Madness: A Dark Revenge Romance

“Be careful,” my wife scolds me as we enter our bedroom at Carnage.

“I’m fine,” I assure her, although I’m having a hard time keeping my eyes open.

I was able to convince Devin and Gavin to let me sleep in my own bed with my wife tonight, but only if I allowed them to give me a shot in the ass. Whatever it is, it’s made me tired as fuck.

“You guys need my help?” Adam asks, pushing a wheelchair. Gavin and Devin tried to make me sit in it, and I told them to fuck off. They seemed satisfied enough when Adam volunteered to follow us with it.

“We’ll be fine,” I tell him.

“Thank you.” My wife smiles, encouraging his help.

He nods and backs out into the hall. “If you need me, I’m right across the hall.” Then he shuts the door, leaving us alone.

She helps me into the bathroom, and she turns the faucet on to the tub. “No. I want to take a shower.”

“Haidyn—”

“I’m taking a shower, Charlotte.” I leave no room to argue. Honestly, I’m not sure I can get back up if I sit down in the bath, but I won’t tell her that. I hate looking weak, especially in front of her.

Huffing, she shuts off the faucet and opens the shower door, turning it on while I remove the T-shirt and sweatpants before we enter the shower.

I allow her to wash me while I sway back and forth on my feet. She makes it fast, knowing that I’m fading quickly.

She helps dry me off, and I enter the bedroom to see her over by the door about to turn the light off. “Leave it on.” It has nothing to do with spending eight days in a blacked-out room and everything with wanting to see my wife.

Spinning around, she looks at me tilting her head as if to question how we will sleep with the light on, but she just nods and walks over to the bed.

I crawl in on my side—closest to the door—and she gets in, cuddling up next to me. I wrap my arms around her and hold her to me as tight as I can, which isn’t much, considering how weak I still am.

Her body begins to shake against mine, and then she sniffs. Lowering my head to hers, I kiss her forehead. “It’s okay, doll face. I’m here.”

She sniffs again, and her arms tighten on me. “Promise me⁠—”

“I’ll never leave you.” I interrupt her, knowing exactly what she was going to say. “I promise.”

Closing my eyes, I hope that when I open them, she’s still here…with me…in our bed. I hope this isn’t another hallucination.

My heavy eyes open, and I close them immediately at the harsh light. I reach out and feel nothing but blank space.

I open my eyes and sit straight up, flinching at the sharp pain that takes my breath away. “Fuck,” I growl, reaching up to rub the back of my neck.

“Haidyn.” The door to the bathroom opens, and my wife exits, rushing over to me. “Hey, are you okay?” She sits down on the bed next to me.

I reach out, grab her hand, and lie down, pulling her on top of me. Her giggle fills the room. Fuck, I never thought I’d hear that again.

“You need to take it easy,” she says and sits up, straddling my hips.

I look up at her, and she’s smiling down at me. She looks absolutely stunning, even with her black eyes and bruised face. Reaching up, I push her hair from her face. “How do you feel?”

“I’m fine. Don’t worry about me. How do you feel?”

“I’m fine.”

“Lie,” she deadpans. And her face falls as her eyes look me over. “Seriously. How do you feel? Need me to call Devin or Gavin to come check on you? Need some pain pills?”

I shake my head. “No.”

“Haidyn.” She huffs. Crossing her arms over her chest she looks away from me, her eyes scanning the room.

Reaching up, I undo them and bring her left hand to my lips, kissing her knuckles. Her eyes drop to her wedding ring. “You tricked me.” Biting her bottom lip, she brings her eyes back to mine.

“You’ll have to be more specific,” I say, knowing exactly what she means. I was hoping she’d forget the video I left her, but of course she didn’t. “That could describe many things.”

She holds up her left hand, arching a brow. “Our marriage. Just how did Adam help force me to marry you?”

I grab her hips and push her onto her back to where I’m kneeling between her legs. I ignore the pain that runs up my side and grind my teeth, hoping she doesn’t notice. But when that giggle comes from her perfect lips again, it was totally worth it.

She wraps her legs around my waist while I run my hand up and down her smooth thigh. “I had Adam go through your laptop.”

She rolls her eyes dramatically. “Well, I didn’t think you needed a Mac. Pretty sure you can afford to buy your own,” she jokes.

I don’t laugh. “While I had Adam looking through it, he found two devices that were connected to it. An Apple watch and a cell phone.”

The smile drops, and her wide eyes search mine. I have her attention. “The very same that you had been contacting me from.” I knew that the Lords had given her a “fake” life. I just never stopped to think how deep that went. “I had him send you a text from an unknown number after your appointment about turning me over to the Lords.”

Her body stiffens under mine, and her breathing picks up, but she remains silent. I wait and let her collect her thoughts, trying to remember how it all went down. “No⁠—”

“I called you after he sent the text to gauge your mood. I even asked you if you were okay when you seemed flustered.” It’s the only reason I let her leave my house that day. I wanted her to have some alone time while she debated what to do.

Her eyes narrow, and she tries to get up, but I grab her arms, wrapping my hands around her tiny wrists and pin them down by her head. “Haidyn,” she growls, fighting me. “What the fuck⁠—?”

“I left you alone all day with your thoughts deciding on if you wanted to turn me over to the Lords or not. Then I arrived at your house, and you pretended to be upset about your fake boy toy.” I snort. “I never even had dinner reservations because I knew you wouldn’t want to go. You’d be too worked up.”

“But…but you left me that night after we signed the marriage license. You went to the cathedral for me. The Lords had texted me to be there or else…” She trails off again.

“Also, Adam.” I nod as she puts two and two together.

“Then where the fuck did you go that night?” she snaps.

I smile down at her. “I went and picked up your ring.” A friend of mine was holding it for me. It’s also why I made her stay behind at the house. If I had let her leave with me like she wanted, she would have known it was all a setup.

Her pretty features soften at my words, and she swallows. “So,” she whispers, “you went to all that trouble to trick me into marrying you to piss my mother off.”

“No.” I frown. “I married you because I love you,” I say truthfully.

“But—what if I had taken you to the location that you gave me? Then what?” she asks, still confused how I managed to pull it all off. “Huh? I would have known it was a setup.”

“I had two plans,” I admit shamelessly. “You know the results of one.” My eyes slide to her left hand that I still hold pinned down by her head. “The second was you delivered me to the location that I sent you—what you thought were the Lords. Adam would be there waiting for us, dressed in a cloak and mask so you wouldn’t see his face. We would have been ambushed. He would have placed a hood over your head and handcuffed you, making you think you were being taken. Then Adam would have left us alone after that—done with his part.”

Her eyes search mine as if she’s looking for the lie. She won’t find it. Not anymore. I’ve been given a second chance at the life she wants. I’m not going to waste it. Telling her the truth won’t change the fact that she’s my wife and I’m her husband. And she belongs to me and I to her until we die.

“I was going to drive you to a secluded location where I would have stripped you naked and tied you up.” My eyes drop to her pretty pink nipples to see they’re now hard, and seeing her body react to my plan makes me smile. Our relationship started off with me forcing her to be my good little whore. I want it to stay that way. “I would have left you tied with the hood over your head. Wouldn’t want you seeing me too soon. I’d make you assume that you were left there alone wondering what was going to happen to you and what happened to me.” I shrug. “Did they kill me and take you for themselves? Your guess is as good as mine.”

She bares her white teeth at me while her arms fight my hold, and I tighten my hands around her small wrists making her whimper. Her hips lift off the bed. I’m not back to myself but I’m stronger than I was yesterday, which means whatever Devin and Gavin gave me is working. I’ll have them shoot my ass up again with that shit today.

“After a day or two of watching you cry and listening to you beg your kidnapper to let you go, I’d come in as me to kill them and save you.” Then she would have married me.

She’s panting, her chest rising and falling quickly. I release her wrists, and she reaches up and slaps me, making me laugh. It feels good to know she cares. “You were going to be mine, either way, doll face.”

“Fuck you,” she spits out, and I wrap my hand around her throat, holding her down onto the mattress but not choking her.

My free hand drops between her parted legs while I sit between them and feel her pussy. She’s soaked. “Does the thought of me kidnapping you turn you on, beautiful?”

She arches her neck and moans, and I push a finger into her cunt. “Words, Charlotte.” I remove it and slap her shaved pussy.

“Y-yes,” she cries out.

“Good girl,” I say and slap it again. Goddamn, I missed her. Not just the sex. Everything about her. “Want me to take you to a secluded location, strip you naked, and tie you up?”

“Yes.” She nods the best she can.

“Want me to make you beg to be fucked, doll face?”

“Please…” She trails off when I slide two fingers into her this time. I never thought I’d get to be with her again.

Her hands wrap around my wrists, and my fingers pause as her heavy eyes open and meet mine. “You do owe me a honeymoon.”

“Yes, I do.” And I add, “Whatever my wife wants.”

I knew it was wrong, but I didn’t give a fuck. I was going to marry this woman, even if I had to make her think her life was in danger. I wasn’t sure if she would give me up or not, but I was willing to take that chance, and that’s why I had a backup plan. Either way, the result would be the same.

CHARLOTTE

It’s been two days since Haidyn was rescued and brought to Carnage. Being with him twenty-four seven is the closest thing to heaven that I’ll ever know. He doesn’t leave my side. If we’re not in his bed, we’re in his shower or out on the balcony. If we’re not fucking, he’s holding me. We can’t keep our hands off one another.

My dependency on him has grown more than I thought possible. We need to talk about so many things, but I’m just not ready. Things are going so well, I’m afraid to tell him what I know. That it’ll push him away from me. “In a world where it’s either you or me…I’ll always choose you.” But what if what he finds out changes everything? It’s not something that can easily be overlooked or forgotten. Things have changed, and I don’t want him to see me differently.

So I put that thought out of my head for the time being. Like right now, it’s a little after noon, and we just got out of bed. His cum still leaks from my ass, soaking my underwear. We were about to get into the shower when Kashton knocked on Haidyn’s bedroom door. He told us to wake the fuck up and meet them down in the basement.

I’m tucked into his side, one arm wrapped around the front, the other his back, my fingers linked together, holding on for dear life. Thankfully, he doesn’t seem to mind with an arm draped over my shoulders, holding me to him. It’s not the easiest to walk like this with him because of our height difference, but I’m afraid to let go.

After I passed out last night, I had a dream that he left me. I woke up in a panic and he was there, holding me, talking to me, fucking me. Reminding me that I’m his good little whore and I belong to him. I fell asleep on my side while he held me tightly with his dick still inside me.

The door to the elevator opens down in the basement and we step out walking through a set of clear plastic curtains. They remind me of a meat department at a store. I half expect to see blood-covered pigs hanging on hooks from the ceiling once we go through them.

But instead, Kashton, Adam, and Saint stand in the center of a room while my mother is chained to a wall. Close enough.

She starts screaming into the gag that’s secured around her head, making her drool all over her naked body.

My eyes drop to the floor unable to meet hers. All the lies that I believed—I’m so fucking stupid. I thought she was the one thing that was real in my world. Turns out, I had to make up a fake life to find something real.

A cell beeps, and Kashton pulls his out of his pocket before he speaks. “They’re here.”

I want to ask who else is coming, but I guess I’ll find out soon enough.

Turning my back to Isabella, Haidyn pulls me into him, wrapping his arms around me, and I dig my face into his shirt, inhaling his scent. It helps calm me. My breathing evens out, and my body relaxes into his muscular one.

The elevator alerting us to our guests’ arrival has me pulling away from him so I can see who it is.

The plastic curtains separate before Ryat and Sin enter the basement. Then Tyson walks in behind them. None of them are known for their kindness but right now they look very pissed, and it makes me wonder what Isabella did to all three of them for them to be here to witness whatever the Spade brothers plan on doing to her.

“The gang is all here,” Kashton states. “Let’s get started. Haidyn…” He looks over at my husband. “The honor is all yours.”

I step away from him, my arms falling to my sides. Instead, I step closer to Adam, who stands off by himself. I still don’t know their full story, but all the Spade brothers seem to be mad at one another right now. I’ve just tuned them out and put all my focus on my husband. He’s started getting his strength back—at least it seemed that way when he tossed me around like a rag doll last night. He held me down and made me beg for each orgasm and I gladly obliged.

Adam places an arm over my shoulder, and I lean into him watching Haidyn step up to my mother. He takes a knife out of his pocket, flips it open, then runs the tip of the blade down her cheek. He cuts the leather strap from the gag, so it falls free of her mouth, but it also slices her cheek open.

A shrill scream comes from her lips, and I cover my ears as the blood drips onto her drool-covered breasts. Adam’s arm tightens on me in a protective state. “You get one chance…” Haidyn starts. “Anything you want to tell us?”

She sucks in a deep breath, her body fighting in the chains.

He raises the knife and does the same to her other cheek. The scream that follows seems louder than the last. “I can cut you all day,” he tells her.

“The Lords allowed me to train you, but I had to get intel.” She’s gasping to catch her breath.

“Intel on what?” Haidyn questions.

“They told me that I couldn’t kill you but to do whatever was needed to get you to confess,” she answers through gritted teeth.

No one says anything, so I ask, “Confess to what?”

“Killing our fathers,” Haidyn answers, not turning to face me.

“You killed them for that fucking whore!” she shouts, referring to Ashtyn. Saint goes to step forward, but Kashton grabs his arm, pulling him to a stop. They need information more than her death right now. “They had made deals that they still needed to fulfill.”

“You mean like the one they had with Laura?” Sin spits out already knowing that’s one of them.

I knew Laura but had no clue just how evil she was. She’s Sin’s mother-in-law and sold her soul and her daughter to the devil in exchange for her husband to be a prisoner here. Haidyn caught me up on things I needed to know over the past couple of days. I thought how horrible it would be to have a mother that evil. Now I kinda know what that feels like.

Haidyn laughs, making the hairs on the back of my neck rise. When you fall in love with the devil, you see him differently. But I forget just how dark he can be. I like this side of him just as much as I love the other sides of him. Haidyn can be whoever he needs to be when it comes to the situation. As can I.

My mother looks at Sin, and even though she’s chained to a concrete wall, she’s smiling at him. “You should thank Laura for your wife. It’s because of her that Elli begs you to fuck her like the worthless whore she is.”

Sin runs toward her. Tyson tries to grab him, but he manages to shrug him off and punches my mother in the face, knocking her head into the wall.

Haidyn wraps his arm around Sin’s neck from behind and yanks him off her. “Calm down,” he tells Sin as he fights Haidyn. He lets go of him and pushes him toward Tyson who grabs him, pulling him farther away from the wall while Ryat steps in closer to help if needed.

She spits blood out of her now busted lips, and some of it dribbles down her naked body.

We all turn around to see my stepfather joining the party, and Adam pulls me over to the side. He still doesn’t trust him, and I wonder if he knows something that we don’t.

“Oh, thank God.” My mother begins to cry, and I turn to look at her. Physical tears run down her bloody face, and she pulls on the chains, pretending to be helpless.

It’s as if I’ve been blind all my life and can finally see her for who she really is. I never doubted the Spade brothers when they said how awful my mother is, but seeing it is different.

“Bill, get me out of here.” She sniffs.

I turn back to look at Bill, and he’s staring at me. His eyes slide to Haidyn’s before they meet mine again. Stepping into me, he cups my face and gives me a warm smile. “Your father would be proud of you.”

His words make my chest tighten.

“He would hate you,” my mother shouts, realizing that Bill isn’t here to save her. “Haidyn killed your father!” she screams. “He took him away from us.”

I turn and look up at my husband, and his eyes search mine. He doesn’t know that I’ve already been told this. It’s one of the many things we’ve both avoided. “Charlotte⁠—”

“Trent knew he was going to get killed.” Bill interrupts Haidyn, repeating the same words he told me when we were in the car to Dollhouse. “He knew what he was doing and that there would be consequences. He didn’t care.” Bill looks over at Haidyn and then back at me. “It wasn’t Haidyn’s fault that the Lords wanted your father dead. He betrayed them, and it was going to happen regardless.”

“You can’t be fucking serious!” my mother screams, and I step back into Haidyn as Bill walks over to stand in front of her. “Get me out of here!” she demands.

He crosses his arms over his chest and stares at her.

“WILLIAM! Do something!” She’s gasping while fighting the restraints.

“I married you because of Trent,” he tells her. “He was my best friend and when he made the deal that we both knew would one day catch up with him, he asked me to take you in as my Lady, but it wasn’t because of you. It was for Annabelle.” He turns and looks at me over his shoulder. “He knew the path you’d put her on, and he wanted to make sure that she had one parent who would put her first.”

“I’m her mother,” she shouts as if that means something.

He snorts. “And now you belong to them.”

My mother’s scream makes my ears ring. She’s throwing a tantrum because no one cares about her. Not anymore.

She sucks in a deep breath, and her narrowed eyes land on my husband. I stiffen at the way she smiles at him. “Have you told her about us?”

“Us?” My head snaps to Haidyn.

He runs a hand over his hair.

“Yes, Annabelle.” I grind my teeth at the use of my name. “I’ve fucked him.”

“We’ve all fucked you,” Saint speaks, surprising me.

“Not like we had a choice,” Kashton adds.

Haidyn wraps his arms around me, and I allow him to pull me into him. I will not let my mother control any part of my life anymore. And I can’t hide the smirk on my face when she lets out a huff.

“It won’t last.” She tries to change tactics. “Before you know it, you’ll find yourself down here just like the rest of their women. Women mean nothing to them!” she shouts. “They’re all disposable.”

The one thing in my life that I’m a hundred percent sure of is that my husband loves me. And the only way I’ll end up down here, chained to the wall is if I’m naked and begging him to fuck me.

I hold up my left hand and don’t even have to say anything. The way her face falls and turns ghostly white says it all. Then like the evil bitch she is, she gives me a bloody smile as she speaks. “Have you told her yet?”

I don’t want to let her words affect me because I know she’s just trying to get to me, but feeling Haidyn’s body stiffen against mine has me pulling away and turning to face him. “Tell me what?” I demand. “Haidyn?”

His eyes drop to my stomach, and I instinctively place my hands on it. Stepping into me, he takes my hands in his, and mine begin to shake. We haven’t discussed what he went through while he was gone. He hasn’t offered it, and I don’t want to bring up something he’s trying to forget.

Licking his lips, he takes a deep breath that makes his muscular chest bow out. “I…” His face softens, and the hairs on my neck rise in alert. If he’s upset about it, then it’s bad.

My mother’s laughter fills the basement, and the sound claws at my skin like razor blades. “What is it?” I ask, my throat tightening.

His jaw sharpens, and he looks away from me. I know I won’t get anything out of him, but my mother is more than willing to do so. “While he was recently under my care, he had a procedure.”

“Fuck,” Saint hisses.

My watery eyes go to him and then Kashton to see he’s got his head down, rubbing the back of his neck. My eyes shoot back to Haidyn’s, still not able to put the pieces together. “What did she do to you?” I whisper.

“She gave him a vasectomy.” Adam answers me, and my head whips over to see him come to stand next to us. His green eyes on my mother. “A long time ago, the Lords used to do it to the lower-level members to weed out the weak—end those families altogether. But then they realized it was a punishment for the higher-ups to do so. It was just another way to control us. The most degrading thing you can do to a man is remove his chance of having an heir.”

“They’re not supposed to get married and have a family,” my mother snaps. “You all lost that chance when you killed your chosens.”

Kashton steps into her, but Saint pulls him back. “You didn’t give us a choice,” Kashton spits at her.

“You always had a choice!” she screams. “You chose the cowardly way out.” Her eyes move to Saint. “That’s the only reason the Lords let you keep your whore of a wife is because you married her behind their backs.”

Kashton and Haidyn both killed their chosens? Is that the video I saw? My mother let those four men torture Haidyn because he killed Sierra instead of letting them rape her.

I realize I’m crying when Haidyn runs his tatted knuckles down my cheeks. “I’ll get it reversed,” he tells me.

My pulse races with hope, and my tear-filled eyes search his. “You want children?” He didn’t want them before.

“Of course.” He frowns as if I’m crazy and imagined the whole conversation that we once had in his bed. “You’re my wife, and I want to give you a family.”

A sob escapes my lips, and I slap my hand over my mouth.

He pulls me in for a hug, and I cling to him. “I’m so sorry, Charlotte.” He presses his hand to the back of my head, holding me to him, and I cry harder. “So sorry.”

“Haidyn?” I pull away, and he lets go of me so I can look up at him.

“Yeah, doll face?” he asks, his pretty blue eyes searching my watery ones. “You can tell me…what is it?”

“I’m pregnant.”