Page 63 of Princes of Sin
Lachlan glares up at me from his place on his knees in front of me.
“Astern,” he warns.
“That’s not my name,” I say quietly.
“Is your other name better suited to you?” he asks, finally yanking the fly of my jeans open and helping me step out of them.
I open and close my mouth. “Maybe. I don’t know. I have no idea who I am, because since that night, I’ve been planning on revenge. If I can’t get that revenge, then who am I? I went to University for computer science. I wanted to be like Theodore Wolf. I wanted power, and I wanted to take them all fucking down,” I growl, kicking my jeans off to the side. “But all I am now is a murderer, and that’s all I’ll ever be now.”
“Charlotte,” he murmurs, running his hands up my thighs.
Another sob escapes my throat as his soft touch, and goosebumps pebble my skin.
“Don’t call me that,” I whisper.
“You said Astern isn’t your real name, and now you don’t want me to call you Charlotte?” he asks, hooking a finger underneath my camisole. “Thatisyour name, isn’t it?”
I shake my head before pulling my camisole off and unclasping my bra so that I’m only in my knickers.
“I’m not that girl anymore.”
“Tell me about her,” he asks, hands flat on my thighs, blue eyes watching me through dark lashes. “Tell me about Charlotte Banks.”
I swallow thickly as memories come flying back to the forefront of my mind. “She was happy. She was loved. She had achocolate Labrador named Cocoa. She played piano and wanted to play music for a living. She loved Mozart and daffodils and lavender Earl Grey,” I start, choking out a sob. “She never had to go hungry, and she never went to sleep cold. She got high marks in school and she was dating a guy who played football. She had grandparents who loved her. She watched rom coms and sang in the shower, and she never knew how strong she was until it was all taken away from her.”
Lachlan’s hands squeeze the tops of my thighs. “Will you play me something?”
My stomach flops. “On the piano?”
He stands up and nods. “After I clean you up. Will you come downstairs with me and play something?”
I hesitate, unsure if I’m hearing him correctly. “Okay.”
CHAPTER 25
Alex
The smell causes me to heave. Humans don’t smell human–they smell like meat, and when I’ve thoroughly emptied my stomach of its contents, Alaric goes over multiple methods of disposing of a body. I’m familiar with most of them because I’d read through most of the binder Harlow gave everyone the other day, but seeing it all in action?
When the bones are denatured–a process that’s incredibly long and boring–Alaric adds the ashes to the large waste bin with the name of the farm on the front.
Clever.
“In time, burning the bodies will feel like tending to a fire every night. You’ll know which ones will hiss and scream as the fat burns. You’ll know which ones will explode before the flesh is gone. You’ll know the ones with hip replacements and pacemakers. Astern and Max will head up intelligence, while you and Lachlan will likely head up security and strategy. I’m still not sure where we’ll put Otto,” he adds, smirking. “Maybe espionage.”
“He’d like that,” I mutter, still feeling ill from the smell.
“Come on. Harlow will drive you home.”
I don’t say anything as Harlow discusses her latest scone recipe the entire drive back. I cover my mouth as I try not to laugh at the irony of it all, because I suppose it’s completely normal to discuss baking strategies withtheLady of Darkness. When we get to the manor, she turns her Tesla off and faces me.
“I know this is a lot. Trust me. I didn’t choose it like the others did.”
“What happened?” I ask, leaning back in the leather seat.
“My father was the fifth Lord of Darkness, but he betrayed the order. The guys showed up in my bedroom the night of his funeral and that was that. There was no escaping it.”
“And you’re glad to be here now?”
