“I’m forwarding you what he sent me. Please, you’re the only one who knows about this! Please help me, Carver!”
My phone beeps letting me know the picture came through. I roll my eyes and pull over onto the shoulder. I open the picture and my blood runs cold.
In the picture, I see Ingrid in her underwear, gagged, and bound to a chair. That mother fucker, Max, is standing next to her with an evil grin spread across his face.
“What the fuck?”
“What? What is it?” Baxter asks me.
“I thought your daughter’s name is Cordelia?”
“It is.”
“The girl in this picture, her name is Ingrid Andrews!”
“Yes, Cordelia Ingrid Andrews Baxter.”
This isn’t fucking happening. I have so many questions but they all need to wait.
“Baxter, send me your address. I’m already in Red River. I’ll be there ASAP.”
He texted me his address and I sent it to my PI telling him to meet me there instead.
“We’re going to get your daughter back. I swear on my fucking life. As for Max, he messed with the wrong people and I will make sure he dies a very slow and painful death.”
TO BE CONTINUED…
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Prologue
Devin
There's blood on my hands. It's not the first time and I doubt it'll be the last. There's a strange kind of beauty in the taking of lives. I didn't mean to step onto this path. The first time was an accident, but the sight of the life leaving his eyes awoke a lust in me that I'd never felt before, and for a long time I revelled in the work my father asked me to do.
It changed everything and now I'm one of the people our father calls when the job requires a deadlier touch, especially when it’s personal. He’s an arrogant son of a bitch who’d rather have his own son do the dirty work than pay The Reapers to do it. I’m not sure why he doesn’t trust them, he’s never divulged that information to me.
Some deaths are needed, some crimes need to be committed, and our power and wealth will ensure that we never have to pay the consequences for our crimes. Our wealth keeps us safe; it protects and elevates us above those beneath us.
Chapter One
Devin
I was born into this life; my parents were among the founders of The Society. It’s in my blood, yet I can’t avoid the fact that I stepped up to the plate and did it better than them. There’s blood on my hands, and it stains everything I hold dear. Not that much matters to me beyond the wealth I help to sustain, except maybe my brother Sebastian.
I stand in the shower and close my eyes, letting the water pour down over my face and body before I lean against the tiles so it can wash away the rest of the sweat and blood from my day. People always underestimate me and think they can steal a piece of the wealth our family has built over the years. Ending my life won’t change the status and power we’ve spent generations growing. I shake my head and allow the water to cleanse me of the filth that follows a threat, and the death that ensues for the ones who dare to challenge me. I may be the eldest son in the Johnson family, and the first heir to our fortune, but just because I’m not my father, it doesn’t mean I’m unworthy—it doesn’t make me weak.
I step out of the luxurious shower, and the warmth of the bathroom and the steam surrounds me. I pull a towel from the heated rack and wrap it around my waist, not bothering to dry my body and hair. I need a drink, and I need to fuck. The warm woman lying in my bed is reclining on her side, waiting and ready to please me. I ignore her in favor of the small bar in my room. I go pour myself a glass of whiskey, knock it back, and then make another, carrying it with me towards the bed. Setting it down on the coaster, I stand in front of her and drop the towel.
With a smile spread on her perfect stained red lips, Quinn comes towards me, every movement slow and seductive. We hate each other more than we like each other, and we will never end up together. She’s fated for Sebastian, but this is her little fuck you to him for seeing someone else. She gets what she wants out of it, and I get what I want. It’s a win-win, if or until Sebastian finds out. I never intended to touch her, but she caught me by surprise after I’d had a few drinks.
The next day I wake up in an empty bed, but I think little of it. I’m not Quinn’s keeper or boyfriend and she can come and go as she pleases. Our little one-night arrangement was fun while it lasted, but I’ve got more pressing things to deal with than an eighteen-year-old out for fun and on a mission to drive my brother wild. It’ll do him good not to have someone who’ll bow to his every whim. She’ll give him a run for his money, and then eventually they’ll marry and multiply the family’s wealth by millions.
Pushing thoughts of Quinn and Sebastian aside, I reflect on the incident the previous night. I’m getting a little fed up of these deadly little rendezvous with stupid assholes who want a piece of the wealth that elevates us far above them. This is the third time someone has overridden the security systems and breached the grounds. We need to get this fixed, and it better be soon, or heads will roll, and
