Arranged love

GRAVE

“WHERE THE FUCK is it?” I growl, while on my hands and knees checking under my bed for my extra phone charger. The one I have at the hotel isn’t working properly, and my phone keeps dying. And I haven’t felt like going to buy a new one. My house just happened to be on the way to dinner, and I thought I’d stop by and get it.

Standing up, I open my nightstand again. Shoving shit around, I dig for it but no luck. Where did I have it last …?

“Grave?” I hear April scream bloody murder.

I run out of my bedroom and to the banister just in time to see her charging up the stairs. “What the fuck, April?” I snap, trying to calm my racing heart. I thought she was dying, for fuck’s sake.

“Grave.” She comes up to me, crying.

“What the fuck happened?” I demand, looking over her. We’re in a gated community. No one can get in and out except for us Kings. She’d only been alone for about five minutes.

“We have to help her,” she says, tears running down her face.

“Who?” I ask, looking around the second story of my house. “We’re the only ones here.”

“She messaged you.” She shoves my cell into my chest. “A text and … video.” She sniffs.

I take my cell from her hand and look down at it. Whatever she was watching was paused. I press play.

It’s Lucy. My jaw tightens. She’s standing in her penthouse apartment in the middle of the bathroom. Naked from the waist up. Someone is filming her. She’s crying. Her makeup from days ago runs down her face. Her hair a bleached, tangled mess. “I’m sorry, Grave. Please forgive me. I love you. I miss you …” She hiccups. “I want you. Come and save me.” She reaches out, grabs a bottle of pills and pops the lid. Opens her mouth and tips it back, swallowing a countless number of pills.

“Fuck!” I hiss.

“We have to go.” April grabs my arm. “Grave, we have to.”

I look up at her, and she sniffs. Her ice blue eyes are red, and her lips wet. “April, this is a trick,” I tell her. This is what Lucy does. She needs attention. She needs to be seen and heard. Lucy knows I’m pissed off at her and want nothing to do with her right now. Possibly ever. This is her crying wolf.

Her brows scrunch as if I’m a heartless bastard. “What? No … the video …”

“Do you know how many times she’s sent me videos like this?” I demand, shaking my phone. “This is what she does.”

“Grave.” She steps into me. “We have to help her. She’s obviously crying out for help. Please,” she begs.

“No,” I say and place my phone in my pocket and start down the staircase.

“I thought you were dead,” she says, stopping my feet. “I thought you died, Grave. And you know what?” I turn to face her. “I wouldn’t have been able to live with myself if I hadn’t done everything in my power to save you. Would you be able to live with yourself if she dies when you had a chance to help her?”

“Fine.” I growl. “We’ll stop by and check on her if that will make you happy.” Then I turn and finish walking down the stairs.

_______________

Now April’s back to not speaking to me again, but this time, at least I know why. Lucy! Because April thinks I’m a fucking jackass who doesn’t care about others. And normally, that is me. I just refuse to tell her that. Lucy is trying to fuck shit up between me and April. Hell, she already has. But I can’t tell her that. So I’ll keep my mouth shut and let her see for herself. Last time Lucy did this to me was two years ago. Instead of coming over to see her, I took a trip to LA with Cross. She called me and said she took a bottle of pills and was lying in her kitchen naked with a steak knife. She wanted to end her life. I dropped everything, and Cross and I came running back to find her at a house party drunk off her ass. The pills she supposedly took were in her purse. I didn’t talk to her for a month. Ignored all her calls and texts until I was ready to speak to her. Then, like always, I crawled back into bed with her because she pretended to understand me and care about me. She proved otherwise when she drugged my ass.

We pull into the parking garage of the South Mason Towers. We step into the elevator and take it up to the penthouse.

I knock on her door. “Lucy, open up!” I call out.

Nothing.

“Lucy?” I shout, pounding on it. “Open the fuck up.” I turn to face April. “She’s not going to answer. Let’s go.”

“No.” She grips my arm before I can head back to the elevator. “We came here to check on her, Grave. I’m not leaving until I make sure she’s okay.” She crosses her arms over her chest. “Knock on it again.”

Sighing, I pull out my keys to her place. I don’t miss the snort that April gives me. This is what she wants and I’m tired of waiting. I want to spend my evening with April, so I’m going to move it along.

“Lucy!” I shout, entering with April right behind me.

The place looks trashed. Glass knocked over on the floor. Pictures hanging crooked on the walls. She’s obviously had one of her parties, and the maids haven’t cleaned it up yet. I storm back in the bedroom and go to open it, but it’s locked. “Open this door, Lucy!” I shout.

She doesn’t say anything.

I take a step back, then ram my shoulder into it, knocking it open.

“Oh my God.” April gasps.

Lucy is lying on her bed in nothing but a pair of underwear. She’s on her stomach, her arms and head hang off the edge. “Lucy.” I run over to her and flip her over, feeling her neck.

“Oh my God. Oh my God.” April’s voice grows frantic.

“She’s got a pulse,” I say, removing my cell from my pocket and tossing it to April. It falls to her feet. “Go to my contacts and call Dr. Lane.” He’s a doctor that Titan uses at Kingdom for his Queens-the secret call girl service we run. He’ll get here the fastest. “Now!” I bark when she just stands there.

She jumps and picks up the phone as I lift Lucy off the bed and into my arms, carrying her into the master bathroom.

“Come on, Lucy.” I bring her over to the toilet and shove my finger down her throat, trying to get whatever she swallowed out of her system.

I can hear April crying behind me while she rambles on to Dr. Lane about our location.

“Lucy?” I shout her name. Her head falls back, and I shove her matted hair out of her slick face to see she’s really pale. I can hear the death rattle coming from her chest. “You’re not doing this!” I growl. “Not fucking like this!”This text is property of Nô/velD/rama.Org.