Madness: A Dark Revenge Romance

We’ve been here for two hours and nothing. We’ve watched surveillance cameras; the brothers let us speak to everyone working at the bar. I don’t know if Benny kept a low profile or if the chips found at his place aren’t his. Hell, maybe they were Ashtyn’s. Who knows where she went in this town? She was here for four years. Maybe she allowed customers to pay her with them when she worked at Glass? The options are endless.

I feel like this trip was for nothing.

We’ve watched several men get the shit kicked out of them. Grave is coming on in less than twenty minutes, and he’s the talk of the Airport. Everyone waits to watch him beat some guy who hasn’t lost his last ten fights or some shit like that.

The flashing lights give me a headache, and the music isn’t helping. Right now, “I Can Hold a Grudge Like Nobody’s Business” by Adam Jensen blares from the speakers.

“We’ll figure it out,” Adam screams into my ear as if reading my mind.

Not sure figure it out are the exact words I’d use, but I’m making it my mission to get the answers that I want.

We stand at the end of the bar. Adam drinks a beer, and I have a water. I’m not in the mood to get fucked up. I look up to see Bones and Titan making their way through the throngs of people. Nite is right behind them. Everyone does a double take when they see who is walking. They’re practically royalty in this town. Where we Spades prefer the darkness, the Kings live in the spotlight. From their flashy hotel and casino to all the news coverage about their relationships to Grave’s arrests and addiction. They can’t escape it, even if they wanted to.

“Thought you weren’t coming?” Adam calls out, nodding at him.

“That was before I got a text that Grave was fighting.” He stands next to me, facing the bar, and orders a drink.

I don’t know the Kings all that well, but I know that Grave has a past with addiction. It doesn’t take a lot to see that Bones is protective over his little brother. The fact that he’s here proves it.

Just then, a group of women walk up behind him, and a brunette grabs his hand, making him turn around to see who it is. He drapes his arm over her shoulders and pulls her into his side. Obviously, it’s his girl.

I look over the other three and recognize one of them. The redhead. Her eyes scan the crowd, meeting mine and then Adam’s before lingering on Nite. She steps away, but Adam grabs her upper arm and stops her. She turns around and glares at him. “We⁠—”

“Need to talk.” He interrupts her.

“No need.” She gives him a smile, but it has “fuck you” written all over it. I’m not sure what the fuck is going on there. They were fighting the last time I saw them together.

I gasp, sitting up, and arms instantly wrap around me, squeezing me tightly. I go to push them off but realize who it is. “Ash?” I say.

“Oh my god, Haidyn,” she cries, climbing onto my lap. “I thought you were dead.”

I wrap my arms around her and hold her tightly. “Baby girl.” I breathe a sigh of relief. Last I remember seeing her, we were in the back of a van, and she was sobbing while I lay on the floor bleeding after they ran our car off the road and shot me.

“We can reminisce later.” Adam claps his hands and pulls her from me. “We got shit to do.”

She rips herself from him and wipes the tears from her face, sniffling.

“How do you feel?” Adam asks me.

“Good.” I nod.

“We’ve got maybe twenty minutes before the adrenaline wears off,” he tells me, and I jump down off the metal slab, taking a quick look to see we’re in the morgue at Carnage.

“Adrenaline? What the fuck are you into?” Jasmine demands, glaring at him.

He doesn’t answer her, and I wonder what the hell she’s doing here at Carnage. “What the fuck have I missed?” I ask, stretching my neck and arms. Fuck, I feel good right now, but Adam is right. It won’t last long.

“Apparently as much as I have.” Jasmine crosses her arms over her chest.

“We don’t have time,” Adam growls at her.

“How many days has it been?” I look at Ashtyn.

She drops her face to stare at the floor. “Four,” she whispers, and I get a pain in my chest that has nothing to do with the bullet Devin removed. “Ash⁠—?”

“Put this on.” Adam interrupts me, placing a bag on the slab I jumped off. “The girls are going to help us.”

I look back and forth between Adam and the redhead. That was just yesterday when I woke up in the morgue and tied the girls up and pretended to take them as hostages to fool Benny into thinking we were his men. We needed the element of surprise. We couldn’t have pulled it off without them.

“Jasmine—”

“Adam.” Her tone further proves my point that she still wants to punch his lights out.

“We should⁠—”

“I have syphilis,” she states, and I choke on the water in my mouth.

He smiles at her. “No, you don’t.”

She rolls her eyes and rips her arm from his hold, stomping off with a bleach blonde following her. She must belong to Cross because he also follows them, finding an open space at the bar to order drinks away from us.

“Man, you must have really fucked up for her to choose an STD over your dick.” Bones laughs, finding too much joy in their exchange. Even Titan can’t hide his laughter, and Nite smiles.

I lean into Adam. “You know she’s been fucking Kash, right?”

He snorts. “Pretty sure I was fucking her first.” He steps away, making his way through the crowd, and pushes his way to the bar so he can stand next to her.

I notice Bones and Titan watching the exchange before they both look at me. I shrug, staying the fuck out of that. I have enough problems of my own, and I’m in this godforsaken city to fix one of them.

I’m actually surprised to see her here since she was just at Carnage. She’s close with Ashtyn. She probably felt that she and Saint needed their privacy after everything. I don’t blame her.

“What the fuck is up, man?” a guy calls out, coming up to me.

I set my water down as he approaches, and we do the half handshake hug. “What are you doing all the way here in Vegas?” I ask. The Lord is a long way from home since he lives in New York.

His eyes slide to one of the Mason brothers helping behind the bar and then back to mine. “Business never sleeps.” He smirks, and his eyes find Jasmine at the bar. Hooke went to Barrington with my brothers and me. He graduated the same year as us.

I pick up my water, shaking my head in disbelief. “Ain’t that the truth.”

The lights turn off, and the crowd screams when the music stops. A spotlight comes on, pointing over in a corner to a hallway, and Grave bounces out of it as “Bloody Nose” by Hollywood Undead plays. The crowd gets louder than I knew possible.

I turn around to the bar and hold up my water, signaling that I want another one. I’m rethinking not having any alcohol because it’s going to be a long day. For the first time since the Lords have forced me to start seeing therapists, I wish I had those sleeping pills on me. And the pretty brunette naked in my bed to bury my cock into as I pass the fuck out.

ANNABELLE

I feel like I’m running circles around Haidyn. I pretend to know what the fuck I’m doing, and he just tells me that he wants to fuck me. It’s getting to the point where I go home, get undressed, and get myself off thinking of him.

It’s unbearable. This guy is mentally fucking me, and I’m just supposed to take it. I haven’t heard from the Lords in a few weeks. Have they forgotten me? Surely not. I’m not going to give up.

I’ve done everything they asked me to do.

Sitting up, I run my hand over my face and groan at the pounding headache I have from going out last night.

“You okay?” A hand gently rubs my back, and I nod.

“Yeah.” My mouth is dry, and my tongue is heavy. My eyes feel crusty, and my hair is a tangled mess. I went to Blackout last night and got hammered. My mind has been fucking mush since I ran out of the basement at Carnage a week ago. I hate how often I looked around, hoping to see Haidyn there.

Getting out of bed, I manage to make my way to the bathroom and look at myself in the mirror. I’m still wearing my makeup from last night, but it’s smeared across my cheeks.

Turning on the sink, I splash my face and decide that only a shower can fix this hungover disaster. I turn on the water and step inside. Falling to my ass, I sit under the sprayer and let the hot water rain down on me.

The door opens, and Wesley smiles at me. “Here, you need to drink something.” He places a bottle of water in the corner so the shower doesn’t hit it.

I thank him, and he closes the door, so the steam fills the large space. After I spilled my drink on him the first night we met at Blackout, he got my number and asked me to dinner the next day. We’ve been seeing each other ever since. I wish I really liked him, but it’s just part of the job. And I pray to whatever God might exist that the Lords don’t forget what I’m doing.

It’s happened before or so I’ve heard. The Lords are a large secret society, and no one knows who is really in charge. It’s not like there’s a 1-800 number that you can call to reach an operator.

Sure, I have an Apple watch, cell, and laptop, but I’m not reaching out to them. I’ll continue to wait to see what directions they give me.

“Your mother just called. We’ve got lunch with her today,” Wesley calls out.

“We?” I ask.

He opens the door once more and smiles at me. “Yeah, I figured I’d go with you. You don’t mind, do you? If so…I don’t have to go.”

“No. It sounds great.” Just what I want. My mother to see me hungover.

His smile grows. “I told her noon would be best. That gives you plenty of time to shower and get ready.”

“Sounds great,” I tell him, and he shuts the door.

I lean my head against the cool wall. He’s a good guy, but I like my space. It’s hard enough to be someone else when with Haidyn. But having to continue that on a day-to-day basis twenty-four seven is so draining.

My mother knows what I’m doing, and that Wesley is my fake boyfriend. It’s not uncommon for the parents of the Lords to know what their sons are required to do for initiations or assignments. I’m really close with my mother and tell her everything. And it’s nice to have someone in your corner, wanting you to succeed.

At twelve o’clock sharp, I pull up to my mother’s house. My father bought it for her back when she was his chosen. He proposed to her that same day in the backyard. After my father died, my mother was regifted, and my stepfather moved in. He didn’t have any kids, and my mother wanted to remain in the house where I grew up. William was nice enough to accommodate her wishes.

Turning off my SUV, we get out and make our way inside. I’ve taken two painkillers and downed a bottle of water and a handful of crackers. I also put more makeup on than usual to cover up the dark circles under my eyes. She’ll still notice, though.

Entering the house, I call out for her. “Mom?”

“Hello, darling.” She walks into the foyer, her Louboutins clicking on the white marble floor.

Wesley knows that my family is wealthy. He just doesn’t know the truth of how they acquired it. He thinks my mom married into money, and I’ve never corrected him. It doesn’t matter, and he can judge her all he wants. It’ll still be better than telling him about the Lords.

His father has money, and his mother was a gold-digging whore—his words—who left his father when Wesley was three. She got the summer villa along with twelve million. The only thing she didn’t want…was Wesley. His father raised him and has gone through several marriages since. But he learned his lesson when it came to prenups.

“Hey, Mom.” I hug her as she approaches me.

Pulling back, she frowns, looking over my face. “Darling, you have to start getting more sleep,” she scolds me with a smile.

I step to the side, and Wesley gives her a kiss on her cheek, telling her how pretty she looks today. She’s always done up and looking her best.

“Where’s William?” I ask. He always greets me when I come home.

“He had to leave town this morning.” She gives me a smile. “He received a work call last night.”

I nod. The Lords. This is why I could never have a relationship outside of the society. Not like they would allow it anyway. I’d be choosing to walk away, and I’m too deep at this point. The only way out is death.

“I’m going to use the restroom,” Wesley announces before he walks down the hallway and into one of the many guest bathrooms.

“Come on, darling. You need to get some food in you. Help that hangover.”

I follow her into the formal dining room to see her staff has already set the table. I sit down and wait for Wesley to join us. My mother likes him. She thinks he’s a good filler. And that you must do what must be done to get where you want to be in life. And my mother wants nothing more in this life than for me to get ahead with the Lords. Not many women get the chance like I’m getting, and I refuse to let her down.