Chapter 32
THIRTY-TWO
KASHTON
We ride back to her house in silence. I let everything she said back at Blackout sink in.
She’s a founder and admitted to being sterilized.
Sex training and grooming. My girl revealed a lot about herself, but the question is, why now?
Why did she do it in front of a room full of Lords before telling me personally?
Does she think they’ll try and keep me from her? If so, she doesn’t know me at all.
Pulling up to her house, I get out, and she waits to let me open the car door for her. Once we get to her porch, I take her keys and unlock the front door.
She mumbles a thank you, and I enter the house behind her, shutting the door. “Why did you lie to them?”
Eve comes to a stop, her back to me, and I watch her stiffen in her tight dress. “Excuse me?” She turns to face me.
I take the few steps, closing the short distance, and cup her face. “You lied to them.” My girl is so easy to read when you know what to look for. “You’ve seen him recently. So one last time: Why did you lie?”
Her eyes search mine before she takes a step back, and my hand falls to my side. “I didn’t.”
“Eve,” I growl.
She turns to walk away from me, but I grab her upper arm and spin her around once again. This time I hold her in place with both hands wrapped around her upper arms. “You know how he trains them because you were one of them, right?”
She swallows, and I feel her body start to shake against mine.
“You were on the Isabella that night I saw you. That man was going to rape you. You were trained to be a whore.” I’m not going to tell her that Adam has filled me in on her past. As much as he knew anyway.
I want her to tell me. To open up to me on a personal level.
My girl needs to trust me with her life.
Her eyes harden, and she rips her arms from my hold. “Leave, Kashton.”
“Eve—”
“Fucking leave,” she screams.
“Did Evan rape you or did he wait for you to beg him to fuck you?”
She slaps me across the face and then slams her fists into my chest, pushing me a step back. “Get the fuck out.” Eve shoves me again.
I raise my hands and take a step back. Her reaction tells me all I need to know.
Why she acted the way she did after we had sex.
Why Adam told her he was proud of her when he found out she’d had sex with me.
Evan trained her and made her feel good, and she hates herself because he’s her half brother.
“Eve, I can protect you.” Who knows what he’s done to her or how often he does it.
“I don’t need you, Kashton.” She gives a rough laugh.
“Then tell me what you need, and I’ll give it to you.” Knowing about her past doesn’t change a damn thing. If anything, it shows me how much she needs me.
She turns, grabs a half-empty bottle of whiskey, and throws it at my head.
I duck and it hits the wall, shattering, “Get the fuck out of my house!” she screams, charging toward me.
I allow her to push me out because I have somewhere else to be right now. Something important that I need to take care of.
She slams the door in my face as I stand on the brightly lit porch, and I hear the front door lock.
Turning, I scan the neighborhood, wondering if he’s watching her.
Does he know I’m fucking her? Does he punish her for sleeping with me?
Is that part of his plan? Why won’t she talk to me?
She told a room full of Lords about Evan and what he does.
Why? She had to have known I’d catch on. That I knew enough to connect the dots.
I get in my car, turn it on, and rev my engine before I take off.
I pull up to Sin’s parents’ house and see Bill’s Rolls-Royce Wraith in the driveway.
They took a two-week honeymoon and traveled the world before their reception tonight.
I don’t know if he’s trying to wine and dine her or what, but the woman came from money.
And since we took in her husband at Carnage, she was left everything.
I enter the house without knocking on the door and slam it shut. The reception is over, and cleaners are working on removing everything from the party.
A short woman in a traditional black-and-white maid uniform runs toward me. “Sir? Sir, may I help you?”
“Kashton.” Sin’s mother smiles at me, also entering the grand foyer.
“I’m looking for Bill,” I say, not bothering with chitchat.
“He’s in the study with Easton,” Janice says.
“Thanks.” I nod and walk down the hallway. Opening up the double doors, I enter without asking permission.
Sin jumps up from his chair and spins around. His hand instantly going to the gun tucked into the inside of his suit jacket, but he frowns when he sees me. It makes me wonder why he came back here after our meeting at Blackout. “Everything okay?”
“Kashton—”
“Are you fucking kidding me?” I hiss, interrupting Bill when I see Adam standing off to the right. Can this night get any worse?
Bill pulls on the collar of his tux and clears his throat.
“We need to talk,” I say, ignoring the others in the room.
“I can’t tell you anything about Adam.” Bill glances at my brother and then back at me.
“I’m not here for him.”
Sin says, “We’ll give you two a minute—”
“You can both stay,” I tell Easton. I don’t care if they are here or not.
“What, or shall I ask who, is this about?” Bill asks, sitting in his chair behind his desk.
He knows exactly why I’m here. “Everett Sinclair.”
He frowns and relaxes into his chair. “What about her?” He didn’t say anything to me when I took the photos with the family, but he knew I was there with her. He didn’t seem all that surprised that I’ve claimed her as mine.
“What do I have to do to make her my Lady?”
He sits up straighter and glances at Adam. Does Bill know that Adam and I have talked about her? That I’ve been following her? That I’ve inserted myself into her life? “I don’t know why you’d come to me—”
“You once told me and my brothers that you could be whoever you need to be. I can too.” His face sharpens. “I want her. Tell me what I need to do.”
“Kashton, this isn’t something that can be negotiated.”
“Bullshit.” I slam my hands on his desk. “We all know that you’re her daddy. I also know you have influence. I’ve seen you pull strings. Otherwise you wouldn’t have been able to make a deal with Adam. So make one with me.”
His eyes narrow on mine before he rises to his feet. After a second, they slide to Sin, who still stands off to my left. Bill turns, giving me his back, and shoves his hands into the pockets of his dress slacks.
“I don’t think it’s a bad idea,” Adam says.
I snort. “I don’t need your permission or blessing to marry Eve.” I didn’t come here to speak to him.
Bill’s shoulders rise and fall on a heavy sigh. “She’s been through hell, boy. Why would you willingly want to put her through that again?”
“Kash?” Sin grabs my arm and turns me to face him. His eyes search mine before he says, “They will make you hurt her.”
“She can handle it.” Eve is the strongest woman I know. Whatever it is, we can get through it. It might take a couple of days of sitting on the floor with her cradled in my arms, but I’ll pull her through it.
“But can you? Look.” Sin drops to a brown leather couch.
“I was like you; I thought Elli could handle it. I took a Sharpie to her body, making tallies right before she was to have her pretend wedding to Chance. Told her that if he found out she was cheating, he’d make her an offering.
My sister found her on the floor in her shower with bleach. ”
“Sin—”
“My wife was going to douse herself in bleach to try and erase what I did so another man wouldn’t see that she had been with me.
” He swallows and looks down at his wedding ring.
“Putting her through that was hard on her, but it was also hard on me.” He looks up at me.
“Bill is right. They will make you break her.” He stands.
“What if you go too far and she’s not the same person?
Or worse, what if she can’t forgive you? ”
I run a hand down my face. “What if you had broken Elli?”
He doesn’t hesitate. Instead, he gives me a soft smile. “Wouldn’t have mattered. She was going to be mine no matter what, and I still would have loved her just as much.”
“This situation is not the same,” Bill says, and my jaw clenches. “Everett is a founder.”
“So is Ellington,” I argue.
“Eve—”
“Is different,” Bill snaps, interrupting Adam.
“I’m not sure why you make the fact that she’s a founder sound like a problem.” I act like I have no clue where he’s going with this.
Bill sighs. “They won’t give her an assignment because they can’t punish her if she fails.”
“I don’t understand,” I continue to play along.
“She can’t have children.” He squares his shoulders and shoves his hand into his pocket. “As a founder, if she fails her assignment, she will become a breeder. But that’s not possible for her.”
“If she fails, I’ll take her punishment.” If for some reason I don’t get to marry her, then nothing else will matter anyway.
“What?” Sin spins around. “Kash, that’s not—”
“You’d do it for Elli,” I interrupt him, and he curses under his breath, knowing I’m right.
Bill growls my name. “Kash…”
“Adam showed me the police report. I know they are trying to frame her for the deaths of those women. I’m the only other option she has for protection.” If he knows how serious I am, maybe he’ll think twice the next time he suggests shipping her off. Adam said she had resources, and Bill is it.
Bill glares at Adam, who shows no sign of remorse. “He’s not wrong,” Adam agrees.
“Why would they want to pin Everett for the murders?” Sin wonders.
“We don’t know.” Bill falls into his seat and buries his head in his hands. “But I think it has to do with Adam.”
I turn to face him. “Why the fuck are the Lords targeting her for you?”
His jaw sharpens when he answers. “Hell if I know.”
“Adam’s supposed to be dead,” Sin guesses. “I killed him. Maybe they don’t believe it?”
“I’m pretty sure the Lords still believe he’s dead,” Bill says.