The Ritual

She throws her head back laughing like I’m too stupid to catch onto something that should be easy to comprehend. “He was being tested. See, the Lords are always making the Lords prove themselves. And well, the fact that he wasn’t a snitch saved his life.”

“So, his father was testing him, knowing that if he failed, they’d kill him?” That’s what they do to a Lord who goes against their oath.

She waves a manicured hand in the air as if it’s no big deal. Live or die didn’t matter to her what happened to my husband. “He had no choice.”

That’s the same thing that Ryat told me when I asked him about the divorce papers. The Lords had ordered it and that was that.

LeAnne reaches out and grabs a cigarette, lighting it up. lifting it to her lips, she goes to take a drag, but I yank it out of her hand, putting it out on the surface of the desk. “I’m fucking pregnant.” I remind her

“Oh, yes.” She smiles. “With my grandsons.”

I slowly sit back and the look on my face makes her laugh.

“I know everything.” She says matter-of-factly.

“What do you want?” I ask, tears building in my eyes. “I’m tired of games. Just tell me why you wanted me to meet with you today.”

She runs her tongue along the top of her teeth and then gives me a soft smile. “I just wanted to see you.”

My brows pull together.

“I wanted to tell you—face-to-face—that I’m proud of you.”

I hate the way my heart accelerates with those words. I don’t know this woman and I have no want to know her. “I don’t need your validation.”

“I know, but that doesn’t mean I can’t tell you.” She shrugs.

“Unbelievable.” I shove myself up from the chair and make my way to the door.

“A Lord is nothing without his Lady.” She calls out, making me pause. I turn back to look at her. “Ryat without you, is just another ordinary man.” Standing, she walks around the desk and makes her way over to me. “You make him a Lord, Blakely.” Reaching out, I suck in a deep breath when her fingers grab a piece of my hair. “Don’t ever kneel thinking that you need to serve him. Kneel because you want to serve him.” I swallow nervously. “You have the power to make him hear, see and believe whatever you want to. Keep that in mind when he tells you he loves you.”

Knocking her hand away from me, I snort. “I’m nothing like you, mother. I won’t abandon my family or manipulate my husband.”

“Maybe not right now.” She agrees, her eyes dropping to my growing stomach. “But by the time they’re ready to start initiation, you will be.”

I slap her, the sound bouncing off the walls of my father’s study. Stepping into her, I press my chest into hers, my blood boiling at her choice of words. “You will stay the fuck away from me, my husband and my kids. Do you understand me?”

“Blakely,” She rubs her cheek, laughing softly. “It is inevitable.”

“No.” I refuse to believe that. “My children will not be a Lord, or a Lady. I refuse …”

“The only problem with that, darling. Is that it’s not your decision to make.” My chest tightens. “Why do you think me, and your father didn’t want you to know about our life?” She arches a brow. “Our real story?” Shaking her head, her eyes soften. “You cannot keep them from it, no matter how hard you try. You might as well accept that now.”

The first tear spills over my bottom lashes because she’s right. I know it. There’s no way Ryat can get out of the Lords and there’s no way I can keep it out of our future. “I’ll do whatever needs to be done.” I finally say.

A smile, making her look like the Cheshire cat appears on her face. “And that right there is what makes you me whether you like it or not.”

EPILOGUE TWO

RYAT

EIGHTEEN YEARS LATER

I STAND IN our kitchen, dressed in my suit, a cup of coffee in one hand, papers in the other. I have court this afternoon. Day two of a trial that I already know will take months. It’s a Lord who fucked up. But to the world, he’s another corporate billionaire who deserves to rot in hell. I already know the outcome, but we have to give the world the show they want. Once he’s sentenced and forgotten, he’ll be terminated. Like all the Lords before him that betrayed their oath.

Looking up I see Reign enter, dressed in a pair of basketball shorts and nothing else, looking like he hasn’t slept in days. “Want to tell me why I got a notification that the alarm was turned off at three in the morning?” I ask, setting my cup down on the counter.