Sweet Retribution Read online

  DEDICATION

  For Jennifer Gibson, critique partner extraordinaire and all-round amazing human being. This series, and this book, in particular, would not exist if it weren’t for your support and encouragement every step of the way. Love you to the moon and back, lady. Thank you for always being in my corner.

  AUTHOR’S NOTE

  Although this book is set in a high school environment, it is a dark bully romance, and it is not suitable for young teens due to mature content, graphic sexual scenes, and cursing. The recommended reading age is eighteen+. Some scenes may be triggering.

  Table of Contents

  CHAPTER ONE

  CHAPTER TWO

  CHAPTER THREE

  CHAPTER FOUR

  CHAPTER FIVE

  CHAPTER SIX

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  CHAPTER NINE

  CHAPTER TEN

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

  CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

  CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

  CHAPTER THIRTY

  CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

  CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

  CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

  CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

  CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

  CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

  CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN

  CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT

  EPILOGUE – Three months later

  INSEPARABLE – SAMPLE

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  BOOKS BY SIOBHAN DAVIS

  COPYRIGHT

  CHAPTER ONE

  Abby

  “I need to use the bathroom,” I blurt, interrupting the minister just before he reaches the part where we say our vows. My hand is clammy against Charlie’s much larger palm as we hold hands while I prepare to do this. But a sudden bout of nerves has me second-guessing my strategy, and I need a time-out to ensure I’m doing the right thing.

  “It can wait,” my father snaps, narrowing his eyes at me.

  “Abby.” Charlie looks down at me. “What are you doing?” he mouths.

  I press my lips to his ear. “I think I’m going to puke,” I lie, clutching my stomach and contorting my face. I clamp a hand over my mouth, fake gagging, beseeching him with my eyes.

  “Don’t make me regret this,” he murmurs in a low voice. “And don’t try anything because your father will kill him.” He jerks his head in Kai’s direction.

  “I know that, and I won’t risk his life.”

  A muscle ticks in his jaw as he nods tersely. I step back, and my father roughly grabs hold of my arm. “You’re not leaving this room until you’re married.”

  “Daddy, I feel sick, and I’m liable to puke on myself. I’m sure no one wants to see that.”

  His face turns an unflattering shade of red. “What kind of idiot do you take me for?”

  “Mr. Hearst.” Charlie steps up behind me, placing his hand on my hip. “Abby can take five minutes to go to the bathroom.” He purposely looks over at Kai. “Trust me, she’s going nowhere.”

  The bastard glances at his watch, and his Adam’s apple bobs in his throat. I’d have been halfway to the bathroom by now if he wasn’t being such an ass about it. He slants me a look Satan himself would be proud of.

  Don’t worry, Daddy Dearest. The sentiment is shared.

  But I keep a neutral expression on my face, shielding my true feelings from the monster who helped give me life.

  “Maurio,” my father barks. “Escort my daughter to the bathroom.” Charlie’s hand falls off my hip, and Father grabs hold of my arm again. “Don’t delay or I’ll come and drag you back here myself.”

  I stare blankly at the bastard. “If you hurt him, all deals are off.” I cast a quick glance at my twin, ensuring he knows to watch guard over my man. “No one is to lay a finger on Kai.” Drew cautions me with his eyes as I stalk toward the door, and I subtly nod. I’m not stupid. I’m not going to do anything that’ll risk Kai’s life, but I need to gather my thoughts. To ensure this is the right plan. Besides, Father needs me to return and say my vows, so he won’t risk doing anything to my lover in my absence.

  I slam the door to the bathroom in Maurio’s face, locking it quickly, in case he has any ideas about standing guard inside. I sigh heavily as I plant my hands on the edge of the sink, staring at my reflection in the mirror.

  My heart is on lockdown, and I reinforce the steel bars around it, unable to confront the latest revelation from my father. I squeeze my eyes shut as a barrage of emotion attempts to breach the invisible barrier I’ve erected. I cannot think about that now. If I do, I will charge out there and try to murder the bastard myself, and all that’ll achieve is sure death for Kai and a lifetimes sentence for me.

  In order to think about this pragmatically, I need to control my emotions. To lock them away and make decisions purely based on logic and fact. I grip the edge of the sink harder, and my eyes turn cold as I contemplate all I need to do.

  Charlie has officially lost the plot.

  That much is clear.

  He cannot see over his stupid obsession with me. And I honestly believe that’s all it is. I don’t know when he started believing he was in love with me, but you don’t treat the woman you love like this. Maybe his brain is so warped from all the shit they’ve done to him at Parkhurst. Or my father has brainwashed him, but I don’t think Charlie is in love with me, and if he was thinking clearly, he'd realize that.

  But I need to play on this fallacy. To keep Kai alive.

  There is nothing I won’t do to save the love of my life.

  Because Kaiden Anderson is my everything.

  And I will protect him till my dying breath.

  Even if it means doing the unthinkable—becoming Charlie’s wife and sharing a marital bed with him.

  My stomach lurches violently at the thought, but there is no other option. If I refuse to continue the ceremony, my father will murder Kai.

  But we can work this to our advantage.

  My mind has been churning ever since the bastard dropped the hysterectomy bomb, and a clear plan is forming. I’ve always come up with my best ideas when I’m avoiding thinking about something and using a distraction to help redirect my thoughts. The way forward is clear now, and I’m itching to put my plan into action.

  But first things first.

  I need to get back out there and marry my newest enemy.

  Then I’ve got to convince him and my father that I’m fully in.

  That Kai is in my past.

  And Charlie and the elite are my future.

  Because infiltrating their world is the only way the plan will succeed.

  I flush the toilet—purely for Maurio’s benefit—and carefully wash my hands, smiling at my reflection as I visualize how this will go down.

  By the time I’m through with him, my father will definitely wish I’d never been born.

  Sounds of commotion drift out into the hallway from the burgundy room as we make our way toward it. My lips curve up at the corners as I wonder if the cavalry has arrived.

  I don’t know how long my father has had Kai, but the last I knew, he was traveling to New York with Jackson and Sawyer, so it’s not inconceivable to think they were there when he was ambushed.

  There’s no way they
wouldn’t come for him, because those three guys are more akin to brothers. If something is going down, I’d wager it’s Sawyer and Jackson to the rescue.

  The smile falls off my lips as I contemplate a different scenario. One where my father hurt or killed Kai’s two best friends, and rampant fear careens around my chest as my heart beats wildly behind my ribcage.

  If he hurt them, I’ll—

  “Hold back, Ms. Abigail,” Maurio says, cutting off my thoughts. He whips his gun out, pushing me back with his other hand. “Stay here and wait for me to return.” Without waiting for my reply, he races toward the door, barreling inside.

  I frown as I listen to the choking, coughing sounds trickling out into the hallway. A gun shot rings out, followed by a loud thud, and my heart rate spikes to coronary-inducing levels. I run toward the door, plowing into someone coming out of the room just as I reach it. The force of the impact sends me tumbling to the ground, and one of my heels flies off, skittering along the polished hardwood floor. Before the door shuts, I look into the room, spotting Maurio lying prone on the ground.

  A scream rips from my mouth as a man wearing a scary mask looms over me. The mask is made of black rubber, and it completely covers his face. The glass lens hiding his eyes is tinted black, so I can’t see who it is. His body is buff, encased in a black form-fitting shirt, black cargo pants, and black boots. A gun belt is strapped to his trim waist with a gun securely enclosed in the pocket.

  I scoot backward along the hall as he extends his arm toward me.

  In one fast movement, he unbuckles the mask, pushing it up over his head.

  A string of expletives leaves my mouth as Jackson shoots me one of his trademark shit-eating grins. “Sorry, beautiful. Forgot I was wearing the mask.” A large purple bruise paints his left cheek, and a cut on his lip is encrusted and sore-looking.

  I kick off my one remaining heel, scrambling to my bare feet. “If you weren’t here on a rescue mission, I’d knee you in the balls for scaring the hell out of me like that.”

  He pulls me into his arms, his cocky grin dropping off his face. “You okay?”

  I shuck out of his hold. “I’m fine. But Kai isn’t.”

  Jackson’s eyes burn red. “I noticed.” He cracks his knuckles. “I thought we’d get our chance to end your father today, but he ran off before the sleeping gas could take effect.”

  My eyes bug out of my head as I look over his shoulder at the closed door, wondering what the fuck has gone down. “Sleeping gas?”

  Jackson nods. “We didn’t want to risk you, Drew, or Kai getting injured in a shootout, so we used the tunnel to get into the house, and we injected sleeping gas through the vents in the room,” he explains.

  “I heard a gunshot. Did someone die?”

  “That asshole guard come rushing in with his gun. He shot at us, but the bullet embedded in the wall. He didn’t have time to hurt anyone else, because the sleeping gas took effect then, knocking him out.”

  The door flies open a second time, and someone else comes out. He’s also wearing a mask and the same black attire. I peek into the room, clamping a hand over my mouth as I count the prone bodies on the floor. Another few guys wearing masks roam the room, guns out and ready as they prod the unconscious forms with their booted feet.

  The new arrival shoves a mask at me. “Put that on,” Sawyer says, pushing his mask up on top of his head. His nose is swollen, and he has a large bruise on the side of his jaw. “We need to get out of here asap. Your father took off and even though this was prearranged with Atticus Anderson it doesn’t mean he won’t come back with reinforcements.”

  “Wait? What?” I say, taking the mask but making no move to put it on. “My father knew about this? Agreed to it? Why the fuck would he do that if he needs me to marry Charlie?” I’m totally confused.

  Sawyer shakes his head. “Atticus made a deal so he could get Kai out, but—”

  “What kind of deal? I thought they hated one another?” I ask, gripping onto Sawyer’s arm.

  Sawyer glances up and down the hallway. “Your dad needs to make this conflict with Atticus go away because it’s damaging his reputation. With the Parkhurst vote only a few months away he can’t risk it so he told him he’d give him back his company, his property, the money he took from him, and smooth the way for him to return to the elite and Parkhurst, in exchange for Atticus dropping his lawsuits, retracting his statements, and keeping Kai away from you.”

  Removing my hand from Sawyer’s arm, I rub a tense spot between my brows. “So, you’re saying my father knew you were going to show up here? Why would he agree to that?”

  “Atticus made him promise not to kill Kai. He wasn’t happy that Michael was using him to coerce you into going along with his plans, but it was a small price to pay to get what he wants.” My lips thin and bile swims up my throat. Atticus Anderson is far too fond of throwing me to the sharks. Kai will go crazy when he finds out he’s sacrificed me again. It’s clear the agreement was only to rescue his son. That he doesn’t give a fuck what happens to me.

  “Michael doesn’t want to look weak in front of the order, and there’s no way he wants them finding out about this deal. Us busting in here to rescue Kai alleviates that concern,” Jackson confirms. “And the only reason we are free is because Atticus needed our help.”

  “My father caught you both too?” I surmise.

  “They were lying in wait for us at the private airfield,” Sawyer explains. “We fought them, but we were outnumbered, and it didn’t take them long to overpower us. They took Kai away, tied us up, and locked us in a shipping crate. Atticus showed up a few hours later and told us what he’d done, asking for our help. He also roped Maverick, Joaquin, and Harley into assisting, alongside some of his bodyguards.

  That explains the other guys inside.

  Kai will be so pissed his dad involved his younger brothers. Rick and Kai have done their best to shield them from this world, but Atticus seems determined to drag them into it.

  “But we have our own plan,” Jackson says as Sawyer casts another glance along the hallway. “Fucked if we’re leaving you behind to be forced into marrying that asshole.”

  “How did you know about that?” I inquire, dropping the mask onto the ground and wiping my hands down the front of my dress.

  “Atticus explained. We were supposed to wait until after the ceremony to break in, and he’s not going to be happy that we’ve ruffled your dad’s feathers.” Jackson smirks. “Stopping the wedding and taking you is really going to piss him off.”

  “Are we too late?” Sawyer asks, arching a brow as he looks at the discarded mask on the floor.

  I shake my head. “No. We were only halfway through the ceremony when I asked for a bathroom break.” I straighten my shoulders, because they won’t like this, but no one is telling me what to do.

  I’m in charge now.

  They can like it or not.

  “But I’m not leaving with you.” I drill them both with a deadly look. “I can’t. I’m staying here and marrying Charlie Barron.”

  CHAPTER TWO

  “You can’t be serious?” Jackson growls. “Kai will go fucking apeshit!”

  “Kai will be a dead man walking if I don’t go through with it,” I calmly explain, retrieving my errant stilettos and slipping my feet into them. I stand up straight. “There’s stuff you don’t know. Stuff Kai can fill you in on. But right now, I need to get back into that room and let the gas knock me out like the others.” Jackson’s jaw slouches. “And you need to get the love of my life out of here before my father comes back and puts a bullet in all your skulls.”

  “Abby.” Jackson recovers, gripping my face. “I’m not leaving you here. You can’t marry him.”

  “But I can.” My gaze bounces between the two guys. “Think about it. It’s the perfect plan.”

  Sawyer and Jackson lock eyes, and I detect the moment they figure it out. A sly grin creeps across Sawyer’s mouth. “What are you thinking?”

>   I glance up at the camera overhead. “Firstly, you need to contact Xavier to remotely hack into the security system and fuck up all the cameras. Father will expect that as part of your planning, so he won’t be suspicious if all the cameras are out.”

  “Consider it done,” Sawyer says, extracting his cell from his back pocket.

  “Wait!” A thought occurs to me. “Tell Xavier to copy the feed for the last twenty-four hours before he does. Hopefully the camera was turned on and it captured my father murdering Charles Barron.” That could be worthwhile blackmail material.

  “What the fuck?” Jackson asks.

  I nod. “Charlie sold his father out, and my sperm donor put a bullet in his head right in front of everyone.”

  “Fuck.” Sawyer shakes his head. “What the hell has happened to Charlie Barron?”

  “I think he’s snapped,” I admit. “And he’s losing control. He thinks he’s playing with the big boys, but I’m sure my father is only using him.”

  “All the more reason you need to leave with us and get the hell away from him,” Jackson says.

  I shake my head. “I’m going to marry Charlie and act like the doting wife. Within reason, or he won’t buy it. And—” I place my hand over Jackson’s mouth, cutting him off before he says one word. “I won’t let him fuck me. You can reassure Kai of that.”

  “He’s not going to stand by and let this happen,” Jackson says, shaking his head. “You know that. He could end up getting killed anyway.”

  I poke my finger in his chest. “Do not fucking say that!” I hiss, jabbing my finger repeatedly against his firm chest. “When he hears my plan, he’ll see this is the only way. No gain without pain, right?”

  “And what’s this great plan of yours?” Sawyer asks, bending down to pick up the gas mask.

  “I’m not saying here. When it’s safe, I’ll get Drew to reach out and set up a meeting. Just keep Kai away for a few days.”

  “I doubt he’ll be able to get out of bed for a few days anyway,” Sawyer says in a clipped tone. “Atticus will be fucking pissed when he sees the state of him. I’m sure Michael was told not to hurt him too badly.”