Total pages in book: 331
Estimated words: 315585 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1578(@200wpm)___ 1262(@250wpm)___ 1052(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 315585 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1578(@200wpm)___ 1262(@250wpm)___ 1052(@300wpm)
Laura slaps my father on the back while she holds the thing I peed on. “Congratulations, it’s a baby.”
“The treatment worked.” The doctor nods proudly.
My father grunts.
“I told you. It just takes time,” Laura assures him. “You’ve got a twenty-five percent chance you’re the dad.”
“W-what?” I ask breathlessly. A new kind of pain fills my chest. “No—”
He wraps his hand around my throat, cutting off my air and pinning my head to the table. I kick my legs and buck my hips, trying to breathe.
Lowering his face to mine, he growls, “It better be a fucking boy, or I’ll set it on fire.”
He lets go of me, and I suck in a breath that burns my lungs and sob. This can’t be happening. I can’t be pregnant. All this time, they’ve been raping me. I knew why, but I prayed it wouldn’t work. That my body was incapable of carrying a child. I’m still one myself.
“If it’s a girl, I’ll take it off your hands.” Laura shrugs.
My father snorts. “You already have a daughter.”
She smiles at him. “Girls are more useful than you give them credit for.” Her eyes slide to my tear-filled ones when she adds. “You catch more flies with honey.”
He tilts his head, considering her words, and then smiles down at me. “Actually…now that I think of it, I hope it is a girl. Maybe she’ll be useful and give me what you can’t. I’ll take either or really. A boy will give me another chance. I’ll train him differently—like an animal. I’ll make sure he only sees women as something to use. And I’ll start by forcing him to fuck you. Maybe he’ll have better luck. Either way, I’ll get what I want out of you.”
This woman put her daughter through hell. I know what she allowed to happen to Elli, and it makes me sick. She deserves to live a long, tortured life here in Carnage. She loved coming over here and was proud she was able to give my father what he wanted—my pregnancy.
The door opens behind me. “I thought I’d find you in here.” Kashton comes up behind me. He wraps his arms around me, and I lean into him. “Devin said the procedure went well. Now we just wait.”
I turn around and glance up at my husband. He smiles down at me, but it drops when he sees the look on my face doesn’t match his. “Don’t be nervous, Eve.”
I lick my lips. Nervous? Is that what I am? Because I’m pretty sure I’m losing my mind. “I, I…”
“Stop.” He cups my face in both of his hands. “Listen to me, angel. It’s okay to be happy. To want this.”
My throat closes and my vision gets blurry. “I don’t deserve—”
“Bullshit,” he interrupts me softly. “You deserve this. You didn’t deserve what they did to you. But this…” His thumbs gently wipe the tears from my cheeks. “This is the future that they took from you, Eve, and I’ll be damned if I let them do it again from their graves.”
KASHTON
My brothers and I exit the Escalade and walk up to the door of the house. I knock before glancing at my watch. It’s a little past noon, and he knows we’re coming.
The door opens and Sin greets us with a bright smile. “Hey, my bitches.”
Haidyn grunts, Saint laughs, and I shake my head with a smirk.
“Come in.”
I enter first, followed by my brothers.
Sin closes the door and asks, “You guys want anything to drink?”
“No thanks,” we say in unison.
We all sit down in the living room, and I lean forward with my elbows on my knees. “Is Elli going to try and shoot me?” I joke.
Easton laughs. “I can’t make any promises, but I did hide my gun just in case.”
Just then, Ellington enters the room. “Who was at the door…” She trails off when she sees us. Her large eyes go to her husband. “Sin, what’s going on?”
“Come here.” He reaches out to her, and she sits down beside him on the couch across from us.
She looks terrified, her face now pale and her breathing erratic.
“We want Easton to join the Spade brothers.” I come right out with it. There’s no reason to worry her. We’re not here to threaten or drag anyone from their home. I know there was a time we showed up and made that threat to collect if Easton didn’t deliver, but things have changed.
“What?” She shoots to her feet. “No—”
“Elli.” Sin stands as well.
“You want this?” she asks with a hand on her chest. “Why?” Her voice rises. “They almost killed you.”
“It wasn’t like that,” Sin argues.
“It was exactly like that,” she shouts. “You were bleeding…your blood was all over their clothes. I watched Bill and Tyson carry your unconscious body out of that…dungeon. Gavin had to intubate you because he said your body deserved the break.”