Page 1 of Falling for A Lie
Prologue
Tobias Erik Flint
“Who the fuck is calling this early?” Josie groans out through a yawn as the phone rings on my nightstand. Her breasts heaved in an irritated breath.
I roll my eyes and ignore her prying question. She knows better than to ask. Gingerly wriggling free from her vice-like grip, I feel the dampness of our bodies mingling as a thin layer of sweat clings to our naked skin. The acrid scent of our exertion hangs in the air, adding to the charged atmosphere of the room.
With frustration and relief, I direct my pent-up energy toward her. Fortunately,, she is always a willing partner, having resigned herself to the realization that our encounters are purely physical. My mind is set on making one woman mine, a woman who doesn’t even know I exist because my parents never thought I was worthy of meeting the charity case they took in after Mallory died.
What fucking parent adopts a kid after losing a child? An infant, to be exact.
Mallory wasn’t even in the ground for twenty-four days before my parents shipped me off to boarding school, awayfrom their latest perfected facade: a new kid to replace the broken ones with.
I was always blamed for Mallory’s early departure from this world. If only I had paid more attention to my little sister instead of playing ball with my friends. Then she never would have drowned
What parent puts a thirteen-year-old in charge of a child? Erik and Selene Flint. Fucking worthless fucking idiots, when my parent’s lawyer reached out to me to let me know that dear mommy and daddy died and left everything to a complete fucking stranger who didn’t even share their fucking blood, it was like one final kick to the fucking head to seal the deal. If the plane hadn’t crashed and killed those worthless bastards, I would have killed them myself as soon as I got out of Dravenhurst Institute. To have me committed when I graduated because they feared for their other “daughter’s lives” was a joke. I never would have hurt my little sisters. I didn’t want to break the replacement daughter until she took everything that was rightfully mine. Now, here we are. As a thirty-two-year-old man, I believe it is time for me to come and collect what is rightfully mine. Soren will be the last nail in my parents’ coffin when I make her submit to me and become a slave for my pleasure. She will sit beside me as another piece of property to be owned.
My father was a high-ranking Lord, and with that seat still empty, it was about time I came home to claim it. Erik Flintthought I was a monster before. If only he could see me now. I felt that hiring that idiot Jace to trap my darling sister in marriage would make things easier for me. I’d come in with a new name and charm her into my arms without breaking a sweat. Regaining my rightful place would happen once Soren chose me, and I would handle Jace. We’d run Flint Enterprise and The Lords and Ladies of Ash. Instead, Jace let his anger and boyfriend get in the way, and he tried to actually kill the stupid bitch and failed at it miserably. How do you try and fail to kill someone? I’ll never know. I’ve always had success in that department. However, to everyone’s surprise, Ms. Josie’s boss and side piece Scarlett and her boys saved darling Soren that night, prompting me to approach Josie and her useless brother to team up and recover what belongs to me before it’s too late. Soren finding out the truth could lead to more trouble than expected. Soren Jane Marietti will either bend or break by the end of this.
I shake my head to clear my mind, my sandy blonde hair falling over my eyes as I suck in a deep breath and press the answer key on the lit phone screen. I move from the bed to the balcony door, slowly sliding it open to look out over the city streets of Ashford. The buzzing of drunk college girls and guys filtering above, I sigh and lean back on the banister as I reply with a calm tone, “Speak, Trey. Is the job done?” Labored breathing comes across the line, making me clench my teeth at the harshness, as he groans out one word, “Done..” to let meknow the ball is now moving and I’m one step closer. I’ll receive my twin sisters at my warehouse today, and the fun will begin. Let’s see if the nightingale can play by my rules for our dear little sister’s lives. I grunt in acknowledgment and end the call. The cool air from the early dawn washes over my naked flesh, leaving chill bumps in its wake as I slide the door back open and head to the en suite bathroom to clean up and prepare for what’s coming.
“Come out, come out whenever you are..”
Chapter one
Radley Ashford
Freshman Year of High School
“Stop running, boy!”
“Where are you going, big boy?”
“We wanna talk to you!”
The taunting follows me as I take a sharp turn, trying to reach my brother’s classroom. I cannot defend myself against these six seniors who are out to get me. All because theirfriend’s girlfriend approached me this morning and gave me her phone number without me asking. I’m clueless about her reason for coming to me initially. I don’t seem like someone you’d approach, mainly when my brother and friends are around. We are your typical social rejects and don’t adhere to social norms. I am a nerd like my older brother, Drake.
We were raised in a Southern Baptist home, with a father who threatened to beat the gay out of me when I was eight and asked for a Barbie instead of the typical G.I Joe action figure. He said no son of his would grow up to be a weak little bitch and that eight years old was the correct age to teach such a viable lesson. So it can be corrected before it spreads like a virus through my mind, ruining my soul and damning me to eternal damnation. He beat me so badly that day that I had to stay out of school for three weeks until my six broken ribs and wrist healed. Mom tried to help me, but it only led to her getting beat as well for interfering with him teaching me how to be a man. Truth be told, the only reason I wanted the fucking doll in the first place was because she was a scientist, and that was something I wanted to grow up to be.
Looking back now, it's insane to think that the same man who said that to me was also the same man that was found fucking his oldest choir boy while the congregation gathered in the mess hall for lunch. We only caught them because Alec Michealson was too loud, and the moaning echoed through thechurch for all to hear. He called him Mary when my mother and the other church members walked in.
Karma was delivered that day. It was comical watching Alec’s father deck my dad so hard that he broke the cross behind him when he crashed into it, limp dick out and all. Since then, I have refused to let his words affect me. He was refusing to practice what he preached. He was a hypocrite. Soon after, he threatened to kill himself, and that had my mother stupidly staying with him. It wasn’t until last year that they both got into a fatal car crash that killed both of them and the couple in the opposite car. Losing my mother was single-handedly the hardest thing I've ever experienced in my whole fifteen years of living, and it inevitably broke a part of me that could never be repaired. My mother was my biggest supporter, other than my brother. She cheered me on at each of my football games and loved me unconditionally. I lost a piece of my heart that day.
The Lords and Ladies of Ash decided that we would go to my mother's best friend, Scarlett, after their passing. They said that we would one day be a valuable asset that couldn't be placed into the foster care system to be lost amongst the other broken kids. Luckily, Scarlett has a son who is Drake’s age, Caden, so she knows what it would involve to care for boys our age. Getting our inheritance offered her the cushion she would need to support us without her having to struggle.
Yelling behind me takes me out of my thoughts and back to the present moment. As I round the corner, I almost tip and fall head-first down the stairs to the second floor, where my brother is. I take the steps two at a time and keep pace as I run to safety.
Reaching the bottom step, I bum-rush the door, nearly ripping it off the hinges. I frantically look around for my brother. My eyes land on him, sitting beside the prettiest girl I've ever seen. Slightly taken aback, I gave the seniors who were chasing me the opportunity they needed to pounce on my small, one-hundred-and-forty-pound frame. My face smacks into the unforgiving ground as the students scatter like roaches, and I'm taking swift kicks and wild punches to my face, ribs, and groin. I groan as I try to cover my face from getting hit and listen to my brother trying to fight through the crowd to get to me, but it’s six against one now that I’m down.
What a fucking situation I have found my fucking self in.
I look up just in time to see my brother get knocked down. The girl that was sitting beside him when I first entered holds up a folding chair and swings it, knocking two of the jocks straight onto their asses. She appears like a vengeful angel, prepared to seek retribution against those who have harmed her. The voice that follows echoes through the room, sending shivers down my spine and leaving me breathless.
“Keep fucking around, and you’ll end up like those two.” She warns with a sharpness in her tone. Her head slowly tiltstoward the two boys, their bodies sprawled on the floor beside Drake. The room is filled with the scent of blood, a metallic tang that lingers in the air. The sound of their moans and cries blends with the creaking of the chair beneath me as if begging me to seek solace in its embrace. The scene is a chaotic symphony of pain and fear, making me feel both nauseous and on edge.
“Here, take my hand, and I’m Soren, by the way. I’m assuming you’re Radley? Drake talks about you all the time.” She smiles gently at me, holding her hand out to help me to my feet. The other boys drag their friends out of the room, promising to get her expelled for hitting the counselor's son. The other students scatter outside to watch them struggle, pulling their friends down the hallway and leaving the three of us alone.
“Fuck,” I spit out, groaning as the movement to grasp her hand causes my broken rib to shift under my skin. With how tight I grabbed her hand, I’m sure there will be a bruise that I will be apologizing for later. I haven’t felt like I’m being ripped from the inside out in a long while, and I fucking hurt. Smiling, she guides me to a chair before assisting Drake to his feet.