The Sacrifice: Chapter 59

My wife lies in her bed, sleeping. I sit on the couch while Ryat stands next to me. He’s typing away on his phone to his wife while I stare at mine. Ryat puts his phone away and looks down at me. “What’s the plan?”

“She needs to stay here,” I say, watching her readjust herself in bed. She’s still pretty out of it for the most part. We arrived six hours ago. And although I have some people to torture before I kill, I want to be here with her when she wakes up again. I lower my voice to make sure she doesn’t hear me. “They confirmed her pregnancy at the hospital. That won’t stay quiet for long.”

“You think no one will look for her here?” he inquires.

“I think it’s the safest place for now.”

He looks over at her closed door and then back at me. “You trust them?”

I nod. The Spade brothers do some fucked-up shit here, but they wouldn’t harm my wife. Or my unborn child. “Yes.”

“We bring you an update on the fire that claimed the life of ten people earlier this week at Blackout,” a reporter says on the TV. Ryat grabs the remote and turns up the volume a little bit for us to hear. “Remember when we showed this clip…”

It goes to the night of the fire, and reporters are already littering the parking lot along with all the first responders. My Bentley comes squealing into the parking lot. It shows me running toward the building. Then the cops knock me down. We fight. I’m in handcuffs. Then it skips over to me pushing the cops off me and shooting one of them.

“We can now confirm that Laikyn Grace Crawford, Tyson Crawford’s wife—the only living daughter to Frank Minson—was, in fact, inside the club when the fire took place and was pronounced dead at the scene. But no official report has been released as to how or where the fire started.”

Ryat turns it off. “So that was their plan?” He snorts. “To make the world think she died. A horrific death at that? Burning?”

“Seems so.” It’s worked before.

“But why?” he continues. “How does her death benefit anyone?”

“It’s not about benefiting them. Whoever it is wants to take her from me.” It has everything to do with me and nothing to do with her.

“You think it’s her father?” he asks. “We knew he’d retaliate. If not him, then who else could it be?”

A sniff gets my attention, and I turn around to see Lake sitting up in the bed, her watery eyes on the blank TV. Slowly, they meet mine, and the first tear falls from her bottom lashes, rolling down her bruised cheek. “Luke,” she whispers.

“What does he have to do with it?” Ryat asks.

Her eyes meet mine. “He was the one who pulled me out of Blackout.”

We both stiffen, glancing at one another. “Luke was there? At Blackout?” I clarify. No. She’s not remembering clearly. It couldn’t have been him. It had to have been her father.

“Thought you had guys on him?” Ryat asks me.

“They’ve been searching ever since the day of the wedding. He’s been MIA,” I say. Ryat doesn’t know that Colton, Alex, Finn, and Jenks work for me. He knows I’ve hired some men to do my dirty work, but that’s as far as his knowledge goes. When they never came up with anything, I pulled them from the surveillance.

“I thought you killed him.” She speaks softly, her heavy eyes dropping to her hands in her lap.

I sigh, wishing I would have. I had a hunch he’d lead me to something important. I was wrong.

“Why would he wait so long?” Ryat goes on. “You two have been married for months now.” He looks at her. “Did he say anything to you?”

She nods softly. “There were two of them. But I never saw the second guy. He stayed behind me.” Her shoulders start to shake. “Luke dragged me out of the club and threw me in a van. They gagged me, where I couldn’t close my mouth, and pulled out my tooth.”

My hand tightens on hers. I’ve been going crazy wanting to know what happened to her while she was away from me. Now that I watch her break down reliving it, I want to tell her to stop.

“Said I could thank my husband for that.” Deep breath.

My chest tightens.

“Then they took me … somewhere.” She looks around, as if to see if it’s the same place she remembers. “Luke carried me inside while the other stayed behind. He said that I better hope you knocked me up. That I’d finally know my worth. I told him that wasn’t possible.”

I haven’t had the chance to tell her she’s pregnant yet. I look at Ryat, and he frowns. “So both her father and Luke wanted you to knock her up? Seems fishy to me,” Ryat states.

“What?” she asks, wide-eyed. “My father wanted me to get pregnant too?” Her eyes meet mine.

“So it seems,” I say vaguely, not really believing anything Jackson has to say right now. But some of what he said did make sense. Miller knew things he would have only known if he had been there in the very room with us. But Jackson also said that Frank had only given Luke that room to make sure she remained a virgin. And then sent him to give her fake birth control. So what is it? Stay a virgin or get pregnant?

She buries her face into her hands, and I crawl onto the bed with her. Wrapping my arms around her shaking shoulders, I pull her into my body while I rub her back.

Her sobbing fills the room, and my chest tightens. The world thinks she no longer exists. I’m not sure if that’s what they had planned or if that was just what they wanted me to think. Either way, I’m going to find out.

LAIKYN

The pain isn’t as bad as it was last time I opened my eyes, but I still feel sluggish and weak. I’m warm, something hard pressed against me.

Opening my eyes to the dimly lit room, I blink a few times before I realize it’s Tyson in bed with me. His arms curled around my body. Taking a quick look around, I see Ryat has left us alone.

I snuggle into my husband and close my eyes once more, trying to keep the tears at bay. I didn’t think I’d ever see him again. Or anyone, for that matter. I’m flooded with emotions. I sniff, burying my face into his T-shirt, hoping I don’t wake him, but when I feel his lips on my forehead, I know I’ve done just that. “You’re okay, little darling,” his soft voice says.

It’s like a dam, breaking and I can’t hold the tears back anymore.

“I’ve got you,” he whispers. “I’m here.”

“You … found me,” I choke out.

How did he find me? How did he save me? I was sure I was going to die. Or pray that Luke would just kill me. I couldn’t live a life without Tyson. I wouldn’t want to know a life without being his wife. Even if that’s all I am for the rest of my life, that’s enough for me. His Lady.

“I would have never stopped looking, Lake,” he assures me. “Never.”

“Thank you,” I whisper, swallowing the knot in my throat.

“Don’t thank me, little darling. It’s my job to protect you and I failed you. I’m the one who’s sorry.” His chest vibrates against my cheek at his words. “It’ll never happen again.”

I lift my face from his shirt, and his baby-blue eyes meet mine. He cups my wet cheek, and his lips gently touch mine in an innocent kiss, but it makes my breath catch. Pulling away, his eyes are back on mine. “I love you, Lake.”

“I love you.” My lips tremble as I say the words, but they’re the truth. I’m in love with this man who forced me to marry him. The only regret I have is that I wish he would have made me do it earlier in my life so I could have spent more time with him. Because even I know this isn’t over. Luke is out there looking for me, and when he realizes Tyson saved me, he’ll come after both of us. And what are the odds we both survive?

I’m sitting up in bed while Tyson sits next to it, typing away on his cell. It’s been ringing nonstop since he turned it on a couple of hours ago. I’m finally feeling better. My eyes aren’t as heavy as they were, and my head isn’t pounding as bad. Just a dull ache now, but my jaw is still sore. Tyson explained to me what had happened and that Gavin removed the brackets from my mouth. Thankfully, it didn’t damage to my teeth. They should start feeling better soon and he’s bringing in a dentist to replace the tooth that Luke removed.

Fortunately, your mouth is the fastest healing part of your body.

“Where are we?” I ask Tyson. He hasn’t offered up the information so I’m not sure if I’m allowed to know or not. I’ve lost count how many days we’ve been here. I feel like I slept through at least a few of them.

“Carnage,” he answers, his eyes meeting mine.

My eyes widen. “Tyson—”

“The Spade brothers are friends of mine, Lake,” he assures me, his eyes going back to his cell as it rings again. He answers it, and I lie back, letting out a long breath.

The Spade brothers—although not blood-related—are Lords. Well, they were once. I’m not sure if they still have a title. I’ve heard talk over the years that Carnage is where you come to die. It’s a prison of sorts. They torture you. It’s equivalent to an animal playing with its food before it eats it.

I guess I can see why Tyson brought us here. No one would have the balls to come here and check. The question is, how long do we have to hide out?

“Tyson?” Gavin asks, entering the room.

My husband looks up and nods once before ending his call. “Give us a second,” he tells Gavin who nods and exits.

I look over at Tyson. “What’s going on?” I ask him.

He sits next to me on the bed and takes my hand.

I sit up straighter. “What’s wrong?” I ask, my heart now racing. His face is a mask, hiding his true thoughts from me. I hate when he does this. “Tyson—”

“You’re pregnant,” he interrupts me.

“I’m sorry,” I say, my throat closing up on me.

“Lake,” he growls, both hands grabbing my face this time. “Why are you apologizing?”

“You don’t want children.” The first tear runs down my cheek, and he wipes it away with his thumb.

“You’re right,” he states, and my chest tightens. “I didn’t want children”—he moves closer to me, his face now inches from mine—“with just anyone.”

I sniff.

“But you? You, Laikyn Grace Crawford, are my wife. And you having our child would be the greatest gift in this world.”

I sniff again and fresh tears fall from my bottom lashes. He leans in, kissing my lips gently, but I don’t kiss him back.

His hands drop from my face to my stomach. “Don’t be sorry, Lake, and don’t doubt that I want this child. I want it just as badly as I want you. Okay?”

I nod my head, unable to speak. My throat closing on me. Luke got his way. But how? Had they been planning this since day one? I want to be excited that I’m pregnant with a man who I love and loves me back, but to be pregnant now? It just proves what I have been trying to avoid. This is supposed to be a special moment in our lives, and once again, someone is trying to take it away from us.

“I’m going to get Gavin,” he tells me. “He’s going to do an ultrasound to check on the baby.”

Getting up, he makes his way over to the door and opens it to see Gavin standing in the hallway waiting. He enters and gives me a soft smile that I can’t force myself to return.

I understand what we’re doing. He’s going to check and see if the baby is okay. I’m shaking. It’s funny, I’ve been so against bringing children into our world that now I’m afraid I won’t be able to give my husband something he wants. What if something is wrong with our child? What if something I did hurt the baby? I chose to go into Blackout and work that night. It’s my fault if something is wrong.

Gavin pulls up the gown that I wear while making sure the blanket stays down around my waist. “Normally, this early into pregnancy, they’d do a transvaginal ultrasound, but we’ll try it this way first,” he tells us. “If there’s no fetal heartbeat, we’ll try vaginally.”

Tyson takes my hand, and I grab it while he places his other one of top of ours. Cold gel is placed on my stomach and on the end of the wand.

I lean back and take in a deep breath as he places the wand on my stomach and the screen on the monitor starts to show a black-looking distorted video. He presses a few buttons on the keyboard, and then I hear it.

The sound of a heartbeat has me tearing up.

“Well, that’s interesting,” Gavin says.

“What is it?” Tyson asks, leaning forward. His pretty baby-blue eyes are glued to the screen. There’s fear in his voice that I’ve never heard before.

Gavin looks over at us. “Hear that?” He turns the sound up louder, and the swishing sound fills the room.

“It’s a heartbeat,” Tyson states, looking at him.

Gavin smiles. “It’s two heartbeats.” He points at two different spots on the monitor. “Congratulations, Mr. and Mrs. Crawford. You’re having fraternal twins. I’d say you’re about seven weeks along. Maybe eight. Not surprised though. Jackson confessed to giving you pregnancy enhancement hormones. It could result in multiple pregnancies or it could have no effect whatsoever. No way to tell, really. And the fact that you only received one dose…” He trails off watching the monitor.

“What?” My wide eyes go to my husband, and he gives me a sympathetic smile with a reassuring hand squeeze. His way of silently telling me he’ll fill me in later.

Gavin pulls the wand from my stomach. “Everything sounds and looks good, but I’m no OB. I’d suggest you see one as soon as possible. I have one I can suggest if you’d like.”

“They’re okay?” Tyson asks once more.

Gavin nods. “I’ll leave you two alone. Get some rest, Lake.” He pats my arm. “You’re going to need lots of it.”

He exits the room, and Tyson’s eyes meet my watery ones. A big smile lights up his face, and he leans in, kissing my forehead tenderly as the tears flow down my face.

Taking my hand in his, he holds it and I frown when I look down at them. “Why did you take my wedding ring off?” I ask.

The smile drops off his face, and he looks at my hand. “I didn’t.”