Chapter 34
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
NATASHA
I tried not to think of the first time Lachlan took me to a party.
This time, the circumstances were completely different. Dante wasn’t with me, for one thing, and I walked tall, moving into my role of a valuable, cherished slave. I was dressed to the nines and armed well enough that I didn’t need Dante to protect me. My leash was held by a man I trusted.
Well, I mostly trusted him. I was on the fence about whether he would allow me to make the kill or whisk me away if things got the slightest bit sketchy.
One thing was the same though. We were both putting on an act.
This time, I’d be going up against a killer. Although he wasn’t known to have combat training, Ronan had history as a street fighter, meaning he’d fight dirty.
That was okay, because I fought dirtier, and I was trained. He’d never expect a slave to have spent six months sparring with a retired Army Ranger who took up mixed martial arts for fun and profit.
Not gonna lie. He kicked my ass on the regular. I made a note to hook him up with Ella.
“Guard at your six,” Lachlan murmured into my ear as he helped me from the Mercedes.
“One at the door. Two patrolling the gardens,” I whispered when I caught the fiery glint of their cigarettes. “Watch the one at the door. He’s paying attention.”
Under the direction of the guard manning the door, our driver moved the Mercedes several yards away and parked. Hopefully, I’d have the chance to get his name, but now wasn’t the time.
I kept my eyes down but lifted my chin as I followed Lachlan to the open front door. It shut behind us with an ominous click as Ronan strode across an expansive foyer tiled in Travertine marble.
“Welcome!” He slapped Lachlan’s shoulder and pulled him into a one-armed hug. “It’s good to see you, old man.”
Ronan’s brown hair had threads of gray at the temples, and a few wrinkles surrounded his eyes, but he was as handsome as ever, which made me furious. People’s outsides needed to match their insides.
“You as well.” Lachlan dropped my leash and returned the hug. “You’ve renovated, I see. My compliments to your decorator.”
I kept my eyes down and remained perfectly still, hanging on to my control with the tips of my short fingernails. Ronan wasn’t paying me any attention, and it would have been so easy to tap the leftmost diamond in my nose ring and slit his throat with the blade in my left wrist cuff.
Unfortunately, there were a few too many eyes watching his and Lachlan’s reunion.
“Ah, yes.” Ronan waved a dramatic arm to showcase a tastefully decorated foyer I barely noticed. “Cost me a fortune, but definitely worth it.”
“A man’s home, and all that,” Lachlan replied.
“Indeed. But enough about home improvements.” He looked me up and down and I resisted the urge to shudder. “Is this truly Natasha?”
“Who?” Lachlan gave him a blank stare that I would have applauded if I dared break our performance. “Oh, yes. I just call her Slave.”
Still studying me, Ronan cocked his head. “I didn’t think I would, but I prefer her with the baby fat she used to have when she was a teenager.”
Lachlan shrugged and snapped his fingers at me to follow as Ronan led us across the foyer to a door opened to reveal a sitting room with a wet bar and a table spread with appetizers.
“I quite enjoyed the challenge of transforming a chubby mess into what I want to see.”
Ouch. That might have stung if I hadn’t been absolutely positive Lachlan was putting on a show. He’d told me more than once that he missed my curves.
He pinched my chin, forcing me to lift my head. “Is she not exquisite?”
“She is.” I held very still while Ronan circled me, and didn’t move an inch when he fondled my ass. “Seems very fit too.”
“Slave, you may speak. Do you wish Ronan to touch you?” Lachlan asked, without reaching for my leash.
“I will do as my Master commands,” I replied, keeping my eyes down.
“Bloody hell, she’d be worth a fortune,” Ronan muttered, thankfully letting go of my ass. He’d come too close to one of the push daggers concealed in the folds of my dress.
“Even more when you consider she’s been training to become my bodyguard.” Lachlan chuckled and pointed at the floor, silently ordering me to kneel. “Steve Ashland abused her horribly, and the smallest bit of kindness earns her undying devotion.”
He nudged my knees apart with the toe of his dress shoe, then added, “Isn’t that right, slave?”
I nodded, but didn’t speak.
Ronan chuckled. “A bodyguard? Since when do you need one?”
“I never did find my brother’s murderer,” Lachlan replied. “It seemed wise to have one I can bring to social engagements.”
“Such a loss with no path to vengeance.” Ronan went to the bar and filled two highball glasses with scotch. “I was very sorry when I heard the news.”
Lachlan shrugged and took the proffered glass. “I don’t actually care. Whoever killed my brother has my thanks, but I’m also not stupid. The killer probably has me in his sights too. Slave is the fourth such bodyguard I’ve trained, and I daresay she won’t be the last.”
Yeah, no. I was going to be Lachlan’s first, last, and only.
“Hmm.” Ronan studied him, his brown eyes cold and speculative. “I have several acquaintances who would love to own Steve Ashland’s daughter. How much do you want for her?”
“I haven’t decided if I’m willing to sell her.”
“Two million?”
Lachlan chuckled and shook his head. “She’s worth at least twice that, and you know it.”
Aww. I definitely owed Lachlan a blow job for that, even though putting a price on a human life was abhorrent.
Lookin’ at you, health insurance companies. And your little shareholders too.
“A high price for a slave who hasn’t proven she can please a man or protect him as you say she can.”
“And she’ll be worth no more than a common slave if you sell her to someone who abuses her because of who sired her.” Lachlan countered. “I take the debt Steve owed me out of her body every day, yet she will die to protect me. Is that not worth a princely sum?”
Ronan moved closer to Lachlan, and I stiffened, my body tensing with the visceral urge to get between them. “Then you won’t mind a short demonstration.”
* * *
LACHLAN
Four men dressed in unrelieved black burst into the room at the same moment I felt a cold steel blade slide between my ribs. The pain was all-encompassing, stealing my breath, but not the immediate urge to put myself between Natasha and anything that might threaten her.
Before I could blink, she had two dead. A third tried to grab her wrist, then screamed when she activated the blade in her cuff. His cry of pain cut off when she slit his throat. The fourth, wary of her, pulled a gun, but she shot him before he could do the same to her.
“Oh, brava!” Ronan clapped his hands as I sank to the floor and pressed a hand over my wound. “You truly are exceptional, my dear. And now that I don’t have to pay for you…”
He waggled his brows, then ducked, neatly avoiding the throwing star Natasha aimed at his face.
“Your turn,” she murmured, stalking closer.
He lunged for her, catching her collar, then forced her to the floor with his knee in the middle of her back. My head swimming with pain and blood loss, I staggered to my feet but couldn’t muster the strength to force my body to move.
“Such a deadly little thing,” Ronan crooned.
“I don’t think I’ll sell you. I’ve always wanted you; did you know that?
With your Rubenesque curves, all that hair, and such an innocent face, you were perfectly delectable.
Would you like to grow your hair again, precious?
Perhaps eat some freshly baked bread and pasta from my hand? ”
When she didn’t reply, he said, “Goodness, you’re a very good girl, aren’t you? You may speak.”
Without warning, she bucked, sending Ronan off balance. He had time for one shout before she was on him, the blade at her wrist poised over his jugular.
“No, I’m really not a good girl.” A sweet smile, reminding me of the innocent young woman she’d once been, ghosted across her face. “And, honestly, I’d rather eat your heart.”
He paled and his eyes widened as he reached for something I couldn’t see. “Obey me, slave! Get off me right?—”
“And I seriously don’t have time for a villain monologue, what with a husband and a dozen of your victims to rescue.”
The blade at her wrist sliced cleanly across his neck as a sharp crack of sound echoed. Natasha blinked with surprise and paled, her hand moving to clutch her belly.
“Watermelon!” I stumbled and dropped to my knees, catching her before she fell. Blood gushed from the bullet hole in her abdomen, draining her life before my eyes. “God fucking damn! Watermelon!”
I heard a concussive boom from outside. For a moment, I wondered if it was Ella’s crew gaining entry to Ronan’s compound, but it didn’t matter.
They wouldn’t come soon enough.
Forgetting my own injury, I pressed on her stomach in a desperate attempt to stanch the flow of blood.
“So dumb,” she whispered, blinking her eyes slowly. “Shoulda known the bastard was packing.”
“Shh, love. I need to get the bleeding stopped.”
Her hand shaking, she touched my face. “S’ok,” she slurred. “I got the bad guy, didn’t I?”
“You did, baby.” Praying I could keep her focused on survival, I added, “And we agreed that you could peg me if we lived through this.”
Fuck, if she lived, I’d let her do whatever she wanted—including caging me in my own kennel.
“Woulda been fun.” She closed her eyes, and her face relaxed into the softness I’d once tried to erase. “I’m tired. You can let go now.”
“Natasha—”
“Stop.” She nestled her head into my chest. “I forgive you, Lachlan. Make a good life for yourself.”
I’d dreamt of earning her forgiveness, but not like this.
Never like this.
“Shh.” I kissed her, tasting blood. “It’s all going to be fine.”
“Yeah, not gonna happen, but before I go…” She laughed, then coughed up more blood. “You wormed your way into my heart like a fucking tick, but I love you.”
“I fell in love the moment I saw you.” I murmured the truth I’d hidden from her and from myself for too long.
“Mmm.” A steady trickle of blood leaked from the corner of her mouth as her breathing became labored. “Nice to know, but I think I’m ready to see what’s on the other side now.”
“Never, slave.” I heard the sound of pounding footsteps as I laid down next to her and slowly, painfully, pulled her into my arms. We would go together or not at all. “I’m never letting you go. Obey your Master and live.”