“Ace,” she whispers my name, pulling me from my thoughts. She wraps her arms around my neck as her warm body melts against mine. “Don’t be afraid. We’re not going to do anything you’re not ready for.”
“I love you, my pretty thing. Do you know that?” I wrap my arms protectively around her body. “You are mine now. I will always protect you, even if that means protecting you from me.” I don’t expect a response. It’s hard for her to use those three words, and with her history, I understand.
Every time I look at her, I see her flaws and her trauma that’s wrapped inside a beautiful exterior package. She is so fucked up that it fascinates me to learn precisely how fucked up she is.
She’s endured an abusive childhood, both physically and sexually. She was in an abusive marriage, too. She’s been through much more than I could ever imagine. Still, she’s standing tall as ever. She looks at me like I’m her savior, despite all the shit she’s been through. She should be afraid of me and be frightened of the things I want to do to her, yet here she is.
Two weeks ago, I rescued her from that burning building. When I went inside, the flames had already been extinguished, but it was smokey. She had passed out from the smoke, but I was able to get her out of there. After having her properly cared for by a doctor and countless breathing treatments to clear her lungs, she’s good as new. Her gunshot wound is healing nicely, as is the rest of her. She’s perfect, as always.
“I have a plan, and I would love your help with it.”
My curiosity piques. She’s been resting for two weeks and is already up to something. “I’ll do anything for you. What is it?”
“I want revenge.”
“On who?”
“On everyone,” she states, matter-of-fact. “I want revenge on all the piece-of-shit foster parents I had who used me as a punching bag and the foster fathers who thought they could touch me.” The thought of anyone touching her without consent angers me beyond belief. I’d love to rip those mother fuckers to shreds with my bare hands. “I want revenge on my piece-of-shit husband who made me feel worthless. I want revenge on everyone who has ever made me feel weak.” Her eyes sparkle with her bloodlust. “And, I want revenge on the three that made me trust them, then shot me and left me to burn alive.”
Eli, King, and Rowen.
My pretty thing wants revenge, and that’s exactly what she will get.
“Okay,” I agree, willing to rip my own heart out and offer it to her if she were to ask. “Tell me how I can help you.” With a devious twinkle in her eyes and a smile on her face, my pretty thing tells me everything she’s been thinking about since the night of the fire.
How lucky I am to have someone who trusts me so deeply that she’s willing to ask for my help with her evil plan for revenge.
“Who are we starting with?”
“With them.” Her hand slips between us, and she grips on to my hard, pulsating cock that seemed to have gotten even harder when she began sharing the details of her plan with me. “They’ll never see it coming.” I press my lips against her hungrily, sealing the deal with a kiss.
Ready or not, my pretty thing is coming for the Triad.
seven
LEE
Three months later
Everyone says death is painful,but I beg to differ. Death is easy; it’s living that’s hard. I’ve been dead before, twice actually, and both times it was easy. It’s easy to pretend I don’t exist, conceal my identity, and become someone else. I did it when I faked my death to escape my bastard of a husband, and I did it again when the men I loved left me for dead.
I was foolish to allow myself to fall for their words and false promises of security. I should’ve known better. After all, I’ve experienced broken promises of love and safety time and time again.
Like a fool, I had too much faith in Rowen, King, and Eli.
Especially Rowen. I believed that our past meant something, that we were brought back together for a reason, and that he was still the same boy that protected me from our foster father all those years ago.
I’ve always been a pushover and too forgiving. Too naïve and desperate for a happy ending, I’ve consistently ignored the red flags waving in my face. Sometimes, I wondered how many times my trust would have to be destroyed before I learned my lesson and stopped trusting people.
Unfortunately, the answer came to me the night I was left for dead in a burning house. I saw the haunting look in King’s eyes and the cold look in Eli’s when they walked away. At that moment, I knew I’d been too trusting again and put my faith in the wrong people.
I don’t believe in God, but I remember praying for a miracle. I prayed for someone to save me, to love me enough to rescue me, and to have one person, just one person, that I’d be able to trust wholeheartedly who would never betray me.
My prayer was answered, and I was rescued by the person I least expected.
The only person who has never let me down or betrayed my trust. One person who, in my desperate time of need, came to my rescue yet again. He’s saved me more times than I can count and might be the only person on the face of the earth that I can say I trust completely.
After all, he knows everything about me, including my biggest secret I’d die to protect. A secret that I’d risk myself and my safety to keep protected. And I know he’d do the same.