The Gold Crown (Golden Crown #3) (6 page)

“Thank you,” he said quietly as she looked up at him. He looked down and moved her hair behind her ear.

“For what?” she asked and he smiled.

“For being you.”

She shook her head and placed it back on his chest.

“We should live here, just you and me,” she said as he smiled and they continued to sway under the stars.

Chapter Seven

Useless Intention

“What do you mean?”

Molly watched Ryan as he slid from her bed, his ass looked amazing as always. She leaned up and placed her hand on his back as it shimmered in sweat. He moved a little and broke the connection from her so she leaned back and let the sheet fall from her breasts. She sighed and he glanced back at her.

“I mean this shit has to end,” he said quietly and she laughed.

“This shit?” she said as she rolled her eyes and he stood up, looking at the girl passed out in the chair. He picked his pants up and started to put them on.

“Exactly,” he added and she slid from the bed and walked up to her large closet and flipped the light on. She stepped in and fingered her way down the massive amount of clothing. She stopped and pulled a red silk robe, embossed in Japanese flowers. She twisted her hair up on the back of her head and pinned it, returning to him and grinning. He now had his shirt on and was starting to button it up.

“For years you have ended up here for one reason or another and you think that I believe that suddenly you will no longer show up at my doorstep Ryan Blackwood?”

Ryan stared at her as he pulled one black suspender up and then the other.

“Can you handle that?” he asked as he waved a hand at the girl in the chair. Molly looked at her and raised an eyebrow.

“You brought that prostitute in here, you take her out.”

“Fine,” he said as he walked up to the chair and snapped his fingers in her face. She mumbled something and he tapped her face with his palm. She still only moved a little bit. Molly stepped up and slapped her across the face and the girl woke with a scream.

“You are leaving,” Molly said in a loud tone as the girl blinked and wiped her eyes.

“Now, not later,” Molly added as the girl rolled her eyes and stood up, rubbing her hair. Molly looked her over.

“I need to get a boob job.”

“I agree,” Ryan said as she watched him and shook her head.

“You know you could at least pretend to care about me.”

Ryan stopped as he sat down and grabbed his shoe. He placed it on and then the other.

“Now what fun would that be?” he asked as Molly watched him.

“I need money,” the girl said as both Ryan and Molly looked at her. Then Ryan looked back to Molly and she rolled her eyes at him.

“Fuck.”

She walked to her purse and pulled out a wad of money and stepped up to the girl. She held it out as the girl started to grab at it and Molly pulled it back.

“You were never here, you do not know me, do we understand each other?”

The girl hesitated and then nodded as Molly waved the money.

“Now fucking go,” she said and the girl grabbed the money and her clothing, running to the door and slipping the dress over her head.

“Heels,” Molly said as the girl ran back and grabbed her shoes from the floor. Molly looked at her and grinned.

“Buy some real shoes with that money,” Molly said.

Ryan laughed under his breath as he stood up and grabbed his coat, slipping it on as the girl left them alone in the bedroom.

“You get bitchier as the years go on.”

“Oh please, I was always a bitch Ryan, just like you are,” Molly said as she stepped up to him and started to fix his tie for him.

Ryan watched her until she looked at him and then he looked around the room.

“Ryan,” she said as she let his tie go and he walked away from her.

Molly turned as he reached the door.

“Leave out the servant’s entrance.”

“Of course,” Ryan said as he paused at the door and then left her alone in the room. Molly walked to the window and stared out over the land that she owned but did not love. The one thing she did love would never love her in return and was slipping out the back as she thought of him and how he made her feel.

****

I returned home to an empty house. Funny it felt empty when August and Ryan were not home. We had all decided to

Leave for the night it would seem and it reminded me of when I was growing up in this house.

Father spent weeks away from home as Mother drank and wandered the halls talking to herself. This was something she tried to hide from me for years until the sheer weight of her sadness made it impossible for her to contain any longer. It was on one of these trips he had taken with a mistress or two that she had decided to end it all in the tub with a razor. You would think that a woman with access to so many prescription drugs would have simply taken a bottle and lay down, but no, my Mother left in a dramatic fashion. One of which I still nightmare about to this day.

That crisp morning had beckoned me to ride. I loved the horses that we owned and it was the one thing that I was addicted to at that time. I mean to get up early and take a ride as the horse tensed between your legs and it spit forth white smoke into the air. It was such a rush of adrenaline, the first one I remember having in my life…long before Ryan, or any of the treachery I came to embrace as my own. Riding a horse was freedom. A freedom I so needed and I had gone riding that morning like any other.

When I returned 3 hours later no one greeted me at the door, which was odd. We had many on staff for any occasion and when I was still living here with my parents we had more staff than at any other time. I guess my Mother’s declining condition had warranted it and my Father had upwards of 15 people with us daily. I have no idea if he did it to protect her or to simply make sure she did not burn the house to the ground in a fit of rage. She had those too, terrible ones of which everyone could hear her screaming at the top of her lungs throughout the entire estate. He had driven her insane. I mean a type of insanity they study in schools and even though I understand now that she should have been committed, I have to hate him even more for keeping her locked up here in this fucking prison of lies.

I remember walking into the house and feeling as if the pressure had dropped. Kind of like when a coming storm changes the air all around you. I took one step and then another and as I walked up the large staircase I then heard the noises, low at first and then sobbing. I walked down the long hallway, being careful to breath slowly and not run. I felt a panic rising in me, funny how your body knows something before you do. I then stopped at her bedroom and looked in, the staff stood all around, as if they were having a meeting and I walked through them as some spoke to me but I ignored them as I usually did. I mean I was never taught that staff should be treated as friends so I did not allow that sort of connection. I then saw her arm over the tub before I saw her face. I pushed the door open to expose her fully and saw the blood on the floor and her eyes open, clouded and staring at the window across the room as if she was dreaming of freedom. I then ran to her and slipped in the blood, falling against the tub and grabbing her hand as mine were covered in her blood. It was cold and void of any traces of her. I then let out a blood cuddling scream that echoed throughout the house and swallowed up any she had left behind. It was then that she passed down her sorrow to me.

I blinked as I stood in the bathroom where she had died. I did not remember walking up to it, nor did I remember when I started to cry but the warm tears ran down my cheeks until I heard a voice behind me and turned to see Ryan standing there. His normal blank expression switched to one of concern as I wiped my face and walked to the large white marbled sink. I could see his reflection behind me but refused to turn.

“Beth?”

I splashed water on my face and then turned to face him, he looked me over as I leaned in and smelled him.

“You smell like cheap perfume, take a bath.” I said as I glanced at the tub my Mother had died in.

He looked at it knowing she had died there and we never used this for anything anymore.

“Razors are under the sink,” I added as I left him alone and with the last bit of venom I felt for her loss as well as mine of him.

Chapter Eight

Manning A Sinking Ship

Ryan held Cas’s phone in his hand as he stared at the text on it until a knock came to his door and he looked up to see his one solution to such things. The man stepped in without saying a word as usual until Ryan stood up and tossed the phone to him. He caught it and looked it over.

“Cas had help in finding out the truth about Miko.”

“Unfortunate,” the man said as Ryan watched him sit down and place the phone inside his jacket.

“So how and when?” the man asked him.

“Immediately and discreet.”

“Access to the asylum?” the man asked and Ryan raised his hand.

“No, this is NOT about Cas, this about whoever helped him,“ he said and the man nodded.

“You know Cas will eventually…” he was interrupted by Ryan who seemed very aggravated, much more so than usual.

“You listen to me, my son will not be harmed, ever, for any reason. Do you understand me?”

The man nodded to him and started to rise. Ryan stepped out from behind the desk and looked him over. The man walked to the door and then stopped.

“Same account as usual?” Ryan asked and the man nodded and then paused as he held the handle of the door.

“It is never easy to lose a child. You have my sympathy,” he said and with that he left Ryan alone. Ryan sighed and walked to the liquor cabinet. He pulled a glass and held it tightly and then turned and threw it, letting it bust against the wall and shatter into a million pieces. He started to cry as he walked to the chair and sat down knowing that Cas would have to die, but when was not even something he could contemplate. For the first time since he was a small boy he felt compassion for another and it overwhelmed him. He was not sure if it was Beth’s cruelty and torture, the pressure of years of carrying around this darkness or his growing addiction to a drug which seemed to be eating away his strength to ward off emotion. Perhaps it was time to consider sobering up and letting go of what addictions he may be able to control. He laughed as he stared at the glass on the floor and with that he closed his eyes and tried to calm down. He was Ryan Blackwood, a man who had buried anything that tried to harm him and what he wanted and all be damned if he was going to be in this state of mind. This is how weakness creeps in and consumes you and he would never allow it, not for any reason. A light knock came to his door and he looked up as it cracked open and a woman stood there, small in stature and quite stunning. He wiped his face and ran his hand through his hair as she started to turn away.

“Yes?” he asked as she pushed the door open slightly and stared in at him.

“I am sorry, I am here for the position,” she said in a small voice as he looked back.

“That sounds intriguing,” he said as he walked towards her and then waved for her to come in. She stepped in as he grinned and closed the door behind her, staring at her ass.

****

We sat at dinner with no conversation until August spoke up and Ryan nearly dropped his drink. I glanced at him as August continued.

“I want to move out,” he said and I swallowed as I stared at my plate. Dinner was about as interesting as my marriage at this point and even though we had a five star chef in the kitchen I doubt any of us even appreciated it. I know food was not my main concern, nor had it been for years.

“Where?” Ryan asked as he leaned back and August took a breath and looked at me and then to him.

“The penthouse on Park.”

I took a drink which turned into a gulp and then a spectacular finish as I tilted it back and noticed Ryan was watching me. He raised an eyebrow and grinned at me like he used to and I turned to August and decided to speak.

“Living on your own is a big change,” I said to him and he nodded.

“Well, I would not be alone, not really,” he added and I leaned back and waited to find out what the surprise was here.

“Zoey would be with me,” he said and Ryan laughed for a second and then stopped as we both looked at him.

“Zoey Renew?” Ryan said and August nodded.

“Yes, she wants to move out too and I think we would be good for each other seeing that we both, I mean…I just think it would be good.”

“Good in what way?” Ryan added and August leaned back and dropped his fork on his plate.

I cleared my throat and wiped my lips with the cloth napkin.

“What your father means to say is…”

“That I am not able to live on my own,” August said as he stared at his plate.

“August you, I mean we, have been through some very stressful times and perhaps being together would be best,” I said and he laughed and then stared at me like Ryan used to do when he wanted to make me feel terrible.

“Oh you mean I should feel fine living here knowing that Zane died upstairs and my brother tried to kill all of us, in this house?”

I took a slow breath and looked to Ryan, if anything I needed him to step up and be a fucking Father here.

“Listen, I get it. You are thinking with your dick. I did,” Ryan said and I looked down and felt defeated. August needed understanding and compassion and instead Ryan was trying to connect with him on a sexual level. I fucking hate him, I really do.

“Ryan, please. This is not about that,” I said and August watched us as Ryan stared at me.

“Really? I mean Beth I remember when we moved in together and did nothing but fuck.”

“Oh shit,” August said as he looked disgusted. He tossed his napkin onto his plate and crossed his arms on his chest.

“What? Your mother and I fucked, we fucked a lot, we fucked all over that penthouse her daddy bought for her.”

“Great, good to know,” August said as I looked at him and narrowed my eyes.

“He is drunk,” I said and Ryan started to laugh.

“Drunk? No, I am not drunk, I am just practicing a new thing here, let’s be honest and cut the bullshit Beth.”