Defied: A Dark Reverse Harem Romance (The Devil's Syndicate Book 2)

by Sarah Bailey

  “Mr Bykov.”

  “I hear you’ve been missing and yet here you are, alive and well.”

  I didn’t know how to respond to that. Keeping my back straight, I met his stare head on, not wanting to back down in the slightest or show my fear.

  “Are you going to tell my father?”

  A smirk appeared across his lips and he tapped his fingers against them.

  “Russo would pay well to know the identity of Il Diavolo, his daughter’s captor.”

  Viktor’s eyes flicked up to Quinn who stiffened by my side. Not many people knew his real identity and I could only guess at how Viktor came by that knowledge. How he even knew he would find me here.

  “I’m not a captive.”

  His eyes rested back on me, surprise showing in those blue depths, the colour so familiar to me.

  “No?”

  I had no idea what Quinn made of me stating that fact. At first, I’d been his captive, but now things were so different. It hadn’t taken us very long to fall into bed with each other and form a solid bond, but Viktor didn’t need to know the ins and outs of my relationship with Quinn and the others.

  I took his silence as a cue to keep talking. To be bold and brave in the face of this terrifying man in front of me.

  “I admit I was taken, but I have no wish to leave if that’s why you’re here.”

  I reached out and slid my fingers between Quinn’s. He gripped my hand, but I didn’t look up at him to catch his expression.

  “I won’t return to my father. My place is here… by Quinn’s side.”

  Chapter 24

  Viktor Bykov had come here for one reason and one reason alone. My little girl. It didn’t sit well with me that he knew who I was. Nor did I trust the man not to reveal Ash’s whereabouts to anyone else. There was nothing I could do. Leaving her upstairs wasn’t an option. I needed her near me so I could make sure no one would take her and I wasn’t going to come down here alone without Rory. That would’ve been a stupid move.

  Viktor’s eyes flicked between Ash and me, guessing at our relationship. Guessing at what we really were.

  She’s mine, Viktor. Mine. I won’t let her go. Not for anything.

  The single most important woman in my life. In our lives. Mine, Xav, Eric and Rory’s. She was the centre. The axis upon which we all spun. I recognised it and it was only a matter of time until they all did too.

  Viktor smiled, his grin so wide I thought it might split his face.

  “A determined little thing, aren’t you? So like your mother.”

  Ash let out a little squeak of indignation.

  “I’m nothing like Isabella.”

  I looked down at her, finding her brow furrowed and her eyes blazing with irritation. Viktor had clearly hit a nerve. Why was she so against being compared to her mother?

  “Your resemblance is… shall I say, hard not to notice, but come, let me look at you closely.”

  Ash stayed where she was.

  “No thank you.”

  I looked between them, unable to help myself. There was something bothering me and I couldn’t quite work it out.

  “What do you want, Viktor?” I asked, wanting this interlude to be concluded so I could work out what the fuck we were going to do next.

  His eyes flicked to me, a smile gracing his face. One I wanted to wipe off his lips because it irritated the fuck out of me. His knowing look made me nervous as if he could see right through me.

  “Merely to make your acquaintance. And to let you know I’m watching you. Causing quite the stir, aren’t you, Mr Knox - or should I call you Il Diavolo? But no, you originally went by Marotta, did you not? You see, I like to know who it is I’m speaking to.”

  I gritted my teeth. Him knowing all of that put me on the back foot. But I knew a lot of things about the man in front of me too. I wasn’t about to reveal how much. It paid well to keep your cards close to your chest.

  “What. Do. You. Want?”

  “You are worried I will tell Russo who you really are and why you wish to destroy him.” He laughed and the sound grated on my ears. “Do not worry, I have no intention of doing so. That man deserves to be knocked off his pedestal.” Ash’s fingers trembled in mine. “You will ensure it happens. That is all I ask.”

  I almost fucking laughed except none of this was funny at all. Gaining the attention of a man like Viktor Bykov would not end well for any of us.

  “A simple task, clearly.”

  His smile remained, his eyes darkening as they fell on Ash.

  “I will see you again, Ashleigh, and next time, you won’t be hiding behind your guard dogs.”

  He gave us all a nod before turning and stalking from the room with his men following behind him.

  Rory slipped the knife he had clutched in his hand back in his pocket and turned to me, brows furrowed.

  “He’s a big fucking problem.”

  “No shit Sherlock,” I muttered.

  I ran my free hand through my hair before turning to Ash. Her face had drained of all colour and she looked close to fainting. I cupped her face, turning it towards me.

  “Little girl.”

  “Sir,” she whispered.

  The look in her eye told me exactly what she needed. I glanced at Rory whose eyes were on Ash, a dark note to them. He knew too. Talking about what just happened could wait.

  “Come.”

  She didn’t hesitate to follow me from the VIP lounge and back into the hallway. We were in the lift together the next minute with Rory pressing down on the button for the top floor. I ran a hand down Ash’s back, she arched into my touch, her blue eyes still full of emotions as she tried to regain a hold of herself. Leaning down, I ran my teeth along her earlobe.

  “How many?”

  “Twenty, sir.”

  My eyes flicked over to Rory.

  “Do you want him to watch?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  The doors opened, he stepped out first followed by Ash and me. My hand was at the small of her back, directing her forward. As soon as the office door was closed behind us, she walked straight over to the desk and bent over it, placing her hands down on the surface.

  “This isn’t a punishment, little girl. Remember you asked for it.”

  “I know, sir.”

  She wanted something to focus on that had nothing to do with what just happened.

  “Unbutton your jeans and pull them down.”

  She did as I said, pulling her underwear with it so she bared herself to both of us. I glanced at Rory whose eyes were very much fixed on her pert little arse.

  “You can take my place if you think you can handle it,” I said quietly so Ash wouldn’t hear us.

  His whole body stiffened and he looked up at me, startled.

  “What?”

  “I see the way you look at her, Rory, I know what you want.”

  He swallowed.

  “I don’t trust myself.”

  “You think you won’t stop.”

  His eyes told me the answer. I gave him a nod and stepped forward until I was standing next to my little girl. I ran a hand along her soft skin and she let out a little pant.

  “Please, sir.”

  Smack.

  She arched back, letting out a little moan as the first strike across her behind came. I loved the way her skin blossomed immediately.

  “More, sir.”

  Smack.

  More followed. Her breathing became erratic. I could see her pussy getting slick with her arousal. Her moans were breathy as she squirmed with each strike. My little girl needed this to ground her. I glanced back at Rory, who’d come a little closer much to my surprise.

  “You sure?” I mouthed to him, indicating her with my hand.

  I wasn’t sure why I was pushing him. Perhaps it had to do with wanting to make sure he didn’t go too far with her. I should really allow Ash to pursue Rory at her own pace as she seem
ed to be doing with Eric.

  He shook his head so I directed my attention back to Ash, wanting to give her exactly what she needed.

  By the time the last strike came, she was gripping the desk and panting so loud, the sound almost echoed around the room. Her little pert behind was red from my spanking, but her hips thrust back as if she needed more.

  “Thank you, sir.”

  I stroked her lower back.

  “You’re such a good little girl.”

  “Sir…”

  “Did you want something else?”

  She looked back at me, her blue eyes dark with her arousal.

  “I want your cock, sir.”

  I smirked, knowing that would be her answer, and shook my head.

  “No, little girl, you’re not getting it.”

  Her bottom lip turned down and she looked like she was going to give me a piece of her mind.

  “You can have cock when we get home, but you’ll have to go ask Xav for it.”

  “What? Why?”

  I leant down and kissed her lower back, making her squirm.

  “I have work to get on with and you need to learn some patience. You won’t get what you ask for all the time with me and you know that.”

  Her head dropped down.

  “Okay, sir.”

  I kissed her skin again before tugging up her clothes. She hissed as they stretched over her red little arse, but she didn’t stop me as I pulled her upright and re-buttoned her jeans. I cupped her face, leaning down to kiss her. She moulded to me immediately, clutching my shirt in her fingers. It’s not so much I didn’t want to fuck her, but after that shit with Viktor Bykov, sex was the last thing on my mind and would merely be a distraction.

  “Now, why don’t you go finish making tea? I’m sure Rory would like one too.”

  “Yes, Quinn.”

  She kissed my cheek and walked out of the room.

  I turned to Rory who had a dark expression on his face and wondered what he was thinking. And what the fuck we were going to do about the Russian mogul.

  Chapter 25

  Two things were at the forefront of my mind. Firstly, why the fuck was Quinn encouraging me with Ash and secondly, what the fuck was Viktor Bykov doing here looking for Ash?

  “What was that about?”

  Quinn raised an eyebrow.

  “Which part exactly?”

  “All of it.”

  He moved around the desk and sat down, appraising me steadily.

  “I’m trying to give you what you clearly want.”

  I stiffened. The fact Quinn noticed my urges towards Ash bothered me. They were beginning to get out of hand. All I could think about was my hands on her. Marking her perfect skin. Taking her. Claiming her.

  And it was driving me fucking crazy.

  “Well, don’t.”

  He put his hands up.

  “Fair enough.”

  I paced away, agitated by everything and everyone. Being out of the house set me on edge. Made everything harder to deal with. Except I had as much responsibility towards this place as the rest of them did. We all owned an equal percentage of the company. I’d promised Quinn I’d stand by him no matter what. So I just had to deal with it. Deal with the way this all made me feel. And deal with my emotions towards Ash which were steadily eroding my self-control.

  “How did he know she’d be here?”

  I heard Quinn crack his knuckles.

  “There’s only one person who knows who we are and why we have Ash who has the wherewithal and reason to send that Russian cunt to check on her.”

  I stopped in my tracks.

  “You don’t think…”

  “I don’t think, Rory. I know.”

  “But why? How?”

  He looked away out of the windows.

  “They’ve been having an affair for over twenty years.”

  “And how the fuck do you know that?”

  His lip curled upwards in a sneer.

  “It’s not hard to discover other people’s secrets when you know the right buttons to push to make them squeal. Information is power. Why do you think I run everything rather than letting Xav do so or even Eric? We both know you can’t cope with it. The only reason we’re here now is because of me.”

  The implications of what he just said whirled around in my brain. All of it clicked into place at once, making me wonder how many more secrets Quinn had uncovered yet kept to himself.

  “You said over twenty years… How long exactly?”

  “I know what you’re really asking and the answer is most likely yes.”

  “Are you going to tell her?”

  His eyes flicked up to me and I knew his answer before he even said the words.

  “No.”

  “Wouldn’t it solve a hell of a lot of problems if you did?”

  His fingers drummed on the desk.

  “No, it wouldn’t and it’s not my place to tell her either so you better keep our suspicions to yourself. Understood?”

  “But you and her…”

  “Me and her what, Rory? We’re together? Don’t you think I know that?”

  His voice trembled a little and I wondered exactly how deeply Quinn’s feelings ran. I still hadn’t exactly asked him how he was okay with this whole sharing Ash business and what it really meant for all of us.

  “Keeping secrets from her didn’t turn out so well for you last time.”

  He scowled and looked back out the window.

  “She’s better off not knowing. Besides, it’s not as if we can confirm the truth either way.”

  “You could ask.”

  He rolled his eyes and turned back to me.

  “They don’t know that I know. Remember, information is power and I intend to keep the upper hand.”

  I almost scoffed. Yeah, we really had the upper hand here when we just got blindsided with a visit from the Russian mogul.

  “Do you think he will tell Russo Ash is here?”

  “No, but she might.”

  I frowned.

  “Why would she?”

  “I won’t return her calls. Why do you think she sent her Russian lover after us?”

  I shook my head.

  “Wouldn’t it be easier to just answer her?”

  “And listen to her begging me to allow her to speak to her daughter? No, it would not. Ash doesn’t need to know her mother was involved in all of this.”

  Of all the secrets we were keeping from Ash, that was possibly the worst one.

  “I don’t like it.”

  “Neither do I, but we all make choices and the consequences aren’t always ideal. She was our way in and you know we wouldn’t have Ash if it wasn’t for her insistence on extracting her daughter from Russo’s clutches.”

  I was saved from saying anything else as Ash came back in the room with three mugs. She set them on the desk and handed one to me, pushing the other over to Quinn. She took her own mug and set herself back down in the chair Quinn had brought in for her, staring up at the monitors. It left me wondering why she hadn’t asked any questions about what was going on or made a comment about our encounter with the Russian.

  “Are you okay, Ash?”

  She looked over at me.

  “I guess so. I’m going to assume you’ll do something about Viktor so I’ll try not to worry about it.”

  I looked at Quinn who frowned. So he wasn’t expecting Ash’s reaction either.

  “We will, little girl.”

  “Then I’m okay.”

  She turned back to the monitors and sipped her tea. Who knew what was going through her mind right now, but clearly she didn’t want to talk about it. I gave Quinn a significant look before leaving with my own mug. I still had shit to do if we were going to get back to the house at a reasonable hour before I completely lost all of my damn self-control. Witnessing Quinn spanking Ash had done nothing but stoke the flames which were already roari
ng with their intensity. Soon, I would have none left and then fuck knows what would happen.

  Nothing good.

  Nothing good at all.

  Chapter 26

  No one else was back when I got in after a long day of meetings. Honestly, sometimes I wondered why Quinn sent me to these. He knew how much I hated shit like that. I suppose he wanted the muscle in case things went south, which was highly likely when you worked with career criminals.

  I threw myself on the sofa in the living room after kicking off my shoes, not really wanting to do a single fucking thing and turned on the TV so I could browse Netflix. Just as I got settled on what to watch, my phone started ringing. I sighed and grabbed it, scowling when I saw the caller ID. I sat up and answered, going through the motions of accepting the call from the prison.

  “Hello Julian, what do you want?”

  I could barely keep the disdain out of my voice. Why the fuck was he calling again so soon?

  “How are you?”

  “I’m fine. Doesn’t explain why you’re calling.”

  He let out a long sigh which only pissed me off further.

  “I need to talk to you about something important, but I would prefer not to do it over the phone.”

  Did he really have the gall to ask me to visit him in prison? I hadn’t once gone in the twelve years since he got sent down. What the fuck made him think I’d go now? The only reason I allowed him to call me was plain and simple, he was my father and the only blood family I had left. So yeah, I might hate everything about him, but abandoning him completely? I didn’t have it in me. It’s why I understood Ash’s predicament more than the others. She knew her father was an evil man, but her love for him made it difficult for her to destroy him. I felt the same way about Julian. He wasn’t a good person, but he was my family.

  “I’m not coming to the prison. We’ve discussed this before. I don’t want to see you.”

  There was silence for a long moment and I thought he might hang up. This was a never-ending argument between us. He couldn’t understand why I’d still help him yet not see him. The complicated mess of emotions I had surrounding him made it impossible for me to contemplate having him right in front of me.