Vicious Dynasty (Reign & Ruin Book 3) Read online

  “All of that is irrelevant,” Gavin stated casually.

  I looked across the high-class jet that was more like a futuristic spaceship to where he was sitting and studied him. He’d gone from a pretty boy that you’d find riding waves in the ocean to lethal and ruggedly handsome.

  His dirty blonde hair was cropped on the sides and long on top. His indigo eyes were colder than I remembered.

  He'd ditched his suit jacket the second we entered the jet. In a long-sleeved button-down beneath suspenders doubling as a holster for the guns he was carrying, I had to admit, this image suited him much better.

  A scar he’d acquired from somewhere ran down the side of his face, but it did nothing to take away how good he looked. I wondered what his role would be considered these days. Back at Pesadilla, he’d been one of Judas’ closest friends. He had to of done some pretty unsavory things over the years to still be by his side.

  “The dead body in my bed is irrelevant?”

  “Don’t concern yourself with any of that. You won’t get tied up in anything, I’m going to handle it,” Judas reassured.

  I scoffed and slouched against the warm leather seat.

  “Forgive me if I find that hard to believe.”

  “The only thing that should matter to you right now, aside from us being back together, is that I’m not going to let you get caught in any crossfires. How could I? I’m your accomplice.”

  I was more concerned about that second comment than him baiting me with the first. His tone and the arrogant smirk on his face immediately set me further on edge. “My accomplice how? What the hell does that even mean?”

  “You supplied the gun. I pulled the trigger.”

  What? His fucking audacity knew no bounds. Audrey shifted uncomfortably in the seat on my right, looking between the two of us with wide eyes. She had yet to say a word nearly the whole trip, all her worries displayed in the permanent frown she was sporting.

  “The guy shouldn’t have been stepping out on his wife,” Gavin supplied amusedly.

  “He didn’t…” Did he really just say what I think he did? “Diego’s married?”

  “He’s been married for five years,” Gavin replied. “And when you found out your anger spiraled out of control.”

  Okay, that didn’t make any sense whatsoever. I was disgusted and angry on behalf of his wife I’d known nothing about until a second ago, but not to the extent that I would whip out my Glock and get trigger happy. Ruin my life over mediocre dick I hadn’t sampled yet? Not a chance in hell.

  “Where are you in this scenario, Judas? Two seconds ago, you and I were accomplices.”

  “As long as you’re by my side, we are.”

  Ah, now I got it.

  This fucking asshole always had everything planned out.

  My gun didn’t walk itself out of my nightstand and fire on its own accord. Seeing as he’d been wearing gloves up until we bordered this fancy-ass jet, that left only my and Audrey’s fingerprints on a murder weapon.

  “Blackmail? How unoriginal of you.”

  “I do whatever is necessary to get what I want.”

  “But it wasn’t necessary, Judas. You could have knocked on the door and held a conversation with me like a regular human being.”

  He gave me a look that screamed bullshit. “Oh. So, you’d have invited me in and offered me a drink then, Rhiannon? Would we have sat down and caught up on this great life you’ve been living?”

  I shook my head and withheld a sigh. There was no point in arguing against his sarcasm.

  Besides, he was right. I never would have willingly let him inside my apartment.

  “How did you know Diego was married?”

  “I know everything about the people I employ,” he replied nonchalantly.

  Jesus. He couldn’t help but drop these bombshells on me without a hint of apology. The Deja-vu hit hard. This was much too similar to the Dax situation. He had been nothing more than another pawn, played with and discarded when no longer needed. Now Diego had met the same fate.

  I had once again been too foolish to see I was being maneuvered by someone else’s hand. It didn’t matter that Diego couldn’t have had all of me even if he wanted to. What was left of my heart was too battered and broken to give away. The edges were too sharp, the inside an unhealed wound infected by the sepsis of a noxious soul.

  What mattered was that I’d done my best to move forward despite the past constantly hovering at my back. I thought I’d done an okay job piecing myself together and finding some good in the bad.

  Diego had been a chance to try and trust someone on a basic level again. He’d outlasted all the others and now I knew the reason for that. Why did this keep happening to me? No--why did Judas step into my life and shred it apart again? What could he possibly want with me now?

  Judas settled back in his seat and picked up the tablet that was beside him. With no further commentary, he began tapping away at the screen. If I could open the door of his jet and shove him through it without killing myself in the process, I’d be on my feet kicking his ass all the way there.

  I looked around the layout of the aircraft, trying hard not to be impressed.

  There was a wave-like design woven into the floorplan versus a typically straight and narrow one. Everything was off-white, dark grey, and silver. LED lights lined the ceiling and floorboards. This thing had to of cost a fortune.

  “To the right. Straight back and to the left,” Judas casually remarked without looking at me.

  “What?”

  “The bathroom.”

  I didn’t offer any thanks or ask how he knew what I wanted. I stood from my seat and followed the instructions he’d given, making no eye contact with Audrey as I passed by.

  The jet’s layout was mainly an open concept, but there were strategically placed pillars with retractable barriers offering on-demand privacy.

  I couldn’t say I’d been on one of these things before because I never had.

  I wasn’t aware many had dining areas, living rooms, or offices. When I reached the door Judas had referenced, a bedroom was on the other side. I entered the room and closed the door behind me. If I thought a lock would do me any good, I would’ve engaged it.

  Tennis shoes moving silently across the plush carpet, I brushed by a king-sized bed and went to the bathroom. There was already a set of small LED bulbs illuminating the space with a soft glow, so I didn’t bother turning on the main light.

  I approached the sink and turned the faucet on for some white noise, closing my eyes on a soft exhale. I hadn’t come in here to actually use the bathroom. Being on this flight left me with limited places to go and I was desperate to put space between myself and Judas.

  My head was pounding so hard I could feel it between my eyes.

  Too much was happening in such a short amount of time. I was struggling to process it all. I clasped either side of the basin and willed myself to keep my shit together.

  This was nothing.

  I’d already overcome worse.

  Sensing someone’s presence, I opened my eyes and looked over unsurprised to see Judas’ solid frame fill in the doorway. Maybe I should’ve utilized that lock after all. I sighed and returned my attention to the mirror.

  “Do you need something?”

  “I can’t come to check on you?”

  That had me shooting him a look of annoyance. “We both know that’s not why you came back here.”

  “Mm, technically I know everything, and you know nothing.”

  I closed my eyes and silently counted to five.

  I was beginning to think he wanted me so pissed off I literally tried to kill him. I was going to cut his balls off and then shove them in his mouth, so he’d shut the hell up.

  “You’ve seen me. Can you please go now?”

  “Glad to see you’ve still got some shred of manners. But no, I can’t.” His eyes journeyed over every inch of my body before coming to rest squarely on my face. “I told you once, bu
t I’m going to tell you again. You look good, principessa.”

  I laughed bitterly. “You know what you look like, Judas? A psychopath.”

  “I know. I’m exactly your type.”

  The grin accompanying his declaration was mildly disturbing. My mouth opened and closed without a reply immediately springing forth.

  I turned towards him and glared. “Your presence is nauseating. Go away.”

  “I thought you’d want to join the mile-high club.”

  He was shameless. Had he not just killed the man in my bed less than twelve hours ago? We hadn’t slept together, but that was beside the point. As for me and him, I couldn’t picture it. I wasn’t going to try.

  “Like I said, nauseating.”

  “Yeah, turbulence can shake a weaker stomach up.”

  “What?” My brows slammed together in confusion. “I’m talking about you.”

  “You’re probably right. I won’t have nearly enough time to finish before we land, and I prefer the next time we fuck it be in our bed.”

  He stepped back and his full lips returned to their usual state as his mask of obscurity slipped back into place. “Don’t be too much longer.”

  With that, regretting having come back there in the first place.

  The ride was thankfully much less talkative than our flight, albeit more restrictive in terms of space. Gavin and Judas sat in the front while a dozing Audrey and I rode in the back.

  I wasn’t exactly sure what time it was.

  I felt drained both physically and mentally, but when we arrived at our destination, my drowsiness was temporarily forgotten.

  The blacked-out Suburban rolled through a set of high-tech security gates and up a long winding driveway surrounded by rolling green. It felt like I’d entered a whole new realm. As we got closer, I studied the modern teak-colored masterpiece otherwise known as a house. I was somewhat taken aback at just how opulent it was.

  This early in the morning the sun had yet to rise. The property was illuminated by soft glowing lights that allowed me to get a pretty good look at it. The roof was flat, making the slanted glass windows appear bigger than they were.

  The SUV came to a stop a few feet away from a six-car garage that had its doors shuttered. I could only imagine what kind of vehicles were stored inside.

  Judas quickly got out of the front passenger seat and opened the door for me. I nudged Audrey a few times to wake her up before sliding across the seat.

  Ignoring Judas’ offered hand and close proximity, I slid from the backseat, easing by him as best I could in the limited space.

  Audrey got out on the other side, her movements slow and lacking any kind of gusto. After working her shift and returning home to a shitshow she had to be more exhausted than I was.

  I needed to talk to her about what was going on, but something told me that particular conversation would be delayed until the sun was in the sky. She came to stand beside me, warily eyeing the house as if it was going to swallow us whole. In a way, I guess it would.

  “Follow me.”

  Judas placed his hand on the small of my back as he moved around us, searing my flesh with the contact. I didn’t have the energy to glare at the back of his head for touching me.

  Gavin stationed himself behind us and didn’t move forward until we did.

  I looped my arm through Audrey’s and followed Judas up a lighted floating walkway. There was a backlit water lounge that ran beneath it and extended down either side.

  I wanted to call it extra, but truthfully this was one of the neatest things I’d ever seen. We passed between two heavyset planters of baby palm trees and a variety of red, gold, and purple flowers, before reaching the tall, double-paned glass doors.

  Judas entered something into a digital keypad affixed on the sidewall to unarm what I imagined was a security system because right after that he produced an odd-shaped key to unlock the doors themselves.

  We followed him into a two-story glass atrium, the roof right above us arched so high I wondered how they kept it as clean as it appeared to be.

  Judas went to the left and disarmed a second security system. I couldn’t even dispute the fact it was more than likely necessary to have so much protection.

  To the far right was a wide staircase that curved off to the upper level. The floorplan left you with the option to go straight or turn in either direction. I think our entire apartment could fit in this entryway and there’d still be leftover space.

  My eyes landed on the large familial crest that was woven into the design of the polished marble floor, right in the center of the foyer. I released Audrey’s arm and wordlessly approached it.

  This one image was an omen for bad things to come.

  A scorpion curled around a single rose that had a sash draped it over, Barron scrawled on the center. It was the same crest Judas had tattooed on his arm. This same rose was now inked onto his right hand.

  Judas’ old house had something similar to this, only that one was a ruse. This was the real deal. Ironically it had been something I’d noticed right away back then too. That day was deeply etched into my memory.

  I swore this family had no bearing on my life or any of the decisions I made. I’d never idolized them as everyone else had. I went and did something even worse. I fell in love with their heir.

  Diego, the private jet, and the sight of the house felt like nothing more than a prelude leading up to this moment. I didn’t understand why the higher powers or whatever the fuck-controlled fate kept making our life paths connect.

  “Come.” Judas grabbed my hand and pulled me away from the room’s focal point. I glanced back to check for my best friend and saw no sign of her.

  “Where’s Audrey?”

  “Gavin’s taking her to bed.”

  I wondered if that meant how it sounded. I allowed Judas to lead me through his home, up a second elaborate set of stairs we’d reached after venturing through the house for a solid two minutes.

  As we continued down a long hall upstairs, my shoes were oddly quiet against the swirled marble floor. I took in as much as I could with us moving at such a rapid pace. Most of the house was too dark for me to make out any key features.

  Part of me didn’t want to know what it looked like.

  If I couldn’t see, then maybe this wasn’t real. Logically I knew no amount of wishing or theoretical analyzing would bring comfort to this kind of reality. I expected my emotions to peak at any second. There were years of rage and hurt pooling inside every crevice of my chest, seeping into the parts of me that were hollow and brittle.

  I managed to suppress it beneath an eerie sense of calm. I wasn’t sure if this was the kind that came before a deadly storm or from resignation. Would this situation be worse if I were taken by some random stranger?

  Judas slowed at the end of the hall after we walked for what felt like a mile. He pushed open one of two heavy wooden doors and revealed a master suite that was like a mini penthouse.

  An abstract-shaped lamp was on low, leaving a huge portion of the room shadowed but I was able to make out a small bar and mini-fridge. He led me deeper inside towards a bed with a headboard that extended halfway up the wall. I was studying it when he abruptly released my hand and turned around.

  We were so close my face wound up in his chest.

  I sucked in a sharp breath and got a mouth full of jasmine and spice. His cologne was the same, or at least it was relatively similar to the kind he’d worn before. The familiarity pounded on a door of sealed memories. Without warning, he grasped my chin and tilted my head back.

  “What are you doing?” I grabbed his wrist and attempted to remove my face from his grip.

  “You’re exhausted,” he noted, easily keeping hold of me.

  I grimaced, digging my nails into him. “I didn’t exactly get to enjoy a good night’s rest.”

  He nodded as if he agreed and let me go. “You can now. Sleep, we’ll talk later. After you’ve had a chance to settle in.”

/>   I took a step away from him and glared. “You didn’t bring me here to sleep.”

  “I did. Unless you have something else in mind?”

  “Don’t play with me, Judas. I’m not in the mood.”

  “I could easily change that, but I want you well rested and desperate.”

  “Do you hear yourself right now? Or ever? You’re insane!”

  He crowded into my personal space and regarded me with an inscrutable expression. “I’m trying to be good for a solid twenty-four hours so that you have a grace period to adjust, but you’re not making it easy.”

  I think my jaw hit the floor. There wasn’t enough facial training in the world to keep a poker face in place right now.

  “We have two very different definitions of what the word good means,” I snapped. “Why am I here?”

  He continued to study me with an impassivity that stoked the emotions I was determined to keep in check.

  “Get some sleep.” He brushed by me, boldly placing a feather-light kiss on my temple.

  I whirled around fully intent on demanding that he tell me what I wanted to know. He’d already made it to the door and was slipping into the hall. I stayed as I was for a few minutes half expecting him to come back, but he never did. He left me for the second time that night with a cyclone of bittersweet emotions to appease behind a locked door.

  CHAPTER SIX

  Once it was obvious Judas had no intentions of returning, I climbed onto the thickest, fluffiest mattress known to man and was out like a light. When I opened my eyes again there was warm sunlight flooding through the room. I guess I’d been more exhausted than I realized.

  Sharp pain radiated from my backside and served as a brutal reminder of everything that had occurred in the last few hours. My head was aching something fierce, taking me back to the days when I would hit the bottle heavily after swimming in self-pity.

  I had no desire to get out of bed, but this was not my house, nor anywhere I wanted to be caught lazing around. With that in mind, I sat up stiffly and smoothed a hand over my loosened ponytail, casting a cursory glance towards the right wall.

  It was made entirely of glass, creating a view I wouldn’t have minded waking up to every day under different circumstances. From this vantage point and what I’d been able to see upon our arrival, it didn’t seem as if Judas had any neighbors. The only thing surrounding his house was a sea of green grass and a few palm trees. Those told me we were south.