Much like the house itself, the door was intricate and polished. It was beautiful. Hell, everything about this place was beautiful. And if I didn’t know what kind of sadistic deals went on behind that door, I probably would’ve fallen for the illusion.
After years of living in a world full of lies and deceit, I knew better. Before her passing, all my mother cared about was her image and what other well-off people thought of her. She spent her entire life pretending to be someone she wasn’t. Even married men she didn’t love because they looked good on her arm. But like most webs of lies, you can get tangled in them if you aren't careful. Eventually the false narrative she created grew to be too much for her to manage and the skeletons in her closet made their escape.
The house, much like the man standing before me, was just a beautiful facade masking the ugliness hidden within. It was imperative I remembered that beyond all the fancy cars loaded in the driveway and the glitzy bullshit, this was hell and the men that lived here were the gatekeepers.
“You aren’t who we were expecting.” He mused in a cold, lifeless tone.
All the moisture on my tongue dissipated. I didn’t think they would knowwhoto expect.
“I’m better.” I purred, trying to sound seductive. “She’s weak. She’ll break easily. I won’t.” I finished, offering him a playful wink.
My attempt at seduction reeked of desperation, and if I was in my right mind, I would’ve winced at how pathetic the attempt was. But frankly, I didn’t give a fuck. Desperation became my friend long before this man came into my life and I’d do whatever I could to make The Reapers forget all about her. As far as they knew, she never existed.
“Sorry princess, tell Malcolm a deal is a deal.” He hissed, glaring at me. “Now get out of here before you do something you’re going to regret.” He said, roughly turning my body back towards the gates.
I instantly deflated.This can’t be happening.I needed to do something.Anything.I couldn’t let them get their hands on her.
“She died.” I lied, keeping my expression blank as I turned back to face him. “Malcolm didn’t want to disappoint, so he sent me instead.”
A frown formed across his face, but vanished almost as quickly as it arrived. He flashed me a smile that was anything but friendly as he gave me another once over and turned to leave.
“You have no idea what you’re doing.” He shot over his shoulder as he walked back inside, leaving the door open in his wake.
I ignored his words; nothing he could say would stop me.
Steeling my nerves and shaking off the last bits of hesitation, I gave the doorway one last hard look. I knew that the moment my feet crossed the threshold, my life would no longer belong to me and everything that happened from then on out would be because of my own choices.
I dug my grave with The Reapers of Caspian Hills, and tonight; it was time to lie in it.
Chapter 8
Cyrus
I couldn’t decide what I looked forward to more, my brothers’ reaction to the girl at our doorstep or the commotion that her presence in our home would create. She wasn’t what we were expecting in the slightest. In fact, I was so surprised by her appearance that I stupidly offered her an easy out.
The delicious porcelain skin, long raven hair, and full pouty crimson lips proved too much for my pussy-motivated brain to handle. The moment I laid eyes on her, I froze and transformed into Mr. Fucking Gentlemen. As I circled around her curvy form, I had to restrain myself from reacting to her intoxicating scent of creamy vanilla and freshly cut pears. She was temptation, personified.
My fingers wanted to touch her soft skin, my hands itched to wrap her long tresses around them, and my teeth wanted to sink into her juicy bottom lip. Dressed in all black, her doe-like chestnut eyes made her look like a good girl you couldn’t help but want to taint.
No wonder Malcolm tried to pawn off his other girl first. This one had to have been his prized possession. If she was a drug user, she hadn’t been using long. The drugs had yet to wear her body down. She still had a youthful radiance to her skin, a luscious ass, and a set of full tits to match. But if she was working for him, she had to be a user. No other reason a girl like that would go anywhere near the pathetic piece of trash.
As I watched her through our mirrored windows, I could see the indecision weighing on her features. I had given her an out. I may be a murderous asshole, but I was a man of my word. She’d be free to go if she walked away now. I’d smooth things over with my brothers if I had to.
If she had some common sense in her, she would. The only people dumb enough to enter our world did so out of desperation. Caspian Hills was a dirty city beneath all the shine. She could get drugs anywhere in town, so what was making her want to stay?
Walk away, Princess.
Stay far away from me and my brothers.
Her features morphed into a scowl. She mumbled something under her breath and winced as her arm inexplicably twitched.How disappointing.That subtle twitch told me everything I needed to know. She was a user.
I hoped she would differ from the other woman that tried to crawl into our laps, but I should’ve known to never trust such a beautiful face. She may be after something different from the gold diggers that usually came our way, but desperation was desperation.
She was coming down from something. Crystal meth, more than likely. It was a shame too, because with those looks and that soft, curvy body she would’ve been an excellent fuck. At least now we knew who we were really dealing with.
Sorry Princess, but if you think we’re going to be your sugar daddies, you’re sadly mistaken. We aren’t the heroes in your story, we’re the villains.
Chapter 9
