Madness: Part 2 – Chapter 85

We all sit in our office, including Adam. He stands over in the corner. I’m thankful he stayed here with Charlotte to take care of her. I called Kashton and Saint to pick her up from her house because I knew they could protect her at Carnage. I never thought to ask Adam. He’s always coming and going, and I didn’t want her on the run like he is. But like the brother he is, he stepped up and helped take care of my girl. I owe him for that.

After I found out that my wife is pregnant, we spent a few hours in bed and then Kash told us that our presence was needed. So here we are. She sits quietly on my lap with my arms wrapped around her waist, holding her in place.

“Did you get anything else out of Isabella?” I wonder.

Kash shakes his head. “She just kept saying you killed our fathers, and you deserved to be punished.” He adds chuckling. “And she yelled at Bill a lot.”

Ashtyn is sitting over at Saint’s desk, and at Kash’s words, her head pops up, and her eyes go to mine. “Why did you kill them?” Her voice sounds hopeful. As if I’m going to tell her that I killed them for her.

I hate to disappoint her. “I⁠—”

“I don’t know why you kept it a secret all these years.” Saint interrupts me. “Not like we give a fuck.”

He says that now, but I remember what it was like after they were found dead. We were ordered to go into “training” for the following six months. We all hated our fathers for different reasons and wanted them dead, but Isabella made us hate life when she took over.

Adam steps forward. “I killed them,” he announces, and I run a hand through my hair. I wasn’t going to admit it, but I was also planning on taking his secret to my grave.

Ashtyn pushes herself to her feet. Her hand going to her growing belly. “What?” she whispers. “Why…?”

“Bullshit!” Saint snaps. “You were long gone by then.”

“Whose getaway car do you think Ash used the night she ran?” Adam asks Saint, and the room falls silent while Saint’s body grows rigid. Adam’s eyes slide to his sister’s. “I was trying to make it right.” Walking over to Saint’s desk, he steps in front of Ashtyn. “I regret not being able to save you the night Tyson called me. I know you don’t believe me, and you owe me nothing, but I’ve been trying to make up for that night ever since.”

Ashtyn shakes her head softly trying not to believe him but the way her eyes start to water tells me that she thinks he makes sense. She just never thought of putting two and two together. “No…that night in Saint’s room after everything went down here at Carnage with Benny, you told me you heard I had run⁠—”

“I lied.” He interrupts her.

“You lied then, or you’re lying now?” she demands. “Because it’s hard to tell.”

“Fuck, Ash.” He sighs, rubbing the back of his neck.

She pulls her lip back with disgust. “I can’t believe anything you say.”

“You couldn’t even stand the sight of me,” he yells at her. “How could I tell you the truth when you didn’t want to hear it?”

I told her to run. I gave her the key to the tunnel, and I knew that Adam was inside Carnage, and his car was on the other side. The keys were in it.

It wasn’t like we had a plan that night. She wasn’t supposed to find them or be a part of it, but the plans changed, and we had to wing it.

“I had found out what happened to you and the fact that Dad knew Benny had raped you…and that he also knew Saint had cheated at the vow ceremony…it didn’t sit well with me.” Adam sighs. “Please know I didn’t choose to leave you, Ash. I was just doing what I thought would help.”

“Why didn’t you tell us this? That Adam was involved that night?” Saint demands, looking at me, knowing I had to be the one who told Adam everything. No one else inside these walls knew that I was still in contact with Adam at the time.

“I told her to run. The alarm was sounding, and our fathers were dead. I wasn’t a hundred percent sure what was going on. Then I ran into her in the hallway after she shot you,” I say, and Ashtyn drops her eyes to the floor. “By the time you woke up, Isabella had already arrived. Kashton and I were two weeks into training. Six months later, it just seemed too much time had passed.” I look at Adam. “He had followed her that night and knew where she was. He told me she had a new life. She was happy. I didn’t want what we did to be for nothing.”

“That wasn’t your call to make,” Saint snaps.

“Would you have brought her back if she had a child?” Adam asks, and Saint glares at him. “Hmm? If you had found her four years later and she had a child, would you have kidnapped them both?”

“She lost the baby,” Saint argues, and Ashtyn flinches at his words. “I could have been there for her, and he took that from me.” He points at me. “He’s her guardian, for fuck’s sake,” Saint yells, and I feel my wife stiffen on my lap. “He was supposed to take care of her for me. Not take her from me.”

“Don’t blame Haidyn.” Adam shakes his head. “I asked him to help her. For me. He gave her a life! The life that I wanted her to have,” Adam screams. “A better one…one that she deserved.”

Saint snorts. “She was a stripper fucking for money. Some life.”

Ashtyn’s head snaps up, and she glares at him. He lets out a long breath and reaches out for her, softening his voice. “Sweetheart⁠—”

“Fuck you, Saint,” she snaps, storming out of the office and slamming the door shut. He rushes after her.

The room falls silent, and I run my hand down my wife’s leg, trying to reassure her, but I’m not sure of what exactly. That I’m here for her? That all the lies and deceit are over?

This is what brothers do—they fight. But once again, we’re all back here at home where we all belong.

CHARLOTTE

Haidyn is Ashtyn’s guardian. I’m not mad. I actually expected it, and it makes sense. He did so much for her then and now.

My mother was right about one thing—my husband has a big heart and will do anything to protect someone, even if that means giving his own life.

We all leave the office and me and Haidyn make our way up to his room. We enter, and I close the door behind me. Leaning up against it, he turns and comes back to me.

“Hey,” he says, softly cupping my cheek. “Talk to me.”

I look up at him with a sigh and admit, “I feel bad.”

“Why?” He frowns. “None of this is your fault.”

“Because…” I step away, and his hands fall to his sides. “I was jealous of you and Ashtyn, and then I heard about how much she went through…I should have never⁠—”

“Stop, Charlotte.” He interrupts me, stepping back into me once again. “It’s okay to be jealous. It’s okay to feel how you felt. What Ashtyn went through doesn’t change what me and her once did.” He refers back to when they had sex. “But I do want you to know that you are the only woman in my life. You are the only one for me. My past with her doesn’t dictate my future with you. Do you believe that, doll face?”

I nod, licking my lips. “I do.” I can’t change their past. Ashtyn isn’t the only woman he’s ever slept with. I also know that my mother is one of them, but Kashton had said they didn’t have a choice.

I understand that I’m the problem in this scenario. That I’m the jealous bitch who gets to call this amazing man my husband. But moving forward, I will kill any bitch who tries to take him from me. I fight for what I want, and he’s it for me.

Haidyn and I were up all night in bed. It started out with him making love to me and then he flipped me over and fucked my ass like the dirty little whore he’s turned me into. Then I spent an hour on my knees in the bathroom while he held my hair.

Gavin said the morning sickness will eventually stop, and it can’t come soon enough. When I was finally finished, Haidyn carried me to bed, and I passed out with his dick inside my pussy.

We weren’t asleep for long when a knock came on the door and busted our bubble. Twenty minutes later we were loading into a car and following the others back to where my mother was holding Haidyn.

Ryat, Sin and Tyson were already here waiting for us. They’re looking for some drug that my mother gave Haidyn. On the way here, my husband explained how I already have it, along with other Ladies.

We’re founders.

And it made me feel sick. Just another lie that I would have never found out if I had not given my life over to Haidyn.

Bill had taken me to what he called Dollhouse when we were looking for my husband. I didn’t get to pay much attention to my surroundings at the time. So when Haidyn pulls up to a mansion on top of a mountain, I whip my head to look at him.

“What are we doing here?” I ask.

It doesn’t seem familiar. What I do remember was old and smelled rotted. Instead, a fancy gate sits at the entrance off the road. There is a pond on either side of the long driveway, and each has a fountain lit up at night.

“Bill is meeting us here.” He brings his car to a stop, turning it off. “Dollhouse is on the same property, but he says this house has what we’re looking for.”

House? Reminds me of an extravagant resort of some kind.

Getting out, he opens the passenger door for me, and I stay silent as he immediately starts talking to the other Lords as we make our way up the steps and inside.

I take my hand from his and walk around, taking it in. It’s only what the wealthy would accept as a home. Crystal chandeliers hanging from cathedral ceilings, Persian rugs, cream-colored marble floors with what looks like real gold flakes. The size alone tells me it’s worth millions.

My mother owns this? I’ve never been here before.

An arm wraps around my side. “Are you okay?” Haidyn asks.

I nod. He’s been worried since I got sick. I know it’s the pregnancy, but I also think it’s my nerves. I’m terrified something is going to happen to the babies. I want to think happy thoughts, but my mind tells me that there’s always going to be someone out to get my husband.

“The guys and I are going to go meet Bill in the basement. Will you be okay up here by yourself?”

Looking up at him, I give him a reassuring smile. “Yes.”

Leaning down, he places his lips on mine, giving me a soft kiss before he pulls away and walks away with the others.

The sound of a door opening to my right catches my attention. I see Ashtyn stepping outside onto the back porch, and I follow her. Making my way down the concrete steps, I continue to walk through the backyard, past the Olympic-size swimming pool, and we approach the woods.

She comes to a stop and stares at the trees. I look over the metal bar high up in the branches. A piece of rope hangs from the center and two cinder blocks are on the ground. They too have rope wrapped around them.

Ashtyn stands quietly staring at it as I watch her. The soft wind blows her dark hair around and I hear her sniff.

I go to turn around and leave her alone…to give her a second when her voice stops me. “He kept me tied up for four days.”

Turning back to face her, my stomach drops at her words. I lick my lips. “I’m so, so sorry…”

She turns to face me and cuts me off. “I’m not like them.”

“Who?” I ask, wondering who she’s referring to exactly.

We know that Benny is connected to Hudson and my mother, but we don’t know the extent of it. My mother refuses to talk, and Benny is practically dead. No one has spoken to Hudson yet. He’s been in the hospital since I shot him twice.

“Our husbands…our parents…the Lords in general.” Her eyes go to the house behind me before they find mine again. “I’m not going to blame you for who your mother is. Or what part she played in my life…no matter how big or small.” Her hand goes to her stomach before she walks over to me, closing the small space. “I’m not going to pretend I know anything about your marriage to Haidyn.” Reaching down, she takes my hands in hers. “I bet he put you through hell.” Giving me a small smile, she adds, “But I do know he fell in love with you. And I can’t tell you how happy I am that he found you and to have a sister.” She pulls me in for a hug, and I feel her shoulders shake.

I hug her tighter as my eyes land on the rope that hangs from the metal bar in the trees. Swallowing the knot that lodges in my throat, I promise to be a better person to her. Because she’s right, our husbands are brothers, making her my sister.