Falling for A Lie (The Lords And Ladies Of Ash #1)

9. Reed

Chapter nine

Reed

Age 22

I look upon this beautiful broken mess of a woman, and an odd feeling crosses over my chest next to an organ I thought no longer worked.

Sorrow, for the mess that she has found herself in also flits through my blood. I look around catching sight of my best friends staring at this creature in front of us with the same mild infatuation that seems to be affecting me. What a disaster this night has turned out to be. The memories of her attack play on an endless loop in my head.

We aren't supposed to be getting close to her, she was part of our initiation into the club of Ash, a way for us to gain the last bit of power we needed to be rid of this shitty town. She might know this now but us bumping into one another wasn't a happenstance, but a plan moving forward quicker than what we expected it to.

To be very honest, we have all had an eye on this beautiful woman before tonight.

Drake with his genius hacking skills, and the ability to set up every camera in Hazelton to track her movement.

Radley and Caden might believe they're being slick about their stalking, but I've witnessed them outside her office building, staring up at the third-story window, daring to glimpse my little creature.

She's just another notch in their bedpost, and her being our ticket out of this shit hole is only a bonus.

We went to the club tonight to discuss how we would handle the task the Lords of Ash placed in our hands. I don't know why an orphaned businesswoman found a way on their radar but we aren't allowed to ask questions if we want to.

We complete the task and do it in a way a Lord of Ash would.

Who would've thought the woman before us would have walked in right after us? Into that bar, on a Thursday night of all nights. Not me. She captured Rad's attention at the bar when she slid her plump ass into that sticky barstool. We stayed behind, watching as the one that was more approachable out of the four of us tried to work his charm on this unsuspecting creature.

Jealousy was never a trait I thought I would feel at that moment. Watching her smile at the big asshole brought out those feelings. I was leaning against the wall, watching her smile so freely at Rad as she brought her drink to her mouth. A drop slid down her lips as she took a generous sip, then she licked it off and didn’t even break eye contact with him while they spoke.

I knew he was just eating it up. Having Soren Flint pay attention to you even for a fraction of a second was like an aphrodisiac. She was the object of our fascination in high school, and it seemed some things we just didn't grow out of. To have a girl as beautiful as her pay attention to you, out of pure curiosity, was addictive. She wasn't just a quick fuck in the dirty bathroom at the end of the conversation.

But she didn't take the bait he so carefully tried to lay, she simply finished her drink and said goodbye. The dumbfounded look on his face as he turned and watched her ass sway towards the dance floor was worth more than money could buy.

We had walked to him to see if he made any headway in getting anything that could help us, but he simply shook his head and said that she asked where we were. The fact she remembered us at all was a bit surprising. The only one she was in classes with in school was Drake, but he was such an ornery bastard in school that I'm still genuinely confused as to why she'd even ask about us.

We turned towards the dance floor catching sight of something that could only be described as any man's wet dream. I shifted uncomfortably next to the guys willing my erection away before anyone noticed, but it was painfully hard to do. She ground and moved her body like she was a siren luring unsuspecting captains to their watery graves.

The electricity when she finally looked up and saw that we were all looking at her was unnerving as she cracked a small grin and amp her efforts up tenfold. The groans that followed out of our mouths like a cadence, were comical.

We were truly fucked in that moment. But I was glad to know we weren't the only ones affected as she stumbled bumping into the taller blonde she was grinding all over and her face turned a bright red.

She turned away and thanked the girl for dancing with her as she stumbled slightly out of the door of the bar, which stupidly I followed, not caring if my brothers followed behind me or not.

I was like a cartoon dog chasing a bone. I exited the bar less than five seconds after Soren did and the sight in front of me made me want to do some damage. Some dumb ass was standing over her body like an executioner. He had a broken glass bottle in his hand while she lay on the ground unconscious. Preparing to rip the sick fucks head off of his shoulders, another man came to stand beside him with a rope and tape in his hands.

What the actual fuck.

Before I knew it my feet slapped against the dirty asphalt as I propelled my body into the assholes in front of me, knocking the broken bottle from his hand, it broke into tiny pieces at our feet.

My fist found purchase as I started to pummel the worthless sack of flesh in front of me. Rad was right beside me in record time as the other two guys tried to catch the dick with the rope. We worked together, ducking and dodging the wild hits of a man who didn't know his way in the streets like we did. Rad worked hammering his fist into his face while I worked a left-right combo into the asshole's side, relishing in the crunch of his ribs as they broke beneath the force.

Screams and curses spew from his battered, bloody face, laced with vows to kill the "worthless slut" who dared humiliate him. What a fragile, pathetic man he's revealing himself to be. His rant abruptly ends with the word "Whore." My gaze shifts left, capturing Soren's shattered and unsteady approach, her battered form trembling.

My breath caught in my lungs at the blood that now flowed over her beautiful porcelain skin. The sight had me rearing my leg back again to deliver another three swift kicks to the pile of shit at my feet for what he dared to do to my little creature.

Drake's panicked voice breaks through the silence that surrounds us. I look back in time to see my brother barely catch the girl before she falls to the dirty asphalt. The blood drips from her head onto the ground where Drake holds her. Panic is etched into his face as he looks at her as if she's a bomb about to explode.

I tug my shirt up and over my head in record time running to where he stands, pressing it to the gash on her head to help stop the bleeding.

“We need to get her help, or she can bleed out from this wound.” I turn to Rad as I try to speak calmly, “Call Doc and tell him to meet us at the house in ten minutes or less. That his life depends on it!” Nudging Drake slightly out of my way to retrieve her keys from the ground I press the unlock button repeatedly to find her car. I open the driver-side door lean in to lift the seat and instruct Drake, “Put her in carefully and sit with her while I drive us home, we need to go.”

Nodding silently he cradles her carefully in his arms, trying not to jostle her. She’s pulled in tight against his chest with the two of them crammed into her backseat. After I shut the door behind Drake I climb into the driver's seat, my knees scrunched up under the dash.

Jesus woman, you're one accident away from being a part of your steering wheel.

I sigh quietly and adjust her seat to accommodate my six-and-a-half-foot frame, once that is situated my hand reaches up to turn the volume of the radio down from its ear-shattering levels.

Shifting her car into gear, I don't look back to see what the others are doing with the piece of shit who hurt her. My focus is to speed down the highway towards our home on the coastline and pray for the doctor's sake that he takes my warning seriously and he's at the house waiting for us.

Chancing a glance into the rear view, I catch sight of Drake whispering into her neck as she lies there breathing softly.

My stomach turns at the sight of her injured. What a weird feeling to have towards a girl I haven’t seen since high school.