Chapter 11
ELEVEN
REON
She thought she could get away with me not knowing that it was her.
I knew.
I’ve always known.
Even if she uses a fake name and has changed her hair color.
How could one forget a goddess so easily?
I know I couldn’t.
Those chocolate-colored eyes with no life behind them don’t meet mine. Her hands tremble as she holds the tray, and I catch every movement her body makes, even the way her chest rises and falls as she breathes.
“I heard you’ve been looking for me,” I say, stepping closer to her.
“I always knew you were resourceful, Caterpillar. Did you think I would leave you all to yourself?” When she faces me, her eyes are wild, and I smile at her.
“Best you get back to work. Wouldn’t want the men here finding out exactly why you’re here because not even I could save you then.
” Without another word, I go to find Soren, who’s always watching.
He nods for me to join him, and I notice his gaze tracking behind me.
“Seems it’s not just you who has an interest in her.”
I clench my jaw and ask with an air of insouciance, “In who?”
He smirks and shakes his head. “Reon, let’s not play games here.”
“Yes, Lord.” I incline my head to him, and he looks back to where I left Lilith.
“Will she be an issue? You’re with Maya now, and it’s a good match.”
Of course, he thinks it’s a good match.
“Yes, I am aware.”
“Good, then stay away from the help.” Soren turns and walks off, and my jaw clenches while my fists tighten at my sides, nails digging into my palms as frustration courses through me.
In the outside world, I may be considered more powerful than Soren.
But in this world, he is our Lord and holds all the power in the Forsaken Society.
Everyone in this room bows to him. He is, after all, a legacy.
This whole thing started with his great-grandfather, and then leadership passed to someone not blood-related somewhere along the way.
However, that all changed when it came back to Soren, who rightfully holds the power now.
Influential men who have money can do anything they want.
Especially when the Forsaken Society has the backing of the most powerful people in the world.
To be honest, I’m here for one reason and one reason only.
And when the day comes that I get caught—because that day will eventually come—I’ll be wishing it hadn’t.
I thought I would have had that day a year ago when some little redhead ran off with a murder weapon.
But to my complete and utter shock, she never reported me or caused any issues.
Neither did the other guy, who ran off. No, instead, she went into hiding.
But I’ve been watching her.
As much as she’s been watching me.
At first, I thought I had lost her. She’d gone off the grid, but then she was spotted with that awful ex-husband of hers, the one who took his sweet-ass time divorcing her while he was still fucking his work colleague. Does she think I don’t have men at my disposal to find anyone I want?
I finally tracked her down, and keeping track of her has been a little difficult. She slips through my fingers for short periods of time, especially when she changes her name. But like a caterpillar, she hasn’t yet shed her skin to become the butterfly she needs to be.
“How is Maya? You must be doing well for yourself if Soren hand-picked you to marry his sister,” Timothy, an old piece-of-shit human, says as he stands beside me.
I hate these functions.
Soren requested I come.
And I’m glad I did since it allowed me to see Lilith.
Truth be told, I didn’t know she was working these parties. But now that I do, I guess I might attend a few more.
“Hmm,” I hum in response, then turn away from him, but he follows like the sleazebag he is.
“You know, many of us wanted Maya. Not only is she Soren’s sister, but she’s going to be famous. Lucky you. You get to climb into bed every night with a model.” He shoots me a lewd grin. “When I was twenty, I fucked a model. She liked to play dead, and she was a shit lay, but her pussy was tight.”
I grimace. Fucking hell! Timothy is one of those men who should be duct taped, sliced open slowly, and left in a pit somewhere until he’s nothing but an exsanguinated husk.
But for some unknown reason, this Society protects him.
Judges can dismiss a case. Police chiefs can make evidence disappear. There has only ever been one conviction of any man in the Society, and that’s solely because he was caught on camera, and the evidence was released before they could get rid of it.
It has never happened again.
Maya is a nice enough woman, and I’m sure she would make most men happy. She plays her part well. I haven’t touched a woman since Lilith, apart from a few chaste kisses on her head and hand. Her beauty is obvious. And she makes a great addition to most public outings, as she has already shown me.
But she isn’t Lilith.
And Lilith…
Well, she does something inside me that I’m unsure how to deal with.
I thought I could kill her. And maybe that night, if she hadn’t run, I might have done it. But we’ll never know.
“I’d ask you to share her, but we all know Soren would kill you.” Timothy laughs.
Oh, did I mention they share their women? Not their wives, the ones at home covering for them. No, their girlfriends, mistresses, or whatever you want to call them.
I don’t respond. I glare down at him and his ridiculous balding head with the comb-over. Every time I come to one of these events, which I try to avoid, he always finds a way to converse with me, and I do everything I can to walk the other way.
You see, there is a hierarchy. Soren is our Lord and will always be, while Arlo is basically his dog.
Arlo would be the beta and Soren the alpha if this were a pack.
While I would be considered a close third, I choose to stay off the radar and out of sight.
Arlo would have been picked for Maya, but Arlo has…
anger issues, to put it mildly, which is funny considering his profession.
We are all a part of this Society for a reason. Many of us have dark desires, and this protects us. Some are only in it because of who their families are, and we all know who they are.
“Arlo.” I greet him as he walks up to Timothy. One thing about Arlo is that he knows people. He nods to me as he leans in and whispers something to Timothy, and I know it’s about Maya. But I don’t have the will or desire to defend her right now.
Even if she has been chosen to be my wife.