Page 14 of Grave Sins (Graveyard of Hearts Collection #2)

Maisy

One Week Later

There aren’t words to explain just how hard I have fallen for this man.

We have spent the last week doing nothing but getting to know each other, and it’s amazing.

He is amazing. We’ve talked about everything from trauma to interests and even things like religion, politics, and society in general.

He is an amazing man, but he’s also incredibly smart and kind.

We know that eventually we will settle enough that we will argue, but I have full confidence in us.

Archer gets on a video chat with his family every evening, and I get to talk to Odie too. Everyone is catching up, and we are happy.

Every night, if Archer has a nightmare, I wake him up by either sucking his dick or riding him.

He immediately takes over and violently fucks me.

Each time, though, he is calmer and in more control than the night before.

Last night he slept through the night without waking once.

We’ve just had calls with Ada instead of going up there, but she likes that Archer has found a way to process his trauma.

She told him that hypersexuality is healthy, and with me being just as hypersexual, we can cope together while still maintaining individuality.

Andre called up last night to tell us that Harrison wants us to all meet today at noon.

We are meeting at Andre’s warehouse, which everyone found strange.

Because of that, Alan has decided to come out of hiding, too.

He’s been held up in that safe house for a year now, so I’m sure it’s going to be weird for him.

I am fidgety, and I can’t sit still as we drive. Archer has his hand on my bare thigh, gently stroking my skin. He doesn’t know it, but he is my calm. I’d like to think I am the same for him. We stop in front of the warehouse, and I see Dad’s car.

“No,” I yell. “We need to leave. No. I’m not going in there. I can’t.”

“Whoa. Breathe. What’s happening?” Archer asks. “Maisy, we are safe in the truck. What’s wrong?”

“My dad. That’s my dad’s car,” I say tearfully.

Archer pulls his phone out and calls someone. “Why is her dad here… uh huh… yeah… oh shit. Okay. Come out so she knows she is safe… okay?”

“What?” I ask.

“Andre already made a deal,” he says as he jumps out and comes around to me. When he pulls me out of the truck, Andre is with us.

“What’s going on?” I ask.

“I preemptively had a meeting with Harrison,” he says. “Well, Alan did. I was just there. Come on and hear what they have to say.”

“Uh… okay,” I say quietly.

Archer protectively wraps his arm around my waist, and we walk inside. Andre leads us to the back, and I am a little stunned to see my father restrained on his knees. “Odie,” I say. He walks over and says nothing as he hugs me tightly. “What’s going on?”

“Hear him out,” Odie says. “You’re safe. I promise.”

I look at Harrison, and he seems neutral. Dad looks like he’s about to shit himself. “What’s happening?” I ask.

“First, I want to apologize,” Harrison says. “I know this may be hard to believe, but I did not send my men after you. My interaction was purely for them to keep an eye on you because I didn’t trust your father to uphold his end of the deal.”

“Okay…” I say slowly. Harrison nods to a man I assume is with him. He is tucked away in a corner with two others. All three turn and go to a door. When they come out, they have the two men who raped me. They’re both beaten to shit with missing teeth and bloodied faces.

“My arrangement with your father was to auction your virginity. My son was intending to bid and win, thus marrying you. I didn’t bring him into the deal simply because I didn’t want the deal to directly involve him.”

“Makes sense,” I say. “So I would have been auctioned off to your son… and then married him.”

“Yes. Waylon. Well, your father is the one who sent my men after you. I found out when your mother sent me the video. This prompted me to come home early and meet with her while my son had Waylon distracted,” he explains. “Sally and I… Well, we dated as kids. I’ve known her for a long time.”

“No,” I say, understanding his hesitation. “No. Stop talking.”

“Twenty-six years ago, I was in town while Waylon was out of town and ran into Sally,” he continues.

“Stop!” I scream at him, tears welling up. “No. That means… no.”

“Hold on,” Archer says to Harrison before turning me to face him. “Breathe. Everything is going to be fine.”

“I was going to be sold off…” I say, but stop and look at Harrison. “Say it.”

“I am your biological father,” Harrison says. “Your father never knew of my connection to Sally. When she sent me the video, it just said, “Your men raped your daughter. Do the math.” And it all clicked,” he says.

“Dad found out and was trying to get you killed,” Odie tells me. “His men admitted that they planned to kill you, but Archer walked up. They didn’t know that Harrison had preplanned, suspecting they were betraying him.”

“Okay… so I get all of that, but… I’m sorry.

Why the fuck do you care?” I ask Harrison.

“You think because Mom told you that you get to be Dad of the Year? She’s just as fucking guilty.

She never once stood up for me when he’d lock me in that bedroom without food and only sink water for days at a time.

You are a literal fucking trafficker. What the fuck is the point here? ”

“This is painful to watch,” Alan says.

“Will someone just fucking explain?” I yell.

“We aren’t doing it for you,” Odie says to Harrison.

“Fine. Okay,” he sighs. “I’m at a loss here. I was given an ultimatum by my son… your half-brother… And I can either continue doing what I do and lose him, or stop everything now to avoid him going to the police. He knows I’d never hurt my children… so I’m choosing you and him.”

“Meaning?” I snap.

“Josiah and I are working with Jesse to dismantle everything,” Odie says to me. “All of the women and children he was holding have been released. Andre’s men are making sure of it. He has shut everything down. I’ll do the same with the hotels and get things in line before reopening.”

“It can’t be that simple,” I say.

“The part they’re leaving out is that Waylon killed your mother today,” Alan tells me bluntly. “He beat her to death.”

I turn and walk away from everything. I need space. Air. Anything. Andre is the one to come over. “Look at me,” he says. I look at him, and he smirks. “What do you want? You were the one who was used as a pawn and raped.”

“I want to fucking kill him,” I say.

“Then say your piece and pull the trigger,” he says, pulling a small pistol out from his waistband and handing it to me. “He was never going to walk out of here, and he knew it. He lost Sally, and Josiah is done with him. So… one of us is killing him today.”

“Okay,” I say, taking the gun.

“I know you are going to shoot more than just Waylon. If you get overwhelmed, hand the gun off to someone. We don't need you panicking with a gun in your hand and accidentally hurting yourself,” he says. “Whatever you do, I can clean up.”

“Thank you,” I say. He smiles, and I turn to face Dad.

Without even saying anything, I simply raise the gun and pull the trigger.

His body hits the ground, and now everyone is watching me.

Archer comes to me but stays close by with Andre as I go to the two men who raped me.

Instead of shooting them in the head, I shoot them both in the groin first and then the abdomen.

They hit the ground, and I just watch them as they gasp for air but choke on their own blood.

Eventually, they stop breathing altogether.

I turn to Harrison last, and I see another man here. He looks like Harrison.

“Josiah,” I say.

“It’s nice to meet you, Maisy,” he says. “Don’t stop on my account. I was coming here to do the same thing.”

“You’re… You were going to buy me,” I say, turning to point the gun at him.

“Maisy,” Andre says with a warning.

“She’s okay,” Josiah says as he walks closer. “Maisy, you’re right. I would have bought you. I would have moved you into my home. But you wanna know something?”

“What?” I ask carefully.

“I never would have put my hands on you,” he says. “I have bought countless women off my father just to set them up with a new life and let them finally be free.”

“Why? He’s your father?”

“Blood doesn’t automatically mean I have to agree with him, Maisy. He might finally be making the right choice now, but it’s only because he’s afraid of Alan,” he says. I snap my head to Alan, as does Archer. “Oh, you didn’t know?”

“No one did,” Andre says.

“What’s going on?” Archer asks.

“I work for Alan,” Andre says with a smirk.

“Is that true, Dad?” Archer asks.

“Yes,” Alan says. “When you and Kimberly were born, I decided to step back into the shadows and defer things to Andre’s father. I was working with Andre to take Harrison down.”

“The reason why I disappeared is the same,” Alan says.

“He knew that you and Kendra were my weakness, so I didn’t want to chance it.

Dying made him comfortable. I had already predicted that Waylon was going to sell his daughter, so I just waited.

It worked out that Waylon tried to double-cross Harrison, and now we are here. ”

“Is that why everything with the company is so damn secure?” Kendra asks.

“Yeah,” Alan chuckles.

“Well…” Archer says. “I don’t know why, but that’s not surprising.”

“Yeah. I can see it,” Kendra laughs.

“Okay. I’m getting bored,” I say. I turn and point the gun at Harrison, but I can’t do it.

It makes me angry because he deserves to die.

Archer steps behind me and gently rests his hands on my waist. Tears roll down my cheeks, and Josiah steps over to me.

“I can’t do it,” I whimper quietly, not wanting to admit defeat.

He gently takes the gun out of my hands as Alan comes over.

He says nothing but wraps me in a warm hug.

“You are so strong, Maisy. You can rest now,” he says. I choke out a sob when I hear the slide of a gun being pulled back. “Shhh. You’re safe. It’s over now, Maisy.”

Archer—who is still behind me—covers my ears as Alan hugs me. I hear the shot ring out, muffled by protective hands, but my knees give out anyway. Archer scoops me into his arms and whisks me out of the warehouse. Someone else drives, and Archer holds me closely in the back seat while I weep.

I have spent an entire lifetime feeling unloved and unwanted.

Lying here with my husband—surrounded by a family that was willing to go to war for me—I finally have found my place in this world.

Through consensual kink and a deep understanding of how our trauma has affected us, Archer and I can move forward in life, embracing our grave sins.