Page 15 of Ours

Hugging her stomach tighter, Lexi took the tiniest bit of comfort when she felt her son roll under her touch. She didn’t quite understand what the mobster was getting at. Her thoughts were too cloudy and jumbled, caught between her memories and reality.

“What gift?My child?!” she asked incredulously.

“Well, only if it was a boy,” Bloodbayne answered.

“Why would it matter?” she spat back.

Leaning in uncomfortably close, he relished the way she recoiled in response. It seemed as if the little bitch needed a history lesson. “The Bloodbayne Organization goes back hundreds of years. My forefathers helped build this Country. Everything you see...everything you’ve ever known is because ofus. We shaped America into the great Nation she is today,” he said proudly.

“Oh?” she hissed without thinking, “I hadn’t realized that political corruption, drug smuggling, and human trafficking were the proud cornerstones of our soc—"

Before she had a chance to finish her sentence, Bloodbayne raised his hand and viciously backhanded her face. An audiblesnapcould be heard just as his ruby ring caught on her mouth and tore her bottom lip.

“You would do well to keep your mouth shut!”he growled.

Whimpering from the sting, she lifted her hand to cover her bleeding mouth. Behind her, she felt Kade’s heavy hands move to her hips to steady her wobbly body. She wasn’t sure if he was trying to comfort her or hold her in place for another hit.

Keeping his beady eyes on her, Bloodbayne smoothed his hands down the lapel of his charcoal tailored suit jacket. He wanted to do more to her than a simple, little slap. She deservedallthe pain he could inflict.

“The Bloodbayne Organization has been passed down from generation to generation through first bornsons.This might shock you but yes, Kade is my biological son. His mother was going to abort him. Can you believe that? But luckily, I stoppedthe bitch before she could. And he’s everything I could’ve ever hoped for. Raw. Vicious.Loyal to me.The perfect son.”

Clenching his jaw, Kade honed his eyes on his father’s snarling face as he rambled on and on about his importance within the Organization. Anger rose with every word, causing adrenaline to spike in his blood. If Valentina wasn’t in the room, it would be so easy to dispatch the aging warlord and take control. But even with the bond he shared with the woman, he knew she would gun both he and Lexi down if he ever broke his loyalty. It was wise of his father to keep her around.

“So,” Bloodbayne continued. “You see, with Kade in his coma, I needed another heir. There was a chance that you were carrying one, so I let you live. Wasn’t that nice of me?”

Narrowing her eyes, Lexi bit into the flesh of her cheek to keep herself from saying something snide. Like she would ever consider that an act of kindness.

“Speaking of the child, do we know what it is?” Bloodbayne asked curiously.

“A boy,” Kade answered immediately, his voice deep and menacing.

Clapping his hands together, Bloodbayne twisted his burned mouth into a grotesque smile, “Wonderful! A grandson! Well, this calls for a celebration!”

“Wait,” Lexi interrupted. “What would have happened had this baby been a girl?”

“I would have killed you,” he answered without hesitation. “Lucky for you, you’re carrying precious cargo. Now, I can let you and the boy live...that is, if you swear your allegiance to meand agree to work for me as soon as you bring him into this world.”

Gripping his fingers into Lexi’s hips, Kade leaned forward and boldly placed a kiss upon the crown of her head. He knew she would make the right decision and wanted her to know that it was ok for her to agree. She would be working beside him; he would never let anything happen to her. With her allegiance, they would be together as a family.This was their destiny.

Closing her eyes, Lexi took a staggering breath. If it was just her, she would choose death in a heartbeat. But she had another life to consider. It was her fundamental responsibility as her son’s mother to protect him. No matter the cost.

“Yes,” she said reluctantly, her voice breaking at the seams. “I’ll do it.”

Chuckling low, Bloodbayne raised his hand to cradle her cheek. Lowering his arthritic thumb, he smeared the blood dripping from her injured lip down her chin. He could tell that this was the beginning of a beautiful relationship. All she needed to do was complete one small task.

“Smart girl. Perhaps my son is right about you,” he said, his blue eyes raking over her face. “Let’s find out, shall we? It’s time to prove your loyalty tome.”

Scrunching her face in confusion, she watched as Bloodbayne motioned to Valentina with his free hand. Taking her cue, the commanding woman walked towards a large, rusty door behind the desk.What the fuck was going on,she wondered. She already agreed to working for him, what more could he possibly want from her?

Panic gripped her stomach, causing bile to rise in her throat as the hunk of steel slid open. Ignoring the evil glee wafting from the mobster, she instead focused on the horrific image being revealed inch by painful inch. Blinking at the grotesque scene before her, it took a handful of seconds for her brain to fully recognize the mangled shell of a man shackled to a folding chair. Gasping audibly, she shook her head in disbelief. This was a sick nightmare;it had to be.She didn’t want to believe that what she was seeing was real.

“Leo,”she whimpered.

CHAPTER EIGHT

Wrapping his arms around Lexi’s torso, Kade pulled her tightly against his chest to keep her from falling to the ground. Gritting his teeth in frustration, he moved his livid gaze from Leo’s moaning form to his father, and back again.Shit, shit, shit. This wasn’t part of the plan.

How the fuck did this happen, Kade?Demitri hissed from the depths of his mind.You ordered your men to kill him so Bloodbayne couldn’t do this shit! They even gave you fucking confirmation that he had been taken out!

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