Filed to story: The LORDS Series Free PDF by Shantel Tessier
I spin her around to face me, grabbing her face in both of my hands. “Look at me.”
Tears run down her cheeks, smearing her once pretty makeup. “She was going to take our babies …” She rushes out.
“Hey,” I say softly.
“I couldn’t … wouldn’t let her do that.” She licks her wet lips.
“You don’t have to explain yourself, Blake. It’s okay.”
“And Matt,” Her watery eyes go to his bloody body. “He was going to let her.”
“They can’t touch you, Blake. Never again.” I reassure her when I see something out of the corner of my eye. Taking a quick look, I expect it to be LeAnne but it’s Ty joining us.
“I promise,” she begins to cry. “I promise to protect them …” Dropping the knife at our feet, her arms cover her stomach.
My heart breaks for her. How unsure she must feel right now. All the lies she’s been told throughout her life. Hell, even I didn’t expect LeAnne to be alive. That for sure threw a curve ball. “I know.” I decide to say. Knowing that anything else won’t get through to her right now. “You did good, Blake.” I say running my hand over her long dark hair. “You’re my good girl.”
Her bloody hands grip my shirt, and she buries her face into it. Wrapping my arms around her shaking body, I hold her to me. I look over at Tyson who stands next to Matt, and I nod to him.
Tonight, did not go how I had planned, but at this point I just want it to end. I want to take my pregnant wife home, give her a bath, and move on with our life together.
Ty picks up a rope from the table and walks behind Matt. He wraps it around his neck multiple times and then throws it up to hang over the rafters. Pulling a knife out of his pocket, he leans down and cuts both that are wrapped around his ankles. Then Ty yanks on the new rope around his neck, pulling his bare feet up off the floor.
I slide an arm behind Blake’s knees and the other around her back, picking her up and start carrying her down the stairs while I listen to Matt struggle before silence falls over the cathedral.
EPILOGUE
RYAT
TEN WEEKS LATER
I ENTER THE cabin. “Blake?” I call out but am met with silence. “Blake?” I say a little louder but again get nothing in response. When I rush into our bedroom, the door hits the interior wall from my force. “Blakely?” I snap her full name.
Still nothing.
Entering the bathroom, I let out a sigh when I see steam coming from the shower. I start kicking my shoes off and undo my jeans, followed by my T-shirt. Opening the glass door, I find her standing with her back to me and her head under the water.
Reaching out, I wrap my arm around her and pull her off her feet, making her squeal. “Ryat!”
I spin her around and pin her back to the wall, cupping her face, and she laughs.
“You scared me.”
“Sorry.” I smile, and she gives me a face that says she knows I’m not the least bit sorry. “How much do you love me?” My hands drop to her growing belly. We just found out last week that we’re having twin boys. I couldn’t be more ecstatic, but a part of me feels sorry for my wife. The fact that she’s going to live in a house with me and two boys just like me. Good thing she’s stubborn and hardheaded.
Her face falls, and she stiffens against me. “What did you do?”
“I lied,” I admit.
“About?” she growls.
I had told her that I had an early meeting at the house of Lords, but that’s not where I’ve been for the past two hours. “I had a meeting, but it wasn’t with the Lords.”
She frowns. “Why would you lie about that? Haven’t I proven myself, Ryat? That I can handle this.”
“Of course, you have.” I didn’t want to get her hopes up just in case it didn’t work out, but it did. And now I’m dying to tell her. “I had a meeting with Gregory Mallory.”
Her frown deepens, tilting her head to the side. “I … wait, isn’t he the judge that you went to jail for?”
I nod. “He owed me a favor.”
“What kind of favor?” she asks skeptically.
“Remember how you said if you had the choice, you’d choose to stay living here in the cabin, in Pennsylvania?”
“Yeah,” She answers slowly.
“Well, I just cashed in my favor.”
“I don’t understand.” She licks her wet lips.
“He’s going to be retiring and when that happens, I’m going to take over his position.” Being a Lord is a fast-track to your career. But it’ll still be about ten years out before I’m a judge. In the meantime, I’ll be a high-priced attorney to get the courtroom time needed. If I start right out of the gate, it’ll raise too many questions.
She gasps, her hands going to her mouth. “Are you serious?”
I nod. “Yep.”
“We’re staying here?” Her hands hit my chest excitedly. “We don’t have to go to New York?”
“Nope.” I shake my head.
She jumps up and down before she slams her lips to mine. My hands go to her wet hair.
I never wanted to go to New York. My wife’s reluctance just solidified it for me. I can be powerful anywhere I go. The Lords want me to be a judge, so that’s what I’ll be, but they never said where I had to live. Everyone just expected me to go back home, but things have changed. This woman has become my home. She’s having my sons. And even more of my kids after that. I want a house full of them. I’m going to keep her knocked up. She deserves for me to give her the life that she wants. And that is here, in this cabin, with me and our growing family.
I can’t guarantee that I’ll grow old with her, but I will spend every second of every day that I’m alive proving to her that she comes first no matter what.
BLAKELY
I ENTER THE house I grew up in, in Texas. Shutting the door behind me, I walk down the hallway to my father’s study. Turning the doorhandle, I pause and knock on it instead.
“Come in.” The voice calls out.
Taking in a deep breath, I enter. LeAnne sits behind his desk, looking like the queen sitting on her throne, dressed in a black off the shoulder dress with her fake tits popping out the top. Her dark hair up in a tight twist.
I hate how much I look like her. It’s a reminder of how stupid I was all those years that I believed the lies I was told about my mother.
“Does Ryat know you’re here?” Is her first question.
“Of course.” Lie. “I don’t keep secrets from my husband.” There’s no way in hell he’d let me come and see her without him. He hates her! Doesn’t trust her. I feel the same way, but a part of me couldn’t turn down her request to see her today. Ryat got called away for an assignment late last night and I feel like that wasn’t a coincidence. Something tells me that this woman has a lot of pull with the Lords. I’m just praying that he’s too busy to check the tracker he placed in me after I ran. A part of me wants to rip it out. The other part reminds me that it saved my life and being a Lady means I’m never truly safe.
She smirks, gesturing to the chair across from the desk. “You’ll learn that even in a marriage, sometimes the only person you can trust is yourself.”
“Coming from the woman who left her family.” I bite. I feel bad for my father too, I wasn’t the only one she left behind. But she’s got him fooled. Considering he still seems to love her.
She opens up a drawer in the desk and hands me a piece of paper. “What is it?” I ask, keeping my hands in my lap.