THE DEVIL’S SYNDICATE
BOOK FOUR
SARAH BAILEY
Depraved Copyright © 2020 by Sarah Bailey
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the publisher. The only exception is by a reviewer, who may quote short excerpts in a review.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Please note the spelling throughout is British English.
Cover Art by Sarah Bailey
Published by Twisted Tree Publications
www.twistedtreepublications.com
Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 14
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Acknoweldgements
About The Author
To all those with dark, deviant desires.
This one’s for you.
Chapter 1
My mind whirled with the possibility my mother might die if I made the wrong decision. Would Frank really kill her if she went back to him? How would Viktor protect her? And if he did, would I get the answers I needed?
This decision felt monumental and yet how could I make it on my own when I had no idea if my hatred of my mother was clouding my judgement.
“Can I call you back? I need a minute.”
I needed longer than a fucking minute. What I needed was all my men so I could work out what the hell to do.
“Of course, kotik, but do not wait too long. I have other business to attend to.”
I wondered how he could be so casual about the life or death of a woman he’d been having an affair with. Then again, I wasn’t sure Viktor cared that much about Isabella, even if she was the mother of his child. Her keeping me a secret all this time can’t have sat well with him.
I hung up and turned to Eric.
“Isabella is with him. I need to speak to Quinn, like right now.”
“She’s what?”
I flicked through my contacts and dialled Quinn’s number.
“My mother went to Viktor.”
It rang twice.
“Little girl… how is Julian? What’s happening?”
“I don’t know. That’s not why I’m calling.”
I’d totally forgotten to ask Eric what was wrong with Julian in the rush to talk to Viktor.
“What’s wrong?”
“Did you ask Nate to tell my mother you know Frank isn’t my father?”
There was silence for a long moment. It was true. It had to be.
“How do you know about that?”
I clenched a fist. What the hell was Quinn’s game here? He’d forced Isabella’s hand and now here I was stuck making a decision I didn’t want to.
“Viktor called me. Isabella went to him, told him the truth and now he’s given me an ultimatum.”
It’s what it felt like. Either I let him protect her or I leave her to her own fate with Frank. One I had a feeling wouldn’t end well for her.
“What do you mean an ultimatum?”
“He left the decision of what to do about her to me. If he sends her back to Frank, then he thinks Frank might kill her. He asked me if I want him to protect her since according to him, she’s expendable whereas I’m not. I don’t have much time either. I asked him to give me a minute to decide, but how can I make such a decision, Quinn? How can the fate of my mother be in my hands?”
Sickness coiled in my stomach. Even if I hated my mother, I didn’t feel as though she was expendable. She’d raised me and given me life. She was still my mother. That meant something to me.
I looked up at Eric and all I could see was compassion in his eyes like he understood my dilemma. Shifting closer, I let him wrap an arm around me. I wanted to break down, but we were in a hospital and I couldn’t.
“I need you, Xav and Eric to come home. There’s something we need to tell you about Isabella.”
“What do you mean?”
“Just get home now. I’m sure Xav will be happy to have an excuse to leave.”
He hung up. I stared at Eric’s chest for a moment before dropping my hand from my ear, clutching my phone in an iron hold. What on earth did Quinn have to tell me?
Eric stroked my hair back from my face, staring down at me with concern etched into his features.
“What did he say?”
“We need to go home, all of us, as he wants to tell me something about Isabella.”
He stiffened and his eyes widened. So he knew. They’d been keeping another secret from me. I didn’t have the energy to process that right now.
“Right… Shit. Um, okay, we’ll go and get Xav then. Not sure he wants to have to be near Julian for much longer anyway. I didn’t want to leave him alone in the first place.”
It struck me then. We’d fucked up big time.
“What are we going to do about Julian seeing me? And what’s wrong with him?”
Eric rubbed the back of his neck with his free hand.
“He has a pulmonary embolism, a blood clot in his lung and he has to stay in for five days whilst they treat it. They think he’ll be fine though. And I don’t know. Quinn won’t be happy, but it is what it is. Julian saw you and there’s nothing else we can do about it.”
I tucked my phone back in my pocket before putting a hand out to him, indicating we should get moving.
“Are you okay, Ash?”
I shook my head. I really wasn’t okay. Today was a fucking mess. My emotions were all over the place and what was once up was now down. I didn’t even know what
