Page 58

Chapter Three

Jolie

Today is the day I have been dreading. Brennan made a compelling argument for why we have to explain to their parents and guardians that Team Hades is alive, but there is no easy way to do this. With the news that Mr Z is dead, they will start asking questions as most of them are investors in the company. Brennan managed to keep them at bay while we got our heads around this whole baby situation, which is another Band-Aid we plan to rip off today.

Everyone has arrived except Marlow and Chester’s mother. The doorbell rings, echoing through the house, and Chester goes to answer the door. By the time he gets back, the bitch is already running her mouth.

“This better be good, son. I have important things to...” Her rant stops when she looks around the room and realises there are other people here. “What is this about?” She demands.

“Come and take a seat, Elizabeth, so the children can talk. They obviously have something important to say if you have been invited,” Betty, Marlow and Chester’s grandmother, chastises. Not to be confused with Jimmie’s Betty—even though I hate referring to her as his, as she hasn’t earned that title yet.

Elizabeth huffs and takes a seat next to her mother.

Now that everyone is here, we all look to Brennan since he is our designated spokesperson for this little situation.

“Thank you for coming. We need you all to please not ask any questions until we are done. What we have to tell you will probably shock you.”

“I don’t know, brother, shock is a bit much,” Boston says as he enters the room, followed by Case, Laughn, Davis, and Marlow.

The gasps are audible, and Mrs Myers is on her feet in an instant, rushing to Boston’s side. Everyone has questions which they try to voice at the same time, the murmurs increasing in volume. Brennan waits for everyone to look back at him.

“Son, you need to explain. Right now!” Blake Myers demands.

Brennan sighs and describes what they had to do and why they didn’t tell anyone. I think they somewhat understand why it needed to be done, but Mr Myers is livid, and rightfully so.

“There’s more,” Kai says cheekily. “Jolie is pregnant.”

All eyes fall on me. “I told you she was a gold-digging whore! Who’s bastard child is it?”

Chester flies across the room to where his mother has stood from her chair, his hand wrapping around her throat before we can blink. Elizabeth’s eyes go wide before she smirks.

“Talk about her like that again, I dare you,” he seethes between clenched teeth. “Sit your ass down and keep your mouth fucking shut, so we can explain to the decent people in the room what is going on. You’re here by default, so know your place.”

He releases his mother, and she stumbles back into her seat, her lips pulled tight.

Brennan gives them the quick explanation, and the room is stunned silent. Once he has finished, everyone besides Elizabeth gets up to hug us, and it’s nice to see how relieved they are.

After watching quietly for ten minutes, Elizabeth must get bored—or she realises she hasn’t caused enough drama.

“Who gets Olympia now that Zacari is six feet under?”

I quietly turn to face her, and beside me Chester is again looking about ready to murder his mother. Everyone else just appears annoyed she is even here. “I do, I’m his daughter.”

She literally snarls at me. “So, I was right. It just wasn’t our children’s money you were after.”

“That’s enough, Elizabeth. You have worn out your welcome, and I think that it’s time for you to leave. Your son is back from the dead, and all you’re worried about is money. I think you need to take a long, hard look at yourself in the mirror.” Annabella unleashes her fury with a grace we all hope we could possess at times like this.

Elizabeth gets up and straightens her dress, looking at Chester, but he just shakes his head at her. Why she thought he would help her is beyond me. She looks at her mother to see if she will back her up.

“People in glass houses...” is all Betty says, causing Elizabeth to stomp from the room. The slam of the front door signals her departure.

I excuse myself from the room with Laughn and Creed hot on my heels. They didn’t have anyone here for them today, and I want to ask why. What happened to their parents and family? I won’t push right now, though; I’m exhausted and need to rest.

“Tenshi, are you okay?” Creed asks as his phone starts to ring.

“I’m fine, just a little overwhelmed. Answer that. Laughn can come and have a nap with me.”

His forest-green eyes hold a sadness, and I know he can feel what I’m feeling. He looks at Laughn who nods at him, and that unspoken moment is enough for him to answer his phone. Laughn takes my hand and leads me up to my room. He locks the door behind us; it’s something they have each started to do to stop the others from sneaking in. Creed is extremely stealthy and has no shame when it comes to watching.

We lay down on the bed. Laughn pulls me into his arms, and we face each other, our legs tangled together. I run my finger down the side of his face. So many times I wished I could just see him one more time , so I could commit him to memory. A scar near his ear catches my attention. It’s only small and faded, but I didn’t know it was there.

“Creed,” he says with a smile. “He was practising his knife throwing skills, and I still think he missed on purpose.”

“I don’t want to forget,” I whisper, moving my finger along his jaw.

“You don’t want to forget what?”

“You... your face. I would close my eyes, and I didn’t see that scar or this small freckle.”

His hand comes up and takes mine. “I’m not going anywhere.”

“You can’t promise me that, Laughn. I just got you back for a second time, and you went on a suicide mission. What if you didn’t recover? You’re not bulletproof.”

He moves fast, positioning himself above me, and leans down so his lips hover just above mine. “You’re right, but I’m not sorry. I get tunnel vision when it comes to you, and he took you from me. He needed to die. I couldn’t stop, and I would do it again.”

His lips descend on mine. I missed this—missed him. He pulls back, pushing himself up so he can remove his shirt. I take in every lanky inch of him. He may not be as defined as the others, but he is a work of art, literally. He throws his shirt and takes the hem of mine, removing it. I blink up at him once the shirt goes over my head, and he smirks at me and flips me onto my stomach, placing kisses down my spine.

“What does your tattoo mean?” he asks, running his tongue down the entire thing. “Kimi no tameni ikiru.”

I giggle at the way he says it. “It means: I will live for you. I never knew why I would always think about it. When I got my memories back, I knew it was about Creed. Before I lost my memories, he would say it to me, but he never told me what it meant. I only looked up the meaning when it popped into my head.”

“Are you feeling okay?” he breathes, feathering kisses at the apex of my ass, then he sinks his teeth into my flesh. The burn has a moan slipping from my lips.

“I am now.”

I feel Laughn move above me. He stands from the bed and undoes his belt, causing his pants to fall to the floor, leaving him bare before me. His signature smirk graces his face when he snaps the belt against itself with a crack . Anticipation has me dripping wet. I need someone to not treat me as if I’m made of glass. Still lying flat on my stomach, I curve my spine and push my ass higher into the air. The belt comes down in a swift, sharp movement, whacking against my soft skin.

“Hands behind your back.”

I do as I’m told, lying down flat against the bed, my hands positioned against my lower spine.

He crawls beside me and wraps the belt around my wrists, tightening the leather against my skin. When he’s done, he lifts my hips so my ass is up and my head is buried in the mattress.

Out of nowhere, something wet hits my back. Turning my head slightly, I see Laughn’s hand above my head, blood dripping from an open wound on his arm onto the side of my face.

“I don’t just live for you, baby, I bleed for you.”

“Fuck me, Laughn, hard and fast.”

“Your wish is my command.”

He wastes no time ripping my underwear at the back, snapping the string but leaving the band around my waist and the rest still attached to the front. He saddles up behind me, caressing his cock along my slit, rubbing my juices all over himself before thrusting inside me.

There is no way to prepare for Laughn’s modified dick with ball bearings on both sides. He doesn’t take it easy; instead, he grabs the belt around my wrists and pulls me up halfway between the bed and his body. Blood covers us both, and the sheets beneath us. His hard, short thrusts have my first orgasm building. With his mods, there is no room for just one orgasm. Once one hits, they roll on continuously back to back until my eyes are rolling in my head.

“Harder,” I scream as the first one washes over me.

A bang comes from the other side of the door.

“Fuck off,” Laughn yells, thrusting into me relentlessly.

I need it rough, and I know he is taking it easy on me. Laughn lets me fall to the bed, his body leaning over my back, his mouth finding my shoulder as he bites down. Another orgasm takes over my body when a bang vibrates through the room and the door splinters. My eyes go wide as Chester barges through the broken door. His face goes red when he takes in the scene before him as Laughn laughs like a maniac. He pulls out, and his warm cum hits my back just as Chester gets to the bed. Skin hitting skin and manic laughter has me rolling to my side as a scream bellows out of me.

Footsteps pound up the stairs, and Creed runs through the door and rips Chester off Laughn. Boston is next, but he stops dead in his tracks when he looks at me. One by one, the rest of the guys push through the door. Case rushes to my side and unlatches the belt around my wrists. A shirt is thrown at me and I pull it over my head, the scent of sandalwood hitting my nose. I look up, and Marlow is standing bare chested nearby.

“What the actual fuck,” I yell. Slipping from the bed, I march straight over to Chester, who is being held back by Creed, and Trace and Brennan are also standing in front of him. “What is your problem?”

“You’re covered in blood,” he explains, exasperated. “He hurt you... and the babies.”

“It’s not my fucking blood, it never is.”

Chester looks between me and Laughn, who holds up his arm.

“That’s deep as fuck. Let me stitch it up,” Kai says, followed by a laugh.

“Once I clean Jolie up, since you pricks rudely interrupted. Someone take the beast downstairs,” Laughn says, jumping to his feet. His right eyebrow is split open and fresh blood drips down his face.

“No!” Chester roars. “He hurt her, Davis. Ask him.”

Davis moves forward, humouring Chester to get him to calm down. He knows Laughn didn’t hurt me.

“Did you intentionally hurt Jolie for your own sexual gratification?”

“Is the belt mark across her ass counted in this little interrogation?” Laughn teases.

Chester struggles against Creed’s hold, as Trace and Brennan help to push him back, all while Laughn laughs again.

“That’s it! Everyone except for Laughn can get the fuck out!” I snap.

They all start to leave, and Chester is forced from the spot. He stops abruptly next to me and looks me in the eye.

“I will come and see you later,” I tell him, and he nods before he is dragged away again.

“Well, that was fun,” Laughn says once everyone has left, and I just shake my head at him.

“Let’s shower and get you stitched up before you bleed out.”

Laughn leads me to the shower and makes sure he washes my body and hair until the water coming from me runs clear. He wraps his arms around me from behind and pulls me to his chest.

“I would never hurt you or the babies, you know that, right?”

Turning in his arms, I look up into his bright-green contacts. “I never doubted you.”

He leans down and places a soft kiss on my lips.

Kai comes in, announcing it’s time to get Laughn fixed up and that I need to speak to Chester—who is having a meltdown of epic proportions and tearing apart anything in his wake.

It’s time to soothe the beast and reassure him I’m fine. He warned me that this is how he would be and how toxic it is, but I think he will come around. He doesn’t give himself enough credit to trust his abilities. If he had only paused for a second, he would have seen that I was fine. More than fine, in fact.