Chapter Forty #2
We walk through an endless hallway. Doors on both sides. Behind them, sounds bleed through.
Moans.
Cries.
Whimpers.
Some of pleasure. Some of pain. Some of something worse, the sound people make when they’ve given up.
My jaw locks. My hands curl into fists I force myself not to use.
The doors at the end open.
And there she is.
Serena.
Tied to a chair in the middle of the room.
Her eyes widen when she sees me. Red-rimmed. Swollen. Shattered. Bruises cover her skin, wrists, arms, throat. Her top is ripped, bra visible, jeans still on.
“Lorenzo,” she whispers.
The sound nearly brings me to my knees.
I make myself stand still. Make myself breathe. If I lose control now, she pays for it.
My gaze lifts.
Lauren Beaumont stands behind her, calm, composed.
And beside her is Xander Rhodes.
Old money. Old sins. A man who owns land and people with the same indifference.
“We’ve been waiting for you,” he says, like this is exactly how the evening was meant to go.
“Here I am,” I answer flatly.
“Unfortunately,” he continues, almost apologetic, “you came for nothing.”
I feel Serena tense in the chair. I don’t look at her. I can’t.
“Then why the fuck did you expect me?” I ask.
He smiles slowly. “Because I knew you’d come for her.”
My stomach tightens.
“But there’s nothing you can do to take her,” he adds. “I want the Ashworth woman.”
Ashworth.
Not Beaumont.
The word lands wrong. Intentional.
“I don’t believe there’s nothing I can offer,” I say carefully. My voice doesn’t shake. My insides do.
“You don’t understand, Lorenzo,” he says patiently. “You have no idea how much people are willing to pay for an Ashworth woman. Especially one like her.”
One like her.
“She’s not a fucking object,” I snap, stepping forward before I can stop myself. “You don’t get to talk about her like she’s something you can trade or win.”
He laughs softly. “Everything is an object when it has value.”
“I’ll buy her,” I say without hesitation.
Serena’s breath catches.
Xander shakes his head. “That’s not how it works.”
“Then explain it to me,” I say, and I mean it. I need information. I need leverage. I need something.
“She can’t be bought,” he says. “She’s an asset. Do you know how rare the Ashworth women are?”
He waits, like I’m supposed to already know.
I don’t blink. “No.”
“Very,” he replies. “And they’re never sold. Only rented.”
My skin crawls. My teeth grind.
“Then why not take the older Ashworth woman?” I ask.
Lauren’s expression fractures instantly.
Gone is the smug calm.
Something furious flashes in her eyes.
“That’s why Serena is here,” Xander says calmly. “Because Lauren is buying her freedom.”
For a second, my brain refuses to process the words.
Buying.
Freedom.
I stare at him, something cold and sharp sliding down my spine.
So that’s it.
How much of what she told us was ever true?
The contract. The obligation to serve the founding families. The forced marriage to Ian. The images she showed us, of her being passed around, used, broken.
Was this always the plan?
Sell Serena to buy herself out.
“Explain,” I say, forcing the word past my teeth.
Xander turns to her with something disturbingly affectionate. “You can tell him, my sun.”
I nearly gag.
Lauren steps forward, chin lifted, eyes bright with something close to pride.
“Since I’m taking my daughter away from you,” she says, and for a split second I almost laugh at how completely delusional she is. “You deserve the truth.”
She exhales like she’s settling in for a story she’s told herself a thousand times.
“My family was extremely wealthy,” she begins. “Until my mother decided to run off with the bodyguard.” She laughs, sharp and bitter. “Can you imagine how fucking stupid she was?”
Serena flinches in the chair.
“My father threw us out,” Lauren continues. “Me and my sister. He kept my brother. Said all women were whores anyway.” She shrugs. “I don’t even know where that bitch is now.”
Her gaze flicks to me, challenging. Daring me to interrupt.
“I worked my ass off in London,” she goes on. “Became a respected forensic psychologist. Married Thomas for money and influence.” Her mouth twists in disgust. “Then the fucker started passing me around within the Organization.”
Serena lets out a broken sound.
“And then,” Lauren says softly, almost reverently, “I met Xander.”
She turns toward him, her expression melting into something grotesquely tender.
“He told me the story my mother used to whisper to me as a child. About the Ashworth women. About their value. About how they were always gifted the most exquisite things.” She smiles. “Thomas wasn’t even that rich. I hated him.”
She laughs again.
“So Xander and I fell in love.”
I feel sick.
“He told me I could be with him,” she continues, “rule the Organization at his side, if I proved myself. If I brought him something truly valuable for the next auction.”
Her eyes slide to Serena.
“And what could be more valuable than her?”
My vision tunnels.
“She’s young. Beautiful. Pure Ashworth blood.” Lauren smiles at me, slow and cruel. “So I took her. And now I get to live happily with the love of my life.”
She kisses Xander.
I force my voice to stay flat. “What a charming love story.”
Lauren frowns, offended.
“How much of what you told us was true?” I ask.
“All of it,” she snaps. “Except why Serena was wanted by the Organization.”
She turns to her daughter.
“No offence, darling,” she says lightly. “But you’ve only ever caused me trouble. At least now you’re finally good for something.”
Serena breaks.
Her shoulders cave inward, a quiet sob tearing out of her, and something inside me fractures with her.
I swallow the urge to rip Lauren apart with my hands.
“What’s the deal with the Ashworth blood?” I ask instead.
I need to know. I need to understand the size of the nightmare she’s been born into.
Lauren’s smile returns.
Slow.
Satisfied.
And whatever she’s about to say, I already know one thing for certain.
This wasn’t a kidnapping.
It was a harvest.
“The Ashworth women have been lusted after since the time of King Tudor,” Xander says calmly. Too calmly. “By royalty. By nobility. Especially the ones with brown eyes.”
My stomach twists.
“Men courted them. Bought them the rarest, most expensive things,” he continues. “But only the ones who gave them the Cognac Diamond were allowed into their beds.” His gaze slides to Serena. “That’s what she is to us. Our Cognac Diamond. The most valuable asset in the industry.”
Asset.
My jaw locks so hard it aches.
“Royal men. Businessmen. The most powerful men alive,” he adds. “They will pay obscene amounts for her.”
I turn to Lauren slowly.
“You’re a stupid bitch,” I tell her flatly.
She stiffens. “Excuse me?”
“You really think he loves you?” I snap. “That once Serena is gone, you won’t be right back on your knees, sucking old cock for a seat at the table?”
Xander smirks.
Lauren doesn’t.
Fear flashes through her eyes before she masks it. “He would never do that,” she says quickly, turning to him. “We love each other. Isn’t that right, my life?”
I almost laugh.
“Of course, my love,” Xander replies smoothly.
She relaxes instantly.
What a fucking idiot.
Besides Serena, intelligence clearly skipped the Ashworth bloodline.
I step forward slightly, keeping my voice even. “What a delightful conversation,” I say. “But you don’t seriously think I’m going to let this happen.”
Xander tilts his head. “We assumed you wouldn’t. Unfortunately, that doesn’t change the outcome.”
“Take me instead.”
The words come out before I can stop them.
The room stills.
Serena thrashes against the chair, a broken sound tearing through the gag. Tears stream down her face. I can’t look at her for more than a second. If I do, I won’t be able to finish this.
I mouth I love you to her, silently.
Then I face Xander again.
“Take me instead,” I repeat. “Never come near her again. Her family. Her friends. Anyone connected to her.”
My teeth grind together. “And I’ll take her place.”
Xander studies me now. Really looks at me.
“Why would we do that?” he asks. “She’s far more valuable than you.”
“What do you think I’ll do to you,” I ask quietly, “if any of you touches her?”
“We could kill you right now,” he replies.
I smirk, hollow and sharp. “You could. And then you’d start a war with Cosa Nostra and Bratva you can’t finish.”
His brow furrows. “Why would Cosa Nostra come after us? You work with the Russians, but you’re not tied to—”
“I’m the Capo.”
The words hang in the air.
Lauren laughs sharply. “You’re not.”
Xander doesn’t laugh.
He looks at me like a man recalculating his odds.
“You know this is the best deal you’ll ever get,” I continue. My chest is on fire. Serena is sobbing now, body shaking. “I might not be an Ashworth woman, but I’m the Capo of Cosa Nostra. That’s valuable. To the right people.”
I step closer. “If you don’t make the exchange, I will come after every single one of you. Even if you kill me, they’ll come. There’s no escape from that.”
Silence.
Then—
“Very well,” Xander says.
Lauren’s eyes go wide. “What?”
“But,” he continues, eyes locked on mine, “for me to keep my end of the deal, to never come near Serena, her family, or her friends, I need you to arrange it so no one comes looking for you.”
I swallow.
“Deal,” I say.
Serena breaks.
Her sobs are loud now, desperate, animal. I force myself to look at her.
“As a courtesy,” Xander adds, “you may say goodbye.”
He pauses.
“I respect your sacrifice, Lorenzo.”
Fuck.
I already know this deal will never truly be honored. Not because I won’t keep my word, I meant every syllable when I said I’d trade places with her. I would stay. I would rot here if it meant she walked out free.
She’s better off without me anyway. That thought hurts worse than anything they’ve done tonight, but it’s the truth I cling to so I don’t break. I don’t deserve her.
My mind flickers briefly to Andres. To Lev. To the impossible task of convincing them to let me disappear. To stand down. To accept that I chose this.
I push it away.
That’s later.
Right now, I only have one thing left to do.
Say goodbye.
I walk toward her with the certainty of a man already dead. Every step feels heavier than the last, like the floor itself is trying to keep me from reaching her. From undoing what I’ve just done.
This is the moment everything ends.
From this fucking second on, my body stays here.
But my soul?
My soul goes with her.