I blurted out to break apart whatever the hell this was.

  “Of course.”

  “Really?” I dragged out the word.

  He kissed my forehead, surprising me for the hundredth time but not answering my question.

  “That’s cute.”

  “What’s cute?”

  “It’s cute because it’s almost like you thought I’d be returning your car to you in working condition.” He teased a strand of my hair and then walked away.

  “Judas,” I called after him in a voice still suitable for a library.

  “You better not have done anything to my car. I will seriously kick your ass.”

  His responding laughter was a good indicator that he had definitely done something I wouldn’t approve of.

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  JUDAS

  The body was nearly burned beyond recognition.

  Not so much that I was unable to tell it was female, even if her tits had been partially sliced from her body and the space between her legs more mutilated than usual.

  “This was messy and rushed. They didn’t pull out her teeth,” Gavin noted, poking the crisp jaw with a stick.

  “What message was this supposed to send?” Brianna questioned, popping her hip out. “It’s not Maisie…right?” She stood tall again, frowning at the body.

  I didn’t answer that. To be fucking frank, I could have seen my sister’s corpse a dozen times by now and I wouldn’t know it. When they were taken apart or burned like this it was a pain in the ass to identify them.

  That’s why we all did it.

  My famiglia didn’t do it as much anymore. We only burned or mutilated a body if we needed to send someone a clear message, clearer than what had been done here.

  We’d moved to feeding them to the swine, which involved shaved heads and pulled teeth, as those things were hard on their stomachs.

  “It was a poorly executed warning. Marcus or Evie’s way of telling me to stay away from Rhiannon.”

  “Girl’s fam is almost as fucked-up as ours,” Owen moaned. “You really think she got no idea what they do for a living?”

  “She doesn’t.” I turned away from the burnt flesh prison and walked back to the car we’d ridden in. “They’re too careful, too normal. Living well below their means.”

  “And they’re not her real family,” Brianna corrected him.

  “What do we do with this?” Gavin asked. I could picture him nudging the burnt body with the toe of his Ferragamo shoe.

  “Send one of the mules up here for it. They can knock out two of our problems at once.”

  I opened the trunk and stared down at Erin Moore. He’d been hogtied, and his left wrist was broken, the bone sitting at an odd angle. I reached past his sweaty face for the extra rope and left him there for the moment.

  “No one saw anything when you took him?”

  “Nope. He followed Bri into her car like a kid going for candy. Dad’s got the cameras handled,” Gavin replied.

  “People are going to miss that one,” Owen commented.

  “Good thing we won’t be around to pretend we give a fuck then.”

  I wrapped the rope around the base of a tree twice and tossed Gavin the excess length.

  Bri followed him back to the trunk to assist with Erin.

  “Yeah, about that. When do we leave?” she asked.

  “Soon. They know we’re coming already. I’ve only got a few last things to tie up.”

  “You sure Riri is going to be willing? I really like her. I don’t want to kill her if this goes completely sour.”

  I stared Bri down until she diverted her attention, letting that be answer and warning enough.

  “They took away two of ours. We need to return the favor by gradually taking every one of them. They won’t exist once our famiglia has finished raw fucking them up the ass for the second time. But I’m keeping Rhiannon. End of discussion.”

  “He’s ready,” Gavin sung.

  “Get him out.”

  Erin was lifted from the trunk and dropped onto the muddied terrain like he weighed nothing, his muffled pleas affecting none of us. We were desensitized to all of this. It was just another day for us.

  He was just another body in the many we would have to take care of in our lifetime. All he’d do was apologize, but he wasn’t sorry for what he did; he was sorry this was the consequence.

  I didn’t care if he’d simply tripped her. No one was to touch her. He would have done something else the next day. Maybe even the next. Using fists was a temporary solution. Now he wouldn’t have the chance to so much as breathe in her direction. Perhaps it was extreme, but, with the way I grew up, it was necessa
ry.

  I would go to much more extreme measures in our future. It came with the territory.

  One end of rope was attached to a hitch beneath the car, and excess rope had been knotted around what was already binding him together. The rest I’d secured around the base of my tree.

  “Let’s go. I need to call my papà with an update. Let him know it’s not Maisie and get a mule out here.”

  “With the mess this is going to make, have him send two,” Owen replied.

  I climbed into the passenger seat, leaving Gavin to drive and Owen and Bri to hop in back. I watched in the mirror as Gavin drove downhill, the rope extending behind us.

  It would snag soon, and Erin would either feel his bones and a few tendons disconnect, being left alive until a mule arrived to finish him off with a bullet to the head, or he’d be torn apart.

  I would be satisfied with either option.

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  Rhiannon

  The next week was uneventful.

  Judas picked me up and took me to school, behaving as his usual asshole self, and Audrey took me home. School had done a total 180. No one said shit to me anymore or tried anything, making the place tolerable.

  If my parents knew what was occurring in their daughter’s melodramatic life, they weren’t saying anything. They’d officially entered a kiss-ass stage I didn’t care for. I wouldn’t hold a grudge against them—even moms and dads could screw up—but I wasn’t ready to play happy family, either.

  Not to mention the weirdness going on in our house. I’d waited for one of them to ask why I wasn’t driving my car. Why it was sitting in the driveway with no visible issues and not being driven.

  It had been returned with my key fob in the cup holder by a massive sized man named Tony. The fob might as well have been a decoration. The car didn’t run. It didn’t do anything.

  Mom and Dad hadn’t asked about Dax either, or if I was still hanging around Judas. I was positive they’d seen him picking me up a few times, but they hadn’t said a word about it. I wasn’t forbidden to see him, even knowing he was exactly that.

  Forbidden.

  In their eyes at least.