Let Him Reign: An Underworld Romance (13 page)

Hope

I jump when the door slams shut and try to blink back the tears threatening to escape the corners of my eyes.

"I'm sorry," Heath says and that's all it takes to push the moisture right over the edge of my lashes. His arms go around me, holding me against his bare chest. "What the hell was that about?"

"I'm a whore," I tell him.

"What?"

"Until the other night I worked for Simon at
Heaven
."

"Oh," he says simply. "But you were just trying to take care of Ginger One and Ginger Two, right?"

I nod against his shoulder.

"All because that asshole knocked you up and then wasn't around to help you support them."

"He didn't know..."

"Well, he should now."

"No!" I say, pulling away from him and finally getting to my feet to cover myself back up. "Don't you dare." Behind me, I hear Heath stand and the sound of his zipper being raised. Once my sleepshirt is on, I head for the door.

"Where are you going? I'm not done with you yet. I was serious about licking your pussy."

I laugh but shake my hanging head. "Not tonight, but I'll take a rain check."

"What about the money? There's a shitload of it."

"I don't want it."

"Well, too bad. Your boys need it," he says, and when I turn around he's gathering it up into a nice, neat stack. "Think of it as Eric's first child support payment."

I shake my head and reach for the door handle, but Heath grabs my upper arm to stop me. "Could I maybe stay with you tonight? I have scary nightmares," he says with warm and sincere chocolate eyes. "No funny business I swear. Scout's honor." He holds up the peace sign instead of the three finger salute.

I smile. "Fine," I agree. "But around my boys you better disappear."

"I'll jump out the window if I have to," he assures me.

"Good. I'm going to hold you to that," I reply.

…

I sit straight up in the bed, startled awake with my heart racing out of my chest. "
Heath
" is the only word I get out of my mouth before I'm thrown to the floor so hard the wind is knocked out of me. I get to my hands and knees, gasping for oxygen before I can finally take a deep breath.

I hear curses and thuds, glass breaking around the room before I finally realize there's someone in here and Heath's fighting them.

"Guards!" I scream.

The sudden bright light causes my eyes to squint until they can adjust. When they do, it's just in time for me to see Heath snap a bald man's neck. Men dressed in fatigues form a semi-circle around Heath with their guns aimed at him.

I jump up from the floor and run to the next room, bursting through the door, my body still shaking from nerves and adrenaline. I don't hear anything or see any movement in the darkness, but I still turn on the lamp to be sure. Noah and Riley are sound asleep, back to back. Noah's thumb is in his mouth since he still hasn't outgrown the comfort, while Riley's hands are both tucked under his head. After I check the closet and bathroom to ease my worry, I turn off the light and pull the door shut again.

"So who is that?" I hear one of the men in black ask when I return to my room. The guns have all been lowered but are still out and at the ready.

"I'm sorry, I didn't have time to ask him while he was trying to kill us in our sleep," Heath replies sarcastically, pushing his hand through his blond locks. "You're welcome to try now, but the better question is how the fuck did he get in here? Were you slackers sleeping on the job? I can't wait to tell King Cunt."

"Tell me what," Eric says when he appears in the doorway, looking tired in nothing but the pajama pants from earlier. He looks at Heath in just his boxers and then over at me. I can tell when his jaw ticks that he's making all sorts of assumptions.

"These worthless fucks were snoozing while Hope and I almost got murdered in our sleep," Heath explains.

Eric shoulders his way farther into the room. The other guys snap to attention and move quickly away from him like they're nervous. It's the first time I've noticed that Eric's larger than all of them, thicker and more muscular, which seems odd for bodyguards to be smaller than the person they're supposed to protect. I guess their guns are the advantage.

"Vampire?" Eric asks Heath, who nods. "Convenient of you to kill him before we could question him."

"What the fuck?" Heath squares his broad shoulders, bristling at the insinuation. "He had a gun with a silencer and my first thought was that I don't want to get fucking shot tonight or risk her getting hurt. Don't you think she's the one he came for? It was pure luck that I was in here with her or she'd be dead right now!"

"Luck," Eric scoffs. "Bullshit. What the hell were you doing in here anyway?"

At that question a few guards clear their throats and lower their eyes before hightailing it out of the room.

"Why do you give a shit? You made it perfectly clear
exactly
what she is to you," Heath challenges with his hands on his narrow hips.

"Yeah, and it's perfectly fucking clear what I am to her, too," Eric says, picking up the stack of money on the dresser and fanning it.

"I grabbed the money and brought it in here because she wouldn't!" Heath yells "She deserves every penny for having to put up with you."

"Whatever," Eric mutters, throwing the currency back down. "I'm using her for sex, she's using me for money. What about you? Are you using her to get back at me for Vanessa?"

Vanessa? Who the hell is Vanessa?

"Unlike
you
, I wouldn't be an asshole and steal my best friend's girl!" Heath yells, which answers that question.

"I didn't steal her!" Eric exclaims. "She threw herself at me.
She
came and found
me
all the way up in New York, crying and telling me that
you
broke things off with
her.
I believed her because I had no reason to think she'd lie about that shit, especially since it sounded like something you'd do!" 

"You could've asked me first before you fucked her!"

"Did you ask me before you fucked her?" Eric barks while pointing at me.

"I haven't fucked her yet, but since you've broached the subject, do you mind if I fuck your girl? Excuse me, your
paramour?
"

"Did you fuck her tonight?" Eric asks slowly and deliberately with a deep, almost growl.

"No."

"And you won’t without my permission! Do you know who that is?" he asks, pointing to the dead man still on the floor.

"No, asshole, but I'd bet my left nut that daddy dearest sent him based on what Hope told me."

"Are you working for him?" Eric asks in that slow and deliberate cold tone again.

"Hell no! And your Jedi mind trick would be better put to use on your slackass guards."

Jedi mind trick?

"I plan to, even though they're all going to be punished. You're going to stay in my room from now on," Eric turns to me and commands. He looks angry and threatening with his face flushed, bristling bronze jaw clenched tight, and bare chest rising and falling with his rapid breaths. I don't care if he is angry, he's not going to boss me around just because he's jealous.

"No, I'm not," I reply coolly, taking a seat on the edge of the mattress.

"Ha!" Heath barks out a laugh. "That shit doesn't work on her. I bet you hate that so much, someone telling you no."

"Why not?" Eric asks me and I hear his teeth grind against each other from across the room.

"I'm staying close to the boys."

"Oh," he says, his shoulders lowering as if his anger has somewhat deflated. "Then I'm staying in here. The guards are fucking worthless."

"Yo, King Cunt. I'm more than capable of watching out for her. As proof, I offer you, Exhibit A," Heath says with a kick to the dead man still on the floor.

"Stop calling me King Cunt. If you utter those two words together again I'll cut your tongue out of your mouth and shove it up your ass."

"You're just pissed because she'd rather have me in here than you!"

"If you allow even a
scratch
on her, I'll kill you," Eric threatens him, clenching his fists like he's about to lunge at the surfer boy.

"Why?" I finally speak up and ask Eric after hearing enough of their pissing contest. "I'm just your whore. It's not like you can't afford to buy another one. Honestly, I'd rather you both sleep in the twin's room since no one but me seems to give a shit about them! What if he'd gone in there instead of here?" I ask before a sob breaks free at just the thought. I bury my face in my hands, trying to scrub away those horrible images. I can't imagine anything happening to my sweet boys, especially not because I put them in danger.

"I'll sleep in there," I hear Eric say quietly. "But you're wrong, Hope. You're not just my whore. I'm not paying you for sex. I'm paying you to stay here with me because now that I've found you, I don't want to lose you again."

…

Eric

"Sir?" Charles asks from the office door.

"What?" I practically growl at him. He's not the one I'm pissed at. Hell, I'm not even really upset with Heath. If it wasn't for him...I don't want to think about what could've happened to Hope. I'm just tired after barely sleeping on the uncomfortable cot in the twins’ rooms, knowing
he
was in
he
r bed. I'm stressed the fuck out.

This is all my father's fault and I'm angry at him for his stupid heir requirement and at Bron Drake for killing him. I know it was that son of a bitch. A medical examiner that just flew in today from Boston is exhuming my father's body, so that he can run all the tests to determine what really caused his death.

"Sorry, sir. I'll come back later," the old man says softly.

"No, Charles. Sorry. What do you need?"

"Well, I had a suggestion-" he starts. Great, another one. It'll be the hundredth of the day and it’s only eleven o’clock in the morning.

"Let's fucking hear it."

"Ah, well, while the twins seem to enjoy playing with your G.I. Joes and Transformers, I heard them ask their mother about their cars. I assume they're the rather inexpensive Matchbox cars, and thought you might want me or Ms. Moore to purchase some new ones for them or go retrieve theirs?"

I relax at his request, but am embarrassed that I hadn’t even thought of the small act of kindness.

"I'll do both. Get me her address and keys. I'll go by to see what they already have before adding to it."

"Very well, sir," he says before he leaves.

An hour later, my driver, Derek, pulls up in front of a rundown, three story apartment building. Window unit air conditioners that I haven't seen in twenty or more years jut out of some of the apartments. Shady, tatted up guys stand around talking out front. I'd almost bet my family’s fortune that they're all packing heat. If I didn't have four armed guards with me, I might even be concerned.

The five of us walk by without incident, one guard stays at the entrance and four of us go up the stairs to the second floor. Two guards man the apartment door while I use Hope's keys to unlock it. Me and the remaining guard head inside the small stuffy space. I glance around the living room and kitchen separated only by cabinets. It's neat and clean although the brown carpet looks like it was put down in the seventies and the walls haven't been painted since around the same time.

It's a wakeup call to how different their life is from mine. I walk down the hall looking for the boys' room. It's the size of a closet with a full bed pushed against the wall and a car theme comforter covering it. Small canvas bins are lined up across from the bed, and inside are various small cars and toys. I stack up all three and ask the guard to take them to the car. The rest of the things I leave. The clothes and shoes look well-worn or second hand, so I'll ask Marjorie to buy them all new ones.

Heading to the other bedroom I look around for anything Hope might want salvaged in case vampires raid the place looking for her before we kill them. There's no valuable jewelry, of course, or really anything else that can't be replaced, which doesn't surprise me. I'm sure she'd never buy something for herself when she could buy for her boys.

I open the closet and grab a few photo albums. Sitting down on the edge of her small bed I flip through the first one. It's baby pictures of the twins when they were in the hospital. In a few, Hope is holding them both which makes me wonder who's snapping the photo. Then I see a young brunette smiling down at one of the boy's wrapped up in a blanket, and recognize her as Hope's friend Kayla.

The rest of the pictures are of the boys at various occasions like taking a bath, crawling, eating something orange and messy in a highchair with it all over their faces. There are some with their big smiles at the camera outside playing with bubbles and just running around. They seem happy and innocent, having no idea of the sacrifices their mother makes for them.