The Bedlam Boys: Complete Series

Chapter Eight

Roan

Ivy burrowed into Legend’s side, the picture of contentment with her head on his shoulder and fingers running up and down his chest. His tight arm around her looked less like a lover’s embrace, and more like a precaution to keep her from jumping out of the car at the next red light. If that’s what she was thinking, her face gave no sign. I couldn’t tell what was going on in her head.

“Are you going to kill our mothers?”

The car jolted forward, rocked by Jacques’s sudden jolt to the gas. We got away with two hostages in the trunk, but only barely. Right then, we were circling the back roads while we figured out where to lie low until our names were cleared. A heavy silence choked the car the entire time.

Jacques, Arsenio, Cairo, and Legend glared at me.

“What?” I said, unrepentant. “We all want to know. Won’t find out until we ask.”

Ivy laughed. “That’s what you’re all thinking right now? Oh my goodness, you five are ridiculous. Of course I’m not going to kill your moms. You’d break up with me.”

She genuinely sounded like that was her only problem with that option.

“That’s the only reason?” Jacques asked, echoing my thought.

She shrugged. “I have no loyalty to them, but I am loyal to you. I’m not going to harm them. I’m just going to take back what’s mine.” Hooded eyes met ours in turn. “That won’t be a problem... will it?”

“No problem for us.” I didn’t have to think about it. “Whether you run the town or they own the town, the job’s the same. We protect what’s ours—Bedlam and you.”

Ivy moved from me to the others.

“That’s right,” Jacques said.

“You will never not belong to me,” Arsenio added.

“I’m a rich man either way,” Legend said. “What do I care if there’s a little less from her half of the inheritance?”

Everyone spoke up except for Cairo. He stared at the window—no longer acknowledging us or the conversation. Ivy visibly tensed.

I changed the subject. This required a deeper conversation, and industrial tools to remove Cairo’s head from his ass. None of that was happening in that cramped car with a full trunk.

“Where are we going to go? Hunter’s Crest? They have vacation cabins on the outskirts,” I said. “We can rent one under fake names.”

“Too risky,” said Jacques. “You have to show ID to get a cone from an ice cream truck these days. We don’t have fakes, or enough money to bribe a receptionist not to care.”

“What about our guests in the trunk?” Legend asked. “I’m not hauling two counts of twenty to life around with us. We need to figure out something to do with them. Now.”

“While we’re talking about the Black Letter Crew, there’s something you need to know,” Ivy began.

“What is it?”

“It was a tight thing getting Jack out of there. Quinn waited until past time to tell me where he was. I had to speed the whole way. I ended up at an old bed-and-breakfast at the end of town, and I wasted more time searching all the rooms for him. I finally found him when I heard a car pull up.”

I bolted up. “Did they see you?”

“No. It wasn’t easy with two busted arms, but I got Jack out through the broken window. It’s how he cut his neck,” she said. “But it’s when they came into the room. I looked back for a split second and, guys, I saw their faces.”

She had all our attention—including Cairo.

“It was two men. Our age. Got to be university students.” Ivy tried withdrawing from Legend and didn’t get anywhere. “Jacques, love, I appreciate your commitment to privacy, but I didn’t go to school with these people my whole life. I didn’t recognize them. You need to tell me about the nine we picked so I can tell if it’s one of them.”

“Describe them.”

“One of them had long, dark hair pulled back into a ponytail. Thin. Small eyes, small mouth, and large nose—”

“Jackson Hyde.”

“Hyde,” I sputtered, recalling the anime-loving nerd from high school who always sat alone at a lunch table, scribbling in his notebook. “He’s in the Black Letter Crew?”

“I’m not surprised,” Jacques said. “I took a look in his room this week and it was an altar to death. Serial killer books and movies. Posters for true crime podcasts. He was one of the three I couldn’t prove was in the Crew, but highly suspected he was.”

“Describe the other one,” Cairo demanded.

“Short dark hair. Attractive. Square jaw and light-brown eyes. Taller than Hyde, and in good shape.” She flicked between us. “Anything?”

Sharing looks, we shook our heads one after the other.

“I know too many guys that fit that description,” I said.

“A description that doesn’t match any of the nine,” Jacques added. “Was there anything else about him? Tattoo? Piercing? Expensive clothes?”

“No, sorry. No tattoos or piercings, and his clothes just looked normal to me.”

“Don’t worry about it.” I jerked a thumb behind me. “We’ve got two people who can help us fill in the blanks. Jacques, make a U-turn, I know where to go. It’s time we end this shit.”

QUINN

“Wake up. Wake up!”

I peeled my eyes open and fucking sunbeams assaulted them. I winced, snapping them shut.

“Not again, Cunningham. If you slip back into your coma, this is going to end early for you.”

Coma?That sounded nice right about now.

My body was the living definition of agony. Each breath was a hot poker through my chest. Fractured and broken bones. Bleeding nose. Busted lip. And my hair.

That bitch cut my hair.

Fury surged through me, burning through the pain and sluggishness. I forced my eyes open, focusing past the flashlights in my face to... her.

Fixed on Ivy, I almost didn’t notice the Bedlam Boys fanned around her, or the forest behind them.

Cool night air tickled my swollen lips, providing the only sweet, soothing mercy I’d received since Amy walked that slut into my room. Grass teased my thigh where the skin hadn’t gone numb, and my wrists...

I carefully bent my neck. I was still bound, though now the other end of the rope was in Jacques’s hand. Another careful turn of the neck and I saw why.

I wasn’t at Black Widow Hill. I was sitting on the edge of it.

“Do you think this scares me?” Davidson perched next to me, his rope held by Roan. He had received a beating too, but not as bad as mine. He was able to sit up. As for me, only the rope and Jacques were keeping me upright.

Does bring me some satisfaction to know I made that stuck-up farm princess lose control.

“You don’t have the balls.” Davidson laughed. “We’re not on the playground anymore, boys. A few taps to the jaw and a roll on the dirt won’t send me off crying. From here on if you make a threat, you better be ready to carry it out, and it’s written all over your faces”—he spat at Roan’s feet—“weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, and weak.”

“You finished?” Cairo asked, amused. “Good. Now we can get started. I’m going to make this simple. One of you is going to tell me the names of everyone in the Black Letter Crew, and what you’re planning. Whoever speaks first, lives. Whoever speaks last will have the last thing they see be my boot in their face before the long drop down. Understood?” He swept out his arms, turning to both of us. “Simple, right? Now, who is going first?”

My lips sealed shut. I reduced this man to a quivering bowl of cum with one good ball fondle and blowjob. He didn’t scare me.

“Cairo, you forgot to mention,” Roan chimed in.

He clapped. “Of course. I should mention there’s a time limit on this offer. If ten minutes pass and neither of you give it up, it’ll be up to me to pick.” His handsome, wide smile beamed on me. “I will kick you off this cliff and your friend will have until your screams fade to give it up, or go sailing off too. It’s been a long day and I’m not interested in being out here with you two for a second longer than I have to be.”

I rolled my eyes. I’d give it to the Bedlam Boys. They could talk a good game, throw a good punch, and that was enough to cow everyone else in this stupid town, but it didn’t impress me. I knew real pain. True sacrifice. That was something these pretty boys playing pretend would never understand.

“Legend, start the timer.”

My handsome former lover who licked my pussy so good it curled my toes, pulled out a phone and did as requested. I smirked when he showed me the countdown. “Wow. You really think I’m buying this? You’re not getting anything out of me, except an orgasm.” I blew him a kiss through busted lips. “I know the hick trash hasn’t been giving you what you need. How about we skip this foreplay and go straight to you pumping my throat while Roan does me from behind?”

“Gonna have to pass.” Legend winked. “I don’t screw bald chicks.”

I bared my teeth as Ivy howled.

“Wasted a whole minute on that,” Cairo remarked. “I’ll repeat the question. Who is in the Black Letter Crew, and what are you planning?”

“Consider my time up,” Davidson sang. “I’m not telling you shit, so do it. Do it, Sharpe. Kick me off the cliff. Murder a bound, weaponless man in cold blood. Make your drunk daddy proud.

“Go on,” he pushed when Cairo didn’t move. “What are you waiting for? I want you to do it, Cairo. I want to see you become... me.”

Cairo’s eyes flashed.

“That’s right. You think you’re so above us. Believe you’re protecting the town with everything you do. Every law you break. Every person you hurt is for the greater good. You know who else thought the same? The Men of Honor.

“You and the precious Society of Sisters have become exactly what you hate.” He cracked up. “Is it any wonder I can’t stop laughing? You’re no different from us. Actually, you’re worse. At least the new and reforged Men of Honor are honest about who we are. We don’t pretend to be Bedlam’s saviors while we sink the boot in its throat. We are what we have always been—its rightful owners.”

Roan cracked a jaw yawning. “Wow. How much time did he waste on that speech?”

“Three minutes,” Legend replied. “Should we let him waste the final six with more hypocritical ramblings about his crew’s honesty while they hide behind black letters and wear masks when they attack innocent girls?”

“Would love to hear him spin that, but we’re short on time, and the lady should get a chance to go.” They turned to me. “Quinn, got something you want to say?”

I pushed out my lips, rolling my eyes skyward. “Mmm... no? That’s right, no. I’ve got nothing. Come back to me.”

“Rethink this,” Cairo warned. “This isn’t a bluff.”

“If you’ve got to say it’s not a bluff, then it is a bluff. Real men don’t waste time threatening to do something. They just do it.”

Cairo cocked his head. “Is that why you joined the Men of Honor? You wanted to be surrounded by real men who say they’re going to gang up and murder innocent women, then keep their word?”

My jaw clenched. “This is about Rainey de Souza again? Oh, please.” I curled my lips at Ivy. “None of that would’ve happened if she had the balls to follow through. Sacrifice one guy she didn’t even know, but no. She refused and was stupid enough to think she wouldn’t pay the consequences for it. That’s her own fault. Don’t blame me.”

“What do you get out of this, Quinn?” Roan asked. “You’re gorgeous. Upper middle class. About to graduate with a business degree and go anywhere you want. But instead you’re here, dangling on a ledge because... what? You couldn’t help it? You had to let your dark side come out to play?”

A grin teased my lips. “Don’t we all?”

“Come on, Quinn,” Legend said. “I know you’re dying to monologue. Get it off your chest.”

“Nice try, but I won’t tell you anything about them. You can find out who they are when we pay you a visit in the middle of the night.”

Blank-faced, Cairo drifted off me to Legend.

“Two minutes.”

“Two minutes,” Cairo repeated. “Who talks first?”

I didn’t speak, but Davidson did. The Bedlam Boys were treated to all the ways they were exactly like the Men of Honor—if we were as gutless and pathetic. He explained in detail that Cairo’s father was a lousy, useless drunk, and his mother was a gold-digging whore. Josephine Banks was a man-eating, dry-cunt bitch who dropped Roan out of her womb like a sow in a field, then continued climbing the ambitions ladder without giving him another thought.

Marjorie Creed, the fake mayor of a town that wasn’t a town, was even more corrupt than Davidson said he could ever be. And she was a good lay.

“—no wonder your father crossed an ocean to get back to that pussy,” Davidson taunted. “And don’t get me started on Eileen Stone. She puts on a good show—the prim and proper judge. But the lady has a nasty kink for outdoor sex. I’ve caught her and Jack—”

The phone chimed. “Time’s up,” Jacques announced.

Roan dropped the rope. Without pause, breath, or hesitation, Cairo kicked Davidson square in the chest.

“Ooof!” Davidson flew back... and plummeted.

“Ahhhh!”

Davidson’s and my screams echoed through the canyon.

“What the fuck did you do?!”

“I said you had until his screams faded to talk,” Cairo snarled. He bore down on me. “Want to test if I’m bluffing again?”

“No, no, no.” I thrashed, flinging my body away from him. Bruised and broken, I flopped helplessly on the ground—getting nowhere. He wasn’t supposed to kill him. He wasn’t supposed to! Who were these guys? We thought we had to kidnap his father to force them to kill, but no. They weren’t just enforcers and thugs.

Looked like they too let their dark side out to play a long time ago.

“No! Stay away from me!”

“Names, Quinn.” His boot dropped on my hip. “Or down you go.”

White blotted out my mind. The words flew so quickly from my mouth, they tumbled over each other. “Ja-Jackson Hyde! Thea W-Wood! Lincoln Roberts! Everett Cooper! Including me, that’s everyone, I swear. I swear!”

Cairo crouched next to me. I curled in on myself, trembling. I joined the Men of Honor to be around people like me. Have a little fun. Make a lot of money. Take back what once belonged to my family. I did not join to die.

Every other sheep in this cow-dung town could be sacrificed, but not me.

He reached for me.

“No. No!”

“Shh,” Cairo crooned. “I believe you, Quinn. Hyde, Wood, Roberts, and Cooper. Which one of them goes by Dante?”

“It’s Lincoln. He took over after he killed Zoey. She was changing our purpose,” I rushed. “Said why not make a little money on the side by selling our services? But then she took a job from the Crows to kill the Bedlam Boys, even though we still needed you. She had to go.”

“Do you still need us? To kill Steven Ellis and his sons?”

I tossed my head against the dirt. “We could do that whenever. No, we need you because you are your mothers’ only vulnerability, and hers,” I said, glaring at Ivy. “It always comes back to her.”

Cairo just nodded, accepting this. “How exactly are they going to use us to make our mothers vulnerable? Are they going to get a black letter on their doorstep like my father did?”

“How else? Everett was supposed to be at the party tonight. We planned for him to follow you and get evidence of whatever you were going to do to Steven, Jeremy, and Micah. With that, we’d have all of you in a vise. You’d do what we say to keep out of prison for murder. Your moms would do what we say to protect their violent little boys. And best of all, the Ellises would be dead. Win-win-win.”

“Not a bad plan,” Arsenio mused. “I mean, we guessed it, but it’s still elegant. The only faction left with any power in this town would be the Men of Honor.”

“Exactly,” I croaked. “That’s all I know. I promise. If you didn’t get to the Ellises tonight, Dante just would’ve killed Jack Sharpe, grabbed someone else you care about, and started this all over again. There was no plan B.”

He hummed. “Once again, Quinn, I believe you. I’m glad we’ve finally gotten to this point in our relationship where we can trust each other.”

I gasped deep lungfuls of air—each one shredding my chest in agony. “So... I can go? I talked,” I cried. “I told you everything. You promised to spare me.”

“That I did.” Cairo nodded at Jacques. He dropped my rope. “While you’re crawling through the woods back to town, memorize this message for your friends: We’re going to keep a promise to you too. You six will live up to the Men of Honor’s legacy, and die in pain and fire.”

Getting to his feet, Cairo turned his back on me. The men who once considered me their toy, paid me the same amount of humanity as they walked off without a second look.

“Hey, guys, wait,” Ivy called. “There’s just one more thing I want to say to her.”

Ivy jogged back, planting in front of me. Meeting my eyes, she whispered five words that unhinged my jaw.

“No! Please! Noooo!”

She viciously kicked my thigh, sending me flying off the edge. Wind cradled me—rushing to hold me on my long, dark descent, carrying her final words in my soul.

“This is for my sister.”

IVY

I picked through the cabin’s selection of mini soaps and shampoos.

Apple harvest and jasmine? Or maybe lavender and chamomile? I picked the last two out of the wicker basket. That would be soothing.

Making my choice, I carried the bottles past five pairs of watchful eyes, and closed the bathroom door on them.

The guys had been watching me closely since I announced the Sisters’ free ride profiting from my family’s land, pain, and suffering was over. I said I wasn’t going to kill them and I meant it. What more did they want from me?

My toes sank into the memory foam rug as I shed my dirty, bloodstained clothes. Impossible to believe that just that morning, we were standing in front of our home discussing golf tournaments. Less than twenty-four hours later, two of the Black Letter Crew were dead. Sheriff Jack was hopefully under the tender care of Doc Nash. We had all the names of the people coming after us.

I finally knew the truth of my history.

Around and around it went in my head, and as much as it shocked me, that’s how much it made sense. Gran left a will. Jack was just too afraid of what would happen to me and Rainey if we inherited. Nora Keller dumped her husband and child to live the high life with my money. A woman like that didn’t seem the type to sit back while I took it all away from her, and put her ass in jail for good measure.

Then there was the lurking, sneaking psychopath who did want me to inherit, so he could snatch it away, then put me and my sister in the ground next to our grandmother.

My whole life, people have been pulling my strings. Lying to me. Manipulating me. Using me. And they’ve all but won.

I’m the very last de Souza. Once I’m gone, the Sisters, the Black Letter Crew, and the Ellises will have no one to challenge them.

Those bitches will be sorry that now I know that. They thought they could avoid the fight and keep the little farm girl stupid. Not—

The door creaked open, spinning me around. Legend stepped inside.

Roan mentioned the cabin rentals on the outskirts of Hunter’s Crest, and we decided that would be good right about now. We simply skipped the part about checking in, broke one of the locks, and let ourselves inside the three-bedroom luxury space filled with a big screen, full kitchen, plush living room carpet, queen-size beds in every room, and a rain shower that I turned to the highest temperature.

Legend didn’t stop me climbing in. Through the steam, I watched him undress.

“What is it, Legend? Come to plan our next date?” I shot him a grim smile underneath the spray. “Or am I done proving that I’m worthy of you?”

“You’re done.”

I froze, not expecting that measured reply. “I see. Well then, you’re going the wrong way, aren’t you?” He slowly approached. “Go, Legend.”

He climbed into the tub.

“I said go!” The shout ripped out of me. “I am so sick of dancing on the end of everyone’s strings. You guys act like I betrayed you by holding on to my sister the only way my broken mind knew how, when it was everyone else who betrayed me!

“I’m done apologizing for being broken. For being lost, alone, and angry!” I shoved him. “If you can’t accept that I love you and all I’ll ever be is true to all of you in every way I know how, then fuck you! Let me go now.”

Legend weathered my berating without reaction. “Goodness, woman. Why are you yelling? I just told you you’re done proving yourself worthy... because you never needed to.”

My lips parted, but nothing came out.

Taking the tiny bottle from me, Legend poured the body wash on his palm and brought me toward him. My flesh rippled under his touch as he lathered me up.

“I’ve spent my whole life fighting for the wrong thing, Ivy. I lived in my own delusion—pretending that the Sisters were honorable, and every order I followed was to protect what’s ours.” His grip tightened on my hips. “This place was never ours, and they were never fucking honorable. Even though I didn’t know it, I helped them cheat and steal from you... and you don’t blame me, do you?”

It took me a minute, but as he rubbed soft circles on my back, I shook my head.

“I don’t understand why. I really don’t,” he said with a half-laugh. “When I found out you lied to me without knowing it, I acted like a complete shitbag. I blamed you. Said we were done. Made you jump through hoops to get me back. And all you did was forgive me.”

My pants picked up speed, heating my chest with the steam soaking into my warming cheeks. Legend had never talked like this to me before. I didn’t know what to say, how to react, or know if I should do either, and risk him stopping.

“I’ve only done this once,” Legend whispered—rubbing kneading, soapy hands over the knots in my shoulder.

“Done what?” I asked, voice small. “Give a massage?”

“Fall in love with someone.” Legend drew me in, tracing my lips with his. “You’ll have to help me when I mess up. Tie my stubborn ass to the bed. Take me to see the hummingbirds. But if you still love me, Ivy, I want to prove I’m worthy of you.”

I crumbled—breaking into pieces that swirled down the drain, never to be seen again.

This wasn’t real. It couldn’t be happening. On the worst day of my life—the day I discovered why all the other horrible days happened—my vicious, paddling, closed-off Legend couldn’t be saying he loved me.

Grasping my chin between two fingers, the sweet smell of lavender and chamomile danced over us, sweetening his kiss.

I crumbled again, but this time into him—letting him hold me up under tangling tongues and fevered moans. No one kissed me like Legend St. James.

All of my guys were delicious and addictive in their own way, but Legend was wild and rough. He kissed me like he wanted the sensation to penetrate deeper than my lips. Spread through my whole body and put me under an intense high that I’d chase for the rest of my life.

“I love you,” I whispered.

“I love your blowjobs.”

I burst into giggles, soaring on that high.

He lifted a shoulder, side-smirking. “You know, while we’re being honest. I have to admit I lied about you being crap at them. You’ve got the hottest, tastiest little mouth, and I’d love you for that alone.

“Good thing you’ve got a great ass too.”

I threw my head back, laughing louder and freer than I had... in years.

“Well,” I teased, smile playing at my lips. “It’s a good thing I’m willing to take you back, and let you prove how much you love me until time takes us, and after.”

“Let’s keep being honest.” Legend scraped my bottom lip between his teeth, making me squeal as he lifted and wrapped my legs around his waist. “I wasn’t really giving you a choice.”

Legend pressed me against the tile, flattening his muscled, dripping-wet body against me. I heard the door open and close again, but paid it little mind. Someone climbed in.

“You’re going to share, aren’t you, love?”

“Always.” Legend spun me, and then I was pressing against a hard, lithe body.

Roan took my weight, wrapping around my thighs and holding me up. I didn’t know why until Legend dropped to his knees.

“How is it with all things the five of us have done to you, you still blush?”

Saying that only made me blush harder. My brain tried to form a comeback in the midst of him dropping kisses on my inner thigh. “That’s from the shower steam.”

“What was your excuse when I had you ass up in the trunk?” The teasing monster that he was, Legend skipped my middle and continued his journey on the other side, kissing farther and farther away from where I wanted him to be.

“Sex in a trunk?” Roan repeated. “Oooh, fun. How come you’ve never had me ass up in a trunk?”

“Ivy seduced me in a zoo. Didn’t have many options. Had to improvise.”

I giggled. “If that’s all it takes to seduce you, that explains so—”

Legend dove between my legs, catching my reply on a gasp. My eyes widened as he tasted me, tongue up, down, and around my clit like an Olympic event.

The guys only had me ass up or flat-backed. I’d never received head at this angle before, and making me wait this long was the cruelest thing they’d ever done to me.

Legend was a Greek god. Adonis kneeling before the throne of Olympus—come to bring a gift to the goddess, and she was very appreciative. From this angle, I saw everything. His delicious pink tongue darting in and out of me. The smirk on his lips as I moaned like a wanton trollop. The glint in his eyes as ours connected.

“Holy shit,” I breathed, melting into liquid honey in Roan’s arms. I dropped my head on his shoulder, and he dropped his—licking my lavender and chamomile skin.

His nips danced along my throat, sending shivers down my spine while Legend sent convulsions up my core. They were already undoing me, and we were still just dabbling in the foreplay.

Legend wrapped my legs around his neck, indulging his treat with rough and reckless abandon.

“Ahh,” I cried, arching off Roan.

My red-haired devil imp took advantage. Moving to my side, he held me in his arms—encircling me like he dipped me in the middle of a dance. Roan closed over my nipple and I shuddered, releasing a soft squeak.

Everything about this was new for us. I didn’t want to say my guys were selfish in bed... because doing so would get me spanked.

When I was in the bed, car, trunk, woods, kitchen with the Bedlam Boys, they took what they wanted from me without permission or mercy. I fucking loved it and wouldn’t change a thing about the many screaming orgasms I’ve added up.

But giving me head? Teasing my nipples? Running rough, calloused hands up and down my thigh while Roan squeezed and teased my nub? That didn’t happen before I sucked their cocks dry or stained them with my juices. Beyond all comprehension, my guys were... making love to me.

Water drenched my sensitive skin, feeling like a million raindrop kisses that did nothing to bring me back down to earth. I was trying to hold on to this moment for as long as possible.

“Ah.” My back arched, bending as tight as my legs around his head. Legend flicked my clit and I was lost.

Spasms rocked my body, nearly dropping me flat on the porcelain, but my guys held me tight—stroking my heated, sensitive flesh as I spilled sweet juices on Legend’s tongue.

“Wow,” I breathed. “Why did we wait so long to do that?”

“We won’t repeat that mistake again,” Roan said. “We do it every day from now on. Three times on weekends.”

I didn’t even try to tell him we’d probably die from dehydration. Part of me—huge part—wanted to see how long we could keep that sex streak up.

“Hands and knees, gorgeous,” Legend ordered.

I moved with eager quickness, getting on my hands and knees between Roan and Legend. Roan stroked himself, dangling his member so tantalizingly close to my lips. My tongue darted out, licking the tip. His sharp hiss of pleasure was as good as sex.

“You want it in your mouth so badly, don’t let me stop you. You know I don’t play hard to get.”

That was all the invitation I needed. Holding his thighs, I swallowed Roan to the hilt. Roan didn’t like to play around and neither did I. I set a fast pace—bobbing and sucking till my cheeks caved in.

“Holy fuck.” He tangled in my wet strands, brushing them back from my eyes. “You’re incredible.”

I felt something press against my entrance, heightening my excitement. Believe it or not, this was my first time in the middle. Roan liked to fuck me while Legend did him from behind. When Legend was balls deep in me, it was while Roan watched, jacked off, and told him to pound me harder. And naturally, I loved watching the two of them go at it.

I thought we were out of firsts, but my guys and I always found more.

Legend pushed past my folds, making me moan around Roan. He started pumping, moving my mouth on Roan in sync with his thrusts.

Our grunts, moans, and groans filled the bathroom, echoing in the steamy space.

Roan said I was their perfect third. That they were always a threesome even when it was just the two of them. They were waiting for me to finish the puzzle.

As I crouched between them, receiving more pleasure than a single person could stand, I knew it was true. With them was where I was always meant to be.

I was waiting for the Bedlam Boys too.

Legend smacked my ass.

“Hhmpf,” I cried, core spasming. He pushed me higher up the peak, promising that I’d thoroughly wreck myself on the way down.

Roan’s shaft slid on my tongue—smooth and pulsating in my mouth. His pumps were getting faster—jerkier. I relaxed my throat, eager to take all he had to give me.

Another swat landed on my ass, popping me off my knees. It was getting embarrassing how much my little backside liked to be punished.

Between Legend’s slaps and Roan’s pumps, I didn’t know which of us was going to come first.

Legend reached under me, rolling his fingers over my happy slut of a clit.

Me. It was definitely going to be me.

My orgasm crested rough and fast, tightening every muscle in my—

“Shit,” Roan hissed, thrusting for the final time. He came and I tried to swallow every bit, but he pulled back and finished on my face. That was the final push over the edge.

I came hard, screaming so loud I likely alerted the police to our location. Legend had to hold me up as he spilled inside me. I was limp like an old damp sock, but a thousand times happier than one.

The three of us collapsed in a heap, piled on top of one another. Roan stroked my hair while Legend’s fingers ran up and down my thigh.

“Just give me a minute,” I gasped, “then we’re going again. Roan in the middle this time.”

“You saying you want Legend to pound me while I lick your pussy?”

“I want that very much.”

Roan looked past me to Legend. “I kept telling you this woman’s our soul mate.”

“What do you want from me? It took me a while, but I finally came around. Legend and Roan don’t make sense without Ivy.”

I WOKE UP WITH MY GUYSfinally where they belonged—sandwiched against me. Carefully, I untangled my legs from Legend’s and slipped out from under Roan’s arm. I left my towel and clothes on the bathroom floor, and padded out naked into the kitchen.

“Oooh.” A glance in the fridge revealed someone went out and bought groceries. Necessary since we didn’t know how long it’d take to clear the guys’ names and end the police search. Jack said he would take care of it. I just had to hope no one would need more explanation after the broken and battered man told them Davidson lured him into a trap to take over as sheriff, and smooth the way for the violent pieces of garbage who needed a corrupt cop in their pocket.

“Where is it?”

Jerking, I stuck my head over the door, falling on Cairo in the kitchen entrance.

“Where’s what? Breakfast?”

“The deed.”

Stiffly, I turned very slowly. “Why would you be asking me about that?”

“You said you wanted to go pick it up from where Dad had it stashed. I’ll drive you. Where is it?”

I studied him, wishing not for the first time that there was more to read in Cairo’s eyes than... darkness. “You don’t need to drive me, Cairo. I can get there myself.”

“Sure you can, but why say no?” He cocked his head. “Don’t you trust me?”

“I don’t know, Cairo.” I swallowed the distance, noticing right away as his gaze lingered on my naked body. “Do you trust me?”

“Not even a little.” I stopped. “But the way I see it, my blood wronged yours. Amadeo and the Men of Honor he let run free were bastards. But that wasn’t who came to my great-grandmother for help all those years ago. Sabrina was alone and desperate, but with all the garbage the Sisters spouted about Bedlam being a safe haven for the damned but determined, they looked at another woman who needed help and saw a target. They looked at two orphaned farm girls and saw a threat.”

He stepped forward. “A lot of stuff has gone down between us, but every way I look at it, the betrayal that started this happened decades before we were even born. I’m going to make that right today, de Souza.”

Hope swelled in my chest. First Legend and now Cairo? Could I be any happier than I was in this moment? I’d gotten all my guys back.

“Then, we’ll finally be done.”

The smile froze on my face. “Excuse me? Done?”

“That’s right.” Cairo touched my shoulder, continuing down along my collarbone, tracing the swell of my breasts, gliding over my belly button. His speech so at odds with the gentle exploration. “I’m paying off my family’s debt, then you and I will have a clean break. No grudges. No vendettas.”

He glanced down at his ying-yang wolf tattoo. “The eternal war is over.”

“But...” I searched for words in my dry throat. “I don’t want that. Yes, let’s end the war, but afterward, I want to start something new. With you, Cairo.”

“You can’t think that could happen. Your father-in-law would be the man who hid the truth to protect you, but also to protect himself. Your mother-in-law would be a scheming blackmailer who fought to get her hands on your money by any means necessary. Your sister-in-law would be the girl who lived your stolen life in the mansion you deserved, with the family you deserved.

“And your husband, he’d be the fucking blind fool who stole, threatened, beat, and killed to help them all keep you in the dark. We can’t come back from that, Ivy.”

My heart squeezed. He was finally calling me by my name and not de Souza, and right then it was the saddest word he said.

“I say we can, Cairo.”

“I say we can’t... and I don’t want to.”

I rocked back like he struck me, falling out of reach of his stroking fingers.

Cairo tucked his hands in his pockets, turning his green orbs to the sun shining on what was no longer a perfect day. “I’m thinking when all this is over, I’ll go away for a while. Bedlam won’t need the Bedlam Boys anymore once you take it back. Be kinda nice to find out who I am other than the puppet of my mother and her friends.”

“Why would you say we won’t n-need you? That I won’t need you.” My voice cracked. “You’re Cairo Sharpe. My wolf. My mate. You protect what’s yours.”

He turned away. “You’re not mine anymore. I said fate would break us. It finally did.” Cairo drifted out of the room. “Let me know when you’re ready to go.”

There on the polished hardwood floors, I crumbled again. That time for good.

THE HOUR-LONG DRIVEto Ashwick, the town north of Hunter’s Crest, stretched into an eternity. Cairo and I did not speak the whole way.

Once or twice, I thought about turning on the radio, but my hand didn’t move. A dozen to a hundred times, I thought about starting a conversation, but I didn’t do that either.

What we learned the day before brought Legend back to me, and drove Cairo out of reach. Over and over again, his speech rang in my head. Cairo was as sick of being everybody’s puppet as I was of being everybody’s fool. That’s where my understanding stopped.

Why did any of that mean we couldn’t be together? Yes, his family wronged mine, but that was his family. Cairo was the first person to eat my guilt. To crack me open, find the darkest spots of my soul, and indulge them like a fine wine. He was the first to show me that I didn’t have to be strong and ready to fight at all times.

I could surrender. Be taken. Be broken. And someone I loved would put me back together again.

What we have transcended decades’ old betrayals. It was me, Cairo, Arsenio, Legend, Jacques, and Roan now, and the day they found out who they were beyond the Bedlam Boys would be amazing... because that’d be the day they found out they were mine.

I wanted to say all of that to Cairo. None of it came out.

The gap between us was widening and I no longer knew how to reach him. According to Cairo, he didn’t want me to try.

“I think we turn here,” I rasped. “Beaumont Street. Should be the house on the end.”

Cairo acknowledged the break in silence by sliding into the next lane. He turned on Beaumont Street, passing by rows of cute little houses and neat lawns. Jack told me the man we were going to see was an old buddy from the police academy. Rhys Martin retired years ago after being injured on the job.

The two hadn’t kept in much contact, but Jack assured me he trusted the man completely. He kept my inheritance safe all these years, so I was inclined to trust him too.

“541,” I said. “This is it.”

Cairo parked on the curb and climbed out. It seemed like he was waiting for me when he paused in the driveway, though the second I stepped to his side, he walked off—taking the laid cobblestone path to the door.

Mr. Martin’s place was as charming as the other homes in the cul-de-sac. He planted a little flower garden on the front lawn, and the fountain by his front door was filled with real, croaking frogs.

Cairo shot out, grabbing my hip. “Wait.”

“What? What is it?”

“Look,” he murmured.

Following his line of sight, I saw what he noticed instantly. The front door was cracked open.

“Why would the door be open?” I whispered.

“Hang back.”

“You’re not going in there alone. Let’s just go slow.”

Cairo jerked his head, agreeing. Together we moved to the door, approaching like it might swing out and attack. I flattened my palm on the wood and pushed. My eyes bugged.

“Mr. Martin? Mr. Martin, are you okay!”

I rushed in, ignoring Cairo’s shout. A man lay on the living room carpet. Hands and legs bound, he groaned in the pool of blood dripping down his skull.

“Mr. Martin, can you hear me?” I grasped his chin, gently patting his cheek. Martin’s lids fluttered, showing me the white of his eyes. “Cairo, what do you think happened? Was he robbed? We should call the police.”

“Pretty sure I know exactly what happened.”

Something in his voice made me look up, though Cairo wasn’t looking back. Dread filling my bones, I shifted toward the hall entrance, and the man stepping out of a bedroom.

Tall. Raven-haired. Silver wings at the temple. Disarmingly handsome.

“Henry Gold.”

“Ivy.”

“What are you...?” I looked from him to the man groaning at my knees. “What have you done?”

Henry winced. “This is quite awkward. I intended to be long gone before you arrived.”

Breath vacated my lungs. Spinning and twisting, my mind strained to comprehend why the well-dressed private investigator was standing in Rhys Martin’s home—

I spotted something behind his back. “What is that?” I cried, shooting up. “What are you hiding!”

“Whoa. Relax.” Gold raised his arms, and the large brown envelope, beside his head. “I believe this is what you’re looking for.”

“How do you know what we’re looking for?” Cairo gritted. “Did you fucking tie up and beat this guy?”

Gold didn’t respond, which was answer enough.

I scrambled for my phone. “I’m calling the police.”

“That’s not a good—” Gold moved toward me and suddenly Cairo was in our path.

“No, what’s not a good idea is getting any closer to her.”

“All right,” Gold said, sliding back. “No need for that.” The guy was still talking like we walked in on him masturbating and were making a big, prudish deal about it. “I’m only trying to warn Miss de Souza that if she makes that phone call, she won’t like the consequences. Jack Sharpe revealed a lot of damning information on the bug I planted in his bedroom.”

My veins bled cold.

“It’d be difficult for him to clear your names if he’s brought up on charges for the many felonies he committed after your grandmother was murdered.”

“A bug,” I croaked.

Gold shook his head almost sadly. “I’m afraid so.”

“Why would you—?”

“Why would you bug my father’s place?” Cairo shouted over me.

“I was paid to by my employer.”

“I’m your employer,” I cried.

“You were until Steven Ellis discovered I was poking around in his affairs, and paid me twenty times my rate to work for him. He hired me to carry out one simple task.” Gold opened the envelope, drawing out an old, yellowed parchment. “Find the deed.”

I moved first.

Bolting around Cairo, I launched at him.

“Ah ah!” he shouted, whipping out a lighter. “Stay back or it burns.”

“Why are you doing this?! That’s all it takes for you to flush your self-respect and reputation down the toilet? Throw some money at the coin whore, and he’ll beat up an innocent man and steal from a client!”

Rage snapped his calm. “Don’t speak about things you don’t understand. Self-respect and a good reputation don’t pay my wife’s medical bills or send my daughters to college. Ellis was contacted weeks ago by a Sheriff Davidson. He told him that Jack Sharpe was in possession of Abigail de Souza’s will, and the deed to Bedlam that she willed her granddaughters.

“The man was on vacation, so now was the time to search his home and find where he hid it.”

“Double-dealing sack of shit,” Cairo growled.

I could not have said it better. I felt twice as uncaring about his death as I did a minute before.

“I searched his place. Cracked his safe. But I found nothing. In the end, I bugged the house in hopes that when he came back, I’d overhear him mention a cabin, a storage facility, a friend—anywhere he might’ve stashed it. That worked out so much better than I could believe.”

I inched to the side, giving Cairo a clear path. “Congratulations, you’re a successful thief. But it’s over now, Gold. I’m not letting you walk out of here. Whatever leverage you think you have over Jack Sharpe is worthless. That same recording makes it clear he was under duress. A psychopath that’s killed before threatened his son. They’ll be lenient.”

“He’ll still lose his job. His credibility will be worthless. Your boyfriends will go right back in a cell.”

“My old man is due for retirement, and prison can be character-building,” Cairo returned. “Hand it over.”

Gold backed away—my deed hovering dangerously close to the flame. His cool was definitely gone. Henry’s eyes darted back and forth, looking for an escape.

“Just give it to me and it can all end here.” I tried. “There’s nothing Steven Ellis can do with that deed. I signed his contract as Rainey de Souza. That’s not who I am. It’s all void. He should’ve told you it was over.”

“Oh no, Ivy. Nothing is over. Don’t you understand?” he hissed. “Steven Ellis has all this property that he now knows doesn’t belong to the false government of a fake town called Bedlam, and when this deed is gone... it won’t belong to you either.”

My spine slackened, rocking me on my heels. “No... But you can’t—”

“I can and I will— Don’t move, Sharpe! You’d be shocked how quickly old paper like this goes up.”

Cairo stopped his advance, snarling.

“Why are you doing this!” Years of pain and frustration exploded from the pit in my throat. “This is my land. My inheritance. You have no right to take it from me!”

“You have no right to claim it! I heard what you said on that bug about making everyone who wronged you pay. You’re thinking like a selfish child. You don’t understand the weight of the choices that must be made. Bedlam is a home now. People raise their children there. They attend university there. With one piece of paper, you could wipe that all away in the name of greed, revenge, and claiming a fortune that’s too big for one mentally deranged young woman to have.”

I jerked like he slapped me.

“Let Ellis bring in his bulldozers. Let the mayor fight back. And let those mature enough to decide the future of Bedlam step in and make the right choice for the people, because that person”—Gold set the deed alight—“is not you.”

“No!” Cairo and I shouted.

Cairo tackled him, sending them both flying back into the bedroom. The burning deed soared out of his hand, landing on an area rug where the fire greedily consumed it. I dove after it.

A hand shot out and seized my ankle. Gold yanked me back, dropping me face-first on the hardwood. Pain jarred my jaw.

“Get off her!”

“Oomph,” Gold gasped. The grip on me loosened.

I scrambled to the deed—the last of my family’s legacy. The only thing Gran had left in the world to give me. And frantically slapped the flames, uncaring of the heat and flames scorching my palm.

Sobbing, I lifted the charred scraps of parchment... and watched it crumble in my hands.

The deed was gone. It was over.

I SAT ON THE HOOD OFthe car, thighs sizzling from the heat, but I barely felt it. Wordlessly, I watched the police drag out Gold, and the paramedics carry out Mr. Martin.

“I have no regrets,” Gold shouted at me. “My girls will still get the money. They’ll be taken care of.”

I hopped off the car.

“In time you’ll see that I helped you too,” he cried, raising his voice. “A piece of paper doesn’t make Bedlam belong to—”

Slam!

I banged the door shut on his ramblings. The police would have questions for me. I’d answer them after that bastard was gone.

Cairo reclined all the way back in the passenger seat, also waiting for the police to leave. I felt his eyes on me, but couldn’t meet them. If I did, I’d cry. He and Gold made me do enough of that for one day.

“It’s not over. There have to be other ways to prove ownership. A double-dealing, corrupt piece of trash like that can’t just burn some paper and take what’s rightfully yours.”

“But he can,” I said flatly. Black crowded in the edge of my vision. Nothing felt real. “Double-dealing corrupt pieces of trash do it all the time. They steal wills and forge new ones. They put traps in contracts. They take advantage of the sick, lost, and na?ve with a coldness the level of Cavendish.

“I studied law for years, Cairo. No one is tearing down a town and handing me all the treasure hidden in its soil because I ask nicely. That deed was everything. The Sisters knew it. Steven Ellis knew it.”

My hands trembled on the wheel. “For over a hundred years—generation after generation—the de Souzas kept that deed safe. I lost what belonged to my family again by trusting the wrong person again.

“How? How could I be so stupid? How did I let this happen!” I punched the dash, howling. “It was right there. Right in front of me and I lost it!”

Pressure built in my skull. The black bled over everything. I couldn’t see the ambulance anymore. I couldn’t see Cairo. Or the point of anything. “I shouldn’t have waited,” I cried, chest heaving. “I should have come straight here... and... and got what was mine... I should’ve...”

Darkness latched its hooks and dragged me under. The last thing I heard was Cairo’s shout.