Total pages in book: 266
Estimated words: 250787 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1254(@200wpm)___ 1003(@250wpm)___ 836(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 250787 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1254(@200wpm)___ 1003(@250wpm)___ 836(@300wpm)
“Then what?”
“She’ll be kept at the clinic until she’s thirty-eight weeks, at which time the baby or babies will be taken and given to the father for him to raise.”
“What if this session doesn’t take, and she doesn’t have a positive pregnancy test?” Forty-eight hours doesn’t sound like much time.
“Then she’s brought back here for another session. Repeat the process until the Lords get their desired results.” He points at her. “This is her life from here on out. After she gives birth, she will find herself back here for another round…then another. Until the Lords feel she’s served, and then…well, then they will put her out of her misery.”
Rinse and repeat. Running my hands through my hair, I sigh. “So you’re saying…if Charlotte fails, this is her future?”
He looks up at me, and his silence answers my question. A sickening feeling has my mind reeling. The video I watched of Charlotte’s exchange with the Lords in her living room comes to mind. They will deliver you to the cathedral where you will fulfill your…duties. You will serve your Lords one way or another. She thought it was an offering and so did I. It was worse than that. “What is her assignment?”
“I don’t know.”
“BULLSHIT!” I shout before taking a deep breath, and the woman tied face down to the wooden bench cries harder to get my attention. Ignoring her, I keep my eyes on Bill. As awful as it sounds, I’m not here to save her. “I find it hard to believe that no one knows what her assignment is. Not even her.”
“She doesn’t even know what she’s doing it for.”
“What does that mean?” I say, trying to wrap my brain around this new information. The Lords have layers. And I know they run deep. But breeding? I mean, the truth is right in front of me, but the question is why? The ones at the top are powerful, and they’re always married off. So why would they need a child from someone else other than their Lady?
“Ever heard of Dollhouse?”
I grind my teeth but answer. “No. What the fuck is it?”
“Annabelle thinks she’ll take over her family’s business. But it’s not what she thinks it is.”
“Look, I’m tired of your fucking riddles. You had me meet you at three in the morning to see this shit…” I point at the woman while she fights her restraints that hold her in place. “For fucking nothing.” Turning, I give him my back. “Thanks for nothing.”
“Annabelle isn’t going to like the life she gets if she completes her assignment.”
“None of us do,” I throw over my shoulder as I approach the stairs. I start to descend when he speaks again.
“Very few people in our world are truly innocent, Haidyn.”
I stop and turn to face him. He remains standing by the naked woman with his hands shoved into his dress slacks.
“I can say without a doubt that Annabelle is one of them.”
“It’s too late,” I say, shaking my head. I’ve already made her mine. I’ve branded my name on her ass. I’m too far in with her to toss her to the side. And if he’s right…she’s innocent—just another woman caught up in a life that will destroy her.
“Is she in your bed right now?” He goes on as my mind runs wild with the new information.
I don’t answer, and he walks toward me. My silence is answer enough. Coming to a stop at the top of the stairs, he speaks, “Go home…grab your gun and put a bullet in her head while she sleeps.” He takes the first step off the stairs, getting closer. “I love Annabelle like she is my own, but I promise you, that’s the best outcome she’ll get.” With that, he walks down the stairs, passing me.
FORTY-NINE
HAIDYN
Ipull up to my house and push the garage door opener. I start to enter, but I pause when I see her SUV. I knew it was going to be here, but it’s weird seeing it.
Pulling in, I park next to her Cullinan, turn off my car, and get out, closing the garage door before I enter the house. It’s dead silent and pitch black since the sun hasn’t come up yet. Making my way to the primary suite, I open the door and enter, closing it behind me.
The curtains are open so there’s a little light in here from the sconces that hang on the outside of the house. She’s lying in my bed. Her back to the window, her arm stretched out on my side of the bed. Her cat lies on my pillow like always.
Walking over to the nightstand, I remove my gun from the waistband of my jeans and go to put it on the surface but pause, looking back at her. She looks so pretty and peaceful.