Debauched: A Dark Reverse Harem Romance (The Devil's Syndicate Book 4)

by Sarah Bailey

  I blinked and then my vision focused on her. On Ash. My beautiful Ash who was pale as a sheet.

  “Ash, what’s going on? Is he awake?” came a muffled voice from near us.

  Ash pulled back and grabbed something off the dashboard.

  “His eyes are open, but I don’t think he can talk yet… Ror, can you say something?”

  “Wh… what happened?” I croaked.

  I could see we were inside the car, but not much beyond that.

  “We were in an accident. The boys are on their way.”

  An accident? Was that why we were in the car? My mind felt foggy. I couldn’t remember a thing.

  “Accident?”

  “It doesn’t matter right now. I need you to tell me where you’re hurting, okay?”

  I tried to focus on her question. Where was I hurting? Everywhere. But no, that’s not what she wanted to know. Where exactly?

  “My head hurts and my chest.”

  “Is that it?”

  “My arm hurts… the right one.”

  “Okay. I’m going to need to go around the other side of the car to check it, okay?”

  “Little star.”

  I felt her stroking my hair back.

  “Shh, it’s okay, I’m right here.”

  I reached out with my left hand, touching her chest. Thankfully, it didn’t hurt to move that limb.

  “Are… are you hurt?”

  “I don’t matter right now, Ror. Just stay there, okay?”

  I felt her warmth leave me and I almost panicked, but she told me she was just going around the other side of the car. Why did I hurt so much? Why were we in an accident? How could I have let this happen? I promised I’d take care of her. My little star.

  The door next to me was wrenched open and then I felt Ash’s hands on my arm. I winced, pain ripping up my wrist.

  “Ow, fuck!”

  “E, I think his wrist might be broken or at the very least, sprained. It’s beginning to swell.”

  I turned my head to look at her. She had her phone pressed between her ear and her shoulder.

  “Okay… you think I should try get him out? How much longer are you going to be?”

  I stared at her concerned features. She didn’t look so good herself although she wasn’t bleeding anywhere.

  “Hold on, I’m going to put the phone down. Yeah… okay.”

  She fiddled with the phone and placed it on the lip of the inside of the car door where the handle to open it was.

  “Ror, I’m going to take your seatbelt off and then I’m going to help you out of here.”

  She leant over me and unclipped my belt, carefully pulling it off me. She had to move my wrist again which made me cry out from the pain. If it wasn’t broken, then it was one hell of a sprain.

  “I’m sorry. God, Ror, I’m sorry.”

  “It’s okay, little star,” I whispered.

  She was helping me. Taking fucking care of me. As if I couldn’t love this girl any more. She was perfect.

  She picked up the phone again.

  “E, I really think his wrist is broken. What do I do? I can’t get him out of the car like this.” She tapped her fingers against her thigh as she listened to him. “Okay, I can do that.” Then she placed the phone down again. “I’m going have to sort out some kind of makeshift sling for you, Ror, then I can get you out, okay?”

  I nodded, leaning my head back against the headrest. Why hadn’t anyone come by? Where were we? How long until the boys got here? I had so many questions and I wondered why Ash hadn’t called someone else to help us. Surely we needed medical attention.

  “Little star… why no ambulance?”

  “And explain why my cousin ran us off the road and why I fired a gun into a tree? I don’t think so.”

  I blinked. Her cousin ran us off the road. Is that why we’d ended up like this?

  “You shot a tree?”

  “It was to get rid of him… I didn’t have a choice.”

  She moved away from my eyeline and I heard the back door being pulled open.

  “Where’s the gun?”

  “In the footwell,” came her voice from behind me. “We’re far enough off the road that no one will see if us if they’re not paying attention.”

  I glanced around and saw she was right. We seemed to have veered right off the road through a gap in the hedgerow and then slammed into a tree. The whole front had buckled and I was surprised my limbs hadn’t been crushed under the steering wheel. It seemed I might have had the wherewithal to slam down on the breaks first. Honestly, everything was too hazy to think about.

  Ash came back around. She had her ripped t-shirt from yesterday in her hands and was busy sorting it out into something we could use. Then she helped me into it. It fucking hurt like a bitch, but once my wrist was strapped to my chest, it was easier my wrist didn’t get jostled every five seconds.

  “Okay, can you turn for me and try get your legs out?”

  I did as she asked, wincing the whole time. She helped me get my legs out the car and onto the ground, then pull me up and out of it. I leant heavily against the backdoor.

  “Fuck,” I growled as everything hurt. My head pounded and my vision blurred for a moment before clearing again.

  “Come on, let’s get you sat down away from the car, okay?”

  She made me wrap my free arm around her shoulder. I saw her wince but she didn’t make another sound as she helped me over to a tree nearby, sitting me down and getting me propped up against it. Then she went back to the car and started emptying out all of our stuff. When she was done, she picked up the phone again and came over to me, taking a seat next to me.

  “You okay, Ror?”

  “Everything hurts, but I think I’ll be all right.”

  She gave me a sad smile before putting the phone to her ear again.

  “We’re out of the car now… Yeah… I think so… Okay, you’ll be here soon, yeah? Okay, good… I love you… Yes, that was directed all three of you, what did you think I was singling you out?” She shook her head. “All right, we’ll see you soon.”

  She hung up and turned to me.

  “They reckon they’ll be another half an hour. E’s worried you have a concussion.”

  My head hurt like a bitch so I probably did. I felt exhausted like I’d been put through the wringer. We had just been in a car crash so wasn’t really surprising.

  “I think I need a doctor.”

  Her eyes clouded over.

  “I can’t take you to a hospital, they’ll ask too many questions.”

  My foggy brain forgot for a moment.

  “When the boys get here, we’ll work out what to do, Ror. I promise I’ll get you help, okay? I won’t let you suffer.” She put her hand on my thigh and gave it a squeeze. “I love you.”

  I closed my eyes even though I was trying to stay conscious. The world began to go dark, but I knew when the boys got here, we’d be okay. They were coming for us. For me and Ash. Me and my little star.

  “I love you too.”

  And then the black overtook me yet again.

  Chapter 37

  I started to panic the moment we couldn’t find them. I swear Eric had driven up and down this road five times already. We needed to get to Rory and Ash. The urgency of the situation pulsed in my veins. What if he’d passed out again? What if Ash was more hurt than she’d let on?

  “Where are they?”

  “I don’t know, Quinn. Why don’t you call her?” Eric replied, looking harassed himself.

  “I’ll do it,” Xav piped up.

  I scanned the hedgerow, trying to see where they might have gone. Ash said they crashed into a tree, but nothing seemed disturbed along this stretch of road. Fucking back roads were a pain.

  “Hey angel… we think we’re in the right place but we can’t see you anywhere…” came Xav’s voice from behind me. “Yeah? Okay… Hold on…” He leant over through
the gap in the seats. “She says she’s going to come up to the road. Keep driving along here… Angel, is Rory okay? What? Fuck… Okay, just come up to the road.”

  “What’s wrong?” I asked, seeing the frantic look in his eyes.

  “Rory passed out again and Ash said she’s been scared to try to wake him up. She needs us.”

  My hands curled into fists. We needed to get to Ash fast so we could deal with this situation. I couldn’t let Rory down. He was my fucking responsibility. He’d always been.

  “Okay, she says she’s standing by the road now.”

  I scanned the area but still couldn’t see her.

  “For fuck’s sake, I swear the bloody tracker said here,” I growled.

  “Hold on,” Eric said, glancing at the SatNav. “We need to go further up.”

  He put his foot down and all of us were jerked backwards, including Xav who cursed as he slammed back against the seat.

  “Fuck, E, calm down.”

  “Don’t tell me to calm down. We need to get to them.”

  “Shut up you two,” I said, trying to concentrate on keeping my eye out for Ash. “STOP! She’s there.”

  Eric pulled up to where Ash was whilst I fumbled with my seatbelt, getting it off and opening the door before the car even came to a standstill. I was out and rushing towards Ash the next moment.

  “Little girl.”

  “Quinn, quick, come.”

  She was about to dash off through the gap in the hedgerow, but I caught hold of her arm.

  “Let me look over you.”

  “I’m fine, we need to see to Ror.”

  She tugged her arm out of my hold and I had no choice but to follow her. Xav and Eric were on our heels. The moment I saw the car wrapped around the tree, my heart stopped. How had the two of them walked out of it?

  “Over here,” Ash called.

  I immediately focused in on Rory sitting up against a tree with his head lolling on his shoulder. Jogging over, I squatted down and put my hand on his shoulder, shaking him slightly.

  “Rory, it’s Quinn… wake up for me.”

  I shook him a little harder when he didn’t respond. And when I heard his groan, I breathed a sigh of relief. I vaguely heard Ash talking to Eric and Xav behind me, but my attention was on Rory. He blinked and opened his eyes. The smile which accompanied his consciousness when he looked at me had my breath whooshing out of my chest.

  “Hello fucker.”

  “The only fucker here is you for scaring the shit out of us,” I retorted.

  “You going to help me up or what?”

  I grinned unable to help myself.

  “Xav, take this idiot to the car, yeah?”

  I stood and watched Rory’s brows turn down. Xav came up behind me and grinned down at him. Next thing Rory knew, Xav had lifted him up like a baby, grunting as he did it.

  “You’re fucking heavy, you know that.”

  “I didn’t ask you to carry me,” Rory grumbled.

  Xav set him on his feet before wrapping an arm around him and guiding him over towards the Range Rover. I turned to Ash and Eric.

  “What are we going to do about that?” I asked, pointing at the destroyed Audi. “The police find it, we’re fucked.”

  Ash’s brows turned down, then her face brightened.

  “I’m going to call my dad.”

  “Are you crazy? He’s going to lose his shit when he realises you got in a car accident.”

  “Quinn, he has the resources to deal with this mess and he can get Ror a doctor, which he desperately needs if he’s broken his fucking wrist, okay?”

  She shook her head and started fiddling with her phone before pressing it to her ear. I looked at Eric who shrugged.

  “She’s right. Rory does need medical attention we can’t give him. I’m going to get the stuff she’s left over there and take it to the car, okay? Then I’ll help Xav check Rory over.”

  I nodded and watched him walk over to the Audi. Ash was speaking in low tones down the phone. I took a step towards her, eying her carefully for any further signs of injury.

  “Yeah… So if I leave a marker so they can find it, that should work… I’m okay, I promise… Well, Rory needs a doctor… Okay, so we bring him to you… Yes, I’ll let him check me over too… Thank you, Dad… I’ll see you in like an hour or so… Yes, bye.”

  Ash tucked her phone back in her pocket. I tucked my fingers under her chin, forcing her face up to mine.

  “Will you let me look you over now?”

  “Yes… it’s just my chest that hurts, but I think the seatbelt did it. I was only out for a minute.”

  She let me tug her t-shirt up and check her over. I couldn’t see any bruising. The relief I felt at knowing she wasn’t in a worse condition. Then I cupped her face, staring down into her beautiful blues.

  “You’re really okay.”

  She nodded.

  “I know you were worried.”

  “Where’s the gun?”

  “In my purse.”

  “What really happened with Carlo?”

  She looked away, her face flushing a little.

  “I’ll tell you in the car… We need to get Rory to Viktor. He said he’ll have his doctor there by the time we get to his house.”

  Eric had already gone back to the car. I walked over to the Audi, pulled out the keys and shut the doors, locking them. Then I left the key on the hood.

  “Are they coming for it?”

  “Yeah, Viktor’s arranging it. Hold on, I need to text him our location.”

  I grabbed her phone before she could and typed in the address closest to here. Then I handed it back to her.

  “Thank you,” she muttered as she finished off the text.

  We made our way back to the car. Ash dug around in her bag and found something she could use as a marker. She tied a little ribbon to the hedgerow where the gap was and then sent another text to Viktor to let him know.

  We all climbed in the car. Xav sat in the front with Eric and I was in the back with Ash and Rory. She insisted on sitting next to him in the middle so she could keep an eye on him. Then Eric set off back towards London.

  Ash looked Rory over to make sure he was comfortable. It looked like Xav and Eric had cleaned up and bandaged the gash on his head. He didn’t seem to have any other injuries other than his wrist. The two of them had been incredibly lucky.

  “We’re going to my dad’s, Ror. He’s getting a doctor for us.”

  “Okay, little star,” he murmured.

  She sat back and looked over at me, her eyes dark. I put my hand out.

  “Gun?”

  She fumbled in her purse and took it out, handing it to me. I checked it over and then frowned when I realised it’d been fired.

  “What the fuck, Ash? Why did you fire this? And how the hell do you even know how?”

  “Shit, I forgot, I need to tell Viktor. They might have to dig the bullet out of a tree.”

  I stared at her as she fiddled with her phone again.

  “You going to explain this to me or not?”

  She put her phone down in her lap and rubbed her face.

  “I know how to use a gun… you think Frank would let me off without learning that?”

  She had a point there. Russo would’ve taught her a lot of things.

  “Why did you fire it?”

  “Carlo is a dick and wasn’t taking me seriously.”

  “So you figured you shoot up a tree?”

  She shrugged. I handed the gun off to Xav in the front and he shoved it in the glove compartment. There wasn’t much we could do about that shit now.

  “I told him I was coming for them and he didn’t believe me. I was angry and hurting. The guy just fucking made us crash, I wasn’t really thinking clearly, you know. I wanted him away from me and Ror so I could check him over. He came to kill us but the idiot didn’t bring a weapon. He thought making us crash would do
the trick.”

  I shook my head. The fact Ash had even threatened someone with a gun just went to show how angry she was and how she’d protect Rory through everything. She’d do that for all of us. I didn’t like her putting herself in danger, but then again if she hadn’t, what would her cousin have done?

  “So you shot the tree and then what? Did he leave?”

  “No, he called me a psycho bitch and that just made me lose my shit. I may have told him to tell Frank I would be the one sending him to his maker.”

  “You did what?”

  She looked at her hands which curled into fists in her lap.

  “I want to watch the life drain out of his eyes. I want to be the one who ends him.”

  For someone who was adamant about not hurting other people, Ash looked deadly as shit right now and very serious.

  “You want to kill Frank?”

  “Yes.”

  The whole car went silent. She hadn’t mentioned this before when we were hatching a plan to destroy Russo. I knew she wanted to be the instigator in his downfall, but this wasn’t something any of us expected judging by the looks on the boys’ faces. Xav was staring at her from the front with wide eyes. Eric’s face was hard as he glanced back in the rearview mirror. And Rory was turned to her with a slight frown on his face.

  “Why didn’t you say anything when we were planning his demise?”

  She raised her face to me.

  “Do you really think I could openly admit to my mother I want to kill her husband? That I want to murder the man who raised me in cold blood? It sounds crazy… especially since I refused to kill for him. I just can’t allow him to walk this earth any longer. It needs to be me. It has to. He raised me to be the queen of his kingdom. Wouldn’t it be poetic fucking justice if I wield the axe which cuts him down? It should be me.”

  I put my hand on her clenched fist.

  “Are you sure you want to be a killer, little girl? I can tell you it’s not something you can easily live with.”

  She blinked.

  “You’ve… killed?”

  It had to be done. And none of wanted to discuss what we did that day. What we did for Rory. It was better left in the past where it belonged. It wasn’t the only time I’d killed, but it was the worst one. The rest had been necessary to keep us safe.