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My father comes into view, standing in front of me. His arms are crossed behind his back, and his chest bows out with pride. “Saint Beckham Carter, you have completed all your trials of initiation. Do you wish to proceed?”
“Yes, sir,” I say, trying to stretch my neck, but it just tightens the rope. The heat from the growing fire makes me hot, and the sweat that covers my skin burns where the rope has rubbed me raw.
He clears his throat and straightens his shoulders. “A Lord must be willing to go above and beyond for his title. He must show strength and have what it takes. If you fail your position as a Lord, your brother will take what you earned.” He gives me his back and picks up the end of one of the brands that’s dipped in the fire.
I swallow nervously, the rope feeling like it’s tightened around my neck. He turns to face me. “Gag him.”
Someone comes up behind me, and my mouth is pried open. Something is shoved into my mouth, filling out my cheeks. It’s large and rubber. I clench my jaw, biting down on it, and my body hums with anticipation as my nose runs. Breathing is getting harder.
“Saint Beckham Carter.” He calls me by my full name. “Welcome to the Lords, son. For you shall reap the benefits of your sacrifice.” Stepping into me, he places the crest into my already hot and sweaty skin, forever reminding me that I was born a Lord and I will die a Lord.
FIVE
SAINT
We’re officially Lords. The brand that burns my chest is a constant reminder that the only way out is death.
We’ve all been raised not to fear death. It’s what you do with your life that should terrify you. Once you’re dead, you’ll no longer give a fuck about anything. But being alive? That’s a rush.
I pull up to the house and park my Lamborghini Veneno in the street. Some girl attending Barrington is throwing a party at her daddy’s house. She’s entering her freshman year and wants to make a good impression. They always do, but it doesn’t matter. Daddy’s money can’t buy her everything—not in this town or in our world. Her father owns several businesses, but he’s not a Lord. Therefore, he’s a small fish in an ocean littered with sharks.
“Hey, man,” Haidyn calls out. I turn to see him getting off his blacked-out R1 parked behind me. “Where’s Kashton and Adam?” He unzips his leather jacket, but I notice he doesn’t have his helmet tonight. Instead, he’s got a baseball cap on backward.
“They’re meeting us here,” I answer, stuffing my hands into the pockets of my jeans.
He nods, walking toward me. “Let’s go in and see what kind of trouble we can get into.” He throws his arm over my shoulders and laughs.
I’m only here for one reason. Surprisingly, it’s not to start trouble.
We enter the house and make our way through the throngs of people. It’s packed. With social media these days, you can fill a large house in a matter of minutes. It’s been going on for a few hours already. Empty beer cans and broken bottles are everywhere. People making out in hallways and practically fucking on whatever surface they can find.
“ARMY OF ME” by In This Moment blasts throughout the house. They’ve got the lights dimmed and strobes on, giving the illusion that I’m constantly blinking.
We head to the kitchen and each grab a drink of our own and then make our way to the back of the house. Walking outside, I take a sip of my beer when I spot her. I’ve been watching her on a fake social media account for the past few hours. That’s how I knew she was here.
She’s in the pool on some guy’s shoulders, and my hand tightens on my beer can. Her perky tits are only covered by white triangles. Her dark hair is wet and sticks to her back, neck, and shoulders. The guy grabs her hands and goes underwater. With her head barely above water, she readjusts herself on his shoulders before he pops up and tosses her across the pool.
The sound of her landing on her back makes everyone cringe before a few laugh.
Gasping for breath, she breaks the surface and pushes her hair back from her face, blinking. “Are you okay?” he asks, swimming over to her.
She nods, laughing. “Yeah.” I don’t need to see her to know she’s drunk. I’ve seen her posts tonight. It wasn’t hard to tell by the way she was misspelling words as if she was slurring her speech. I curse myself for not getting here sooner, but my father needed totalkto me. His idea of urgent differs from mine. It could have waited. Anything regarding her comes first in my world.
“You sure? That sounded like it hurt.” He goes on, grabbing her arm and pulling her into him.
I step forward, but Haidyn grabs my shirt to stop me. “Not now, man,” he mumbles under his breath so only I can hear.
Ashtyn Lane Price belongs to me. She just doesn’t know it yet. But she will, very soon. And once I make her mine, the world will know it too.
She pushes off him and goes underwater. When her head pops up again, she’s over at the stairs. It’s dark outside, but the light on the back patio illuminates the area along with the pool lights, giving us all a view as if it’s midday.
She slowly climbs them, one hand on the railing, the other pushing her hair back from her gorgeous face. Water falls off the curves of her body, and I want to lick every inch of her. The bathing suit bottom covers very little of her bubble ass, leaving nothing to the imagination. I’ve seen her naked before. I’ve watched her undress and crawl into bed from her closet when she thought she was alone.
I’ve watched her sleep and touched her face while hoping she was dreaming of me. I’m a man obsessed with a woman I haven’t been able to have. Some would call it creepy or pathetic. I call it devoted.
Walking over to a table, she picks up a pink beach towel and wrings out her long dark hair. Then she begins to dry off her legs, stomach, and chest. The little bikini she wears makes me hard and jealous. Once she’s mine, she’ll be under my arms with my name carved into her skin. And then I won’t care about her lack of clothes. I’ll show her off to anyone who wants to look at her.
But if I had my way, I’d keep her chained up in the basement until then. Right now, I can see all the guys have their eyes on her ass. Including Haidyn.
