Page 62 of Madam Temptress
Mount
The coppery scent of blood hits my nostrils first, and every single one of my senses goes on alert. Something isn’t right. Every fiber of my body can attest to that.
I grab Keira and move her behind me, pushing her toward P, our driver. “Drop anyone you don’t recognize. Keep her safe, or I’ll kill you.”
“Lachlan?” My wife says only two syllables, but I feel fear in each of them.
I spin and cup the side of her face. “I love you. Now stay here.”
“What—” Keira cuts off her question because she knows better than to voice it. Our life is not without peril, but I haven’t put her in danger in a long fucking time, and I’m not about to start now.
With the grip of my gun resting comfortably in my palm, I stalk down the hallway, determined to find out who the hell would dare breach my sanctuary. Who would be so fucking stupid and reckless.
They will die today.
When I round the corner, I immediately spot a blood trail and a body. A shaft of rage and loss pierces my heart like a jagged stake.
V.My brother in arms and second-in-command.
I drop to one knee beside him and the red pooling beneath him, forcing myself not to react.
Find. Kill.Those are the only two thoughts in my head as I confirm there’s no pulse.
Not that I was expecting one with the number of holes in his chest and the amount of blood soaked into the carpet.
“I’m sorry, brother.” With my fingers, I close his eyelids and keep moving. Four more bodies lead me like fucked-up bread crumbs to the one room that should never see anything but love.
A sledgehammer thunders in my chest where my heart should be, despite my iron-clad control, as I reach for the door handle that’s smeared with blood.
Everything goes quiet, and I prepare for the worst.
Pain tears through me as I twist the knob and burst inside.
I will burn this city to the ground. I will—
My mind goes blank as I take in the scene in Rory’s pink bedroom. Bethany, her nanny, lies motionless on the floor, her head twisted to an awkward angle. I charge to the crib, but it’s empty.
I search the room for any sign of my baby girl, but there’s nothing.
Her nanny’s dead, and my baby is gone.
“NOOOOOOOOOOO!”
Thirty-Seven
Keira
My phone vibrates in my purse as I hear Lachlan’s roar. It’s fueled by an unholy rage that fills my heart with terror. The most horrendous fear that could ever strike a parent’s soul takes hold of me.
“Where’s my baby?” I scream as I charge down the hall, uncaring about the hands trying to hold me back. I don’t give a fuck if they rip my arms from my body. I just need my baby.
When I turn the corner, I stumble to a halt as my stomach revolts at the sight and smell of death.
Scar.My friend. My quiet confidant.
“Lachlan!” I scream with all the force inside me, but I’m already stumbling drunkenly toward the next lifeless body.
It’s like something out of a horror movie. So much blood and death. Dread chases me with every breath I’m scared to take.
