Fractured Fate: Reverse Harem Serial - Part One (Fated Book 1) Read online

  Table of Contents

  Prologue

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Fractured Fate

  Fated Part One

  By Cece Rose

  Fractured Fate Copyright © 2017 Cece Rose.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  All Rights Reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or used in any manner without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  This eBook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This eBook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient.

  Table of Contents

  Fractured Fate

  Prologue

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  About the Author

  Other Titles by the Author

  Authors Note

  For the one who dreams of fire and doesn’t fear getting burnt.

  Warning

  This e-book contains strong violence, sexual scenes and adult language.

  This e-book is intended for adult readers only.

  If you’re easily offended or have delicate sensibilities, put down your e-reader and back away slowly. You may also wish to consider avoiding the internet, I hear that’s pretty damn obscene too.

  Authors Note

   I write in UK English. So, colour rather than color, realise rather than realize, travelled rather than traveled, and learnt rather than learned. I’m not illiterate, just British!

  *Waves at the Americans from across the pond*

  P.S. Why has nobody sent me pop-tarts yet?

  Prologue

  The whole left side of my face is stinging, I look down and see drops of blood dripping down onto my clothes. Not that it matters, they’re already ruined. Just like everything else.

  "Tell us what he's planning," the strange man's cold voice demands. I swallow and shake my head slowly, not feeling able to form words anymore. "You think this has been bad?" he asks. I keep my head turned down and try to ignore him, focusing instead on the dirty, grey floor beneath me. It’s not like I know the answers to his questions anyway. Not that they believe me. Hell, maybe they do, and this is just for kicks.

  I flinch as a sharp silver blade brushes up gently across my throat. My eyes draw up to look at the man holding the knife against me. His dead-eyed stare back at me sends a shiver right down my spine.

  “You will tell us what you know, one way or another,” he threatens. He pulls the knife away from my throat and I breathe a small sigh of relief, which is cut off suddenly by a hand smacking across my face. The right side this time. At least my bruises will match. The man shakes his hand out as he shoots me a cold glare. As if the pain he was experiencing in his hand, was my fault.

  The door to the room creaks open and another man walks in, dressed completely in black, with a large bag slung over his shoulder. This one, I know. I wriggle my arms behind my back, as much as I can with their restricted movement, desperately trying to get loose. The man sees my struggles and a twisted smile takes over his face. He turns to the other man. “I believe a change in tactics is in order.” The first man grunts in reply, and walks over to the far-right side of the room and leans casually against the wall.

  The man that has just walked in, slumps the large bag down on the ground in front of him and bends down to rifle through it. He pulls out a laptop case and a wireless webcam. He then grabs one of the chairs littered around the room, sets it directly across from me and then places the webcam on top, adjusting it, so I would be perfectly in its view. He moves and sits to my left, out of the camera's view on another of the chairs. He opens up the laptop and taps away on it, clearly setting something up.

  I fidget nervously in my chair, worried what change in tactics they have in mind.

  “What are you doing, man?” asks the one standing against the wall.

  “Setting up a little webcam chat, I’m sure he’ll be thrilled to see her,” he answers, chuckling darkly. Realising their intent, I freeze. Not taking any notice of my panic, he continues, “Turns out the bitch was being truthful, other than the other night, she hasn’t seen him in months. She’s been avoiding him, from what we can tell.” He directs his gaze back at me, eyeing me with scrutiny. “Not that we know why,” he adds, an eyebrow raised as if in question. I stare back as blankly as possible. He sighs and returns to tapping away on the laptop.

  The little red dot on the webcam in front of me turns green. I look down and keep my eyes on the floor, not wanting whoever is watching the feed to see my face. I can hear pings from the laptop, messages being exchanged back and forth for a few minutes. Then, there is silence for a moment, and then, finally, another ping.

  “He’s watching now,” he calls over to the man leaning against the wall.

  “You sure this is a good plan?”

  “I’m sure now she doesn’t know anything, but she still works as leverage,” he answers. He taps another message on the keyboard, another ping comes back. “I’m going to turn the speaker on now, so he can hear her, be careful of what you say,” he warns. “We want to make him desperate, hearing her beg for his help should do the trick. Do you understand?”

  “I got you,” he answers.

  I shift in my seat uncomfortably, realising who is watching the screen. I could almost laugh. They are expecting him to care, they don’t have a clue.

  “Speaker going on in 3…2…1.” I hear him tap a button on his keypad.

  I press my lips tightly together. No matter what, I’m not begging for anyone’s help, certainly not his. I hear the man that was against the wall moving, I cast my eyes sideways towards him and see him making his way towards me. I clench my hands, knowing what’s coming before it hits me, quite literally. Another smack whacks across my face, harder this time. I can taste the coppery tang of blood on my tongue. I keep my lips pressed tightly shut, refusing to react.

  He walks around me in a circle, stopping behind me, his hand grabs at my hair roughly and jerks my head back so I’m facing directly into the camera, I dart my eyes away, trying desperately to look anywhere else.

  I feel his hot breath on my neck, and then his lips as they brush against my ear, I instinctively try to pull away, but he just jerks me back by his grip on my hair. He whispers softly into my ear, "Beg."

  I shut my eyes tightly and try to block it out, his grip on my hair loosens. And then I feel the silver blade pressed against me again, this time at the top of my arm. He holds it there for a moment, giving me a chance to speak out, I refuse. He slices down my upper arm. I flinch and bite down hard on my bottom lip, drawing blood. I only barely resist the urge to cry out in pain as the burning sensation sets in. I can feel the blood seeping out of my arm. Not cut deep enough to do lasting damage, just enough to hurt and enough blood to make a show. I glance up at the camera. I wish I could see the watcher and see his reaction. The thought surprises me and I shake my head slightly, trying to clear my head of it. A hand smacks me across the head again.

  "What're you shaking your head for?" he demands. I stay silent. He grips my hair again, turning me arou
nd to face him. "What. Are. You. Shaking. Your. Head. For." he demands again, accentuating every word.

  “Fuck you.” The words slip out of my lips before I can stop them.

  He growls and then roughly shoves the chair I’m tied to, to the floor. I brace myself the best I can, but the hit still sends pain throughout my bruised and cut body. His heavy boot kicks into my stomach hard, knocking the air out of me.

  He moves and kicks again, this time, at my head, causing me to feel dizzy. Faintly, I can hear a pinging sound repeatedly in the background. Another kick hits me in the head, harder this time, then another. The pinging sound is more frequent now, almost frantic. Another kick, I see a quick flash and then nothing, as I descend into unconsciousness.

  Two Months Earlier…

  Chapter One

  I down my drink quickly, eager to join Melissa back on the dance floor. The loud music pounds in my ears. I can feel it pulsing right through me. My heart is beating so fast it feels like it’s trying to keep in time with the pulsing music. I look across the crowded club and spot her, grinding her body between two strange, but rather attractive men. I smile to myself. It never takes her long. I make my way across the dance floor to her, moving with the flow of the dancers around me. A man’s arm encircles my waist drawing me into him. I look up into the face of the man and smile up at him.

  “Let go of me, please?” I ask, pitching my voice to try and sound over the music, pulling back slightly with my body to make my request clear.

  He smiles and tries to pull me back in even closer, he shifts his hand that was resting on my back lower, so it's resting on my ass. I keep smiling sweetly. Carefully, I lift my left foot and quickly bring it down so the point of my high heel stabs into his foot. Instantly, his hold releases. I step back and flash him a wide smile.

  “Thanks,” I mouth cheerily at him and carry on my way to Melissa, who has spotted the exchange and is staring daggers at the man. I give a little hand wave and smile to Melissa to let her know it’s okay. She smiles back at me and reaches out her hands and pulls me into a hug.

  “I might not make it back to the hotel tonight,” she whispers softly into my ear.

  I look over her shoulder between the two men she’s been dancing with. “Which one is the target?” I whisper back.

  “Who says I’m just targeting the one?” she whispers back. She pulls back from the hug and gives me an impish grin.

  “You’re wicked,” I tell her. She shrugs.

  “Lena, this is Alex and James. Alex, James, this is my best friend Lena,” she gestures with her hands introducing us. Alex is the taller of the two. He’s striking to look at with his icy-blond hair, sharp blue eyes, and tall, broad build. In contrast, James stands a few inches shorter, though just as broad, and his face is complemented by darker features; chocolate brown eyes and black hair.

  “Hey,” I give another little hand wave.

  “Hey there,” James greets, Alex just gives an incline of his head.

  “Well, now introductions are out of the way, let’s dance!” Melissa cheers happily. She grabs my hands and twirls me around, enticing me to give into the music and booze, even if just for a little while.

  ~ ~ ~

  Walking across the club, I look around trying to spot Melissa who disappeared to the toilets nearly twenty minutes ago. Knowing Melissa would never normally leave without warning me first, I double check for a text on my phone. No signal. I frown at my phone screen, then look up and try to spot the nearest exit, knowing that I’m likely to get a better signal outside; even if that means facing the cold, January air.

  I spot a black door across from me and make my way towards it, hoping for a back exit or something. I push the door lightly to check for it being locked, but it opens with ease. I push the door open and peer inside, it leads into a dark corridor. Maybe there’s a way out through here. I wander in and the door shuts quietly behind me, cutting off most of the noise from the club behind me.

  There’s only one door in the hallway, right down the other end. I check my phone again for signal, still no luck. Maybe that door will lead outside. I know it’s unlikely, but I can feel something pulling me forward. Like that feeling you get when someone is watching you and you keep looking over your shoulder. You know something just isn’t right. But this feeling is different, it’s just urging me to keep moving, so I walk down the hallway. My heels click softly against the hard, concrete floor. The long, beam light that runs centrally down the ceiling flickers above me.

  As I reach the door, I can hear voices softly from the other side. I lay my hand against the door. I can feel my heart racing. I shake my head to try and clear the strange feelings from myself. Stop being stupid, just open the fucking door and see where it leads. I push the door open.

  The door leads into what appears to be an office, an office with three tall men standing around a desk inside. Shit. What was I thinking just barging in?

  “I’m sorry…I was…I was just…I’m sorry. I’m just looking for my friend Melissa, I thought this led out a back way or something,” I mumble out, feeling slightly mortified.

  I step back to try and leave, but before my foot even touches the ground, a hand grabs hold of my arm and pulls me into the office. I hear the door slam behind me. In shock, I stare silently at the three men around me for a moment. I’m surprised to see one of the men, the one with his hand on my arm, is Alex from earlier. Standing closely behind him is another man with jet-black hair that contrasts against his pale skin. Across the room, behind the desk, is the third man. His back is currently turned to me. What I can see of him though, is his dark-coloured hair, broad shoulders, and tall stature. I find myself mentally wishing he would just turn around….

  “What did you hear?” Alex’s voice draws me from my inspection of the man.

  “I’m sorry? What? I’m just looking for Melissa. I didn’t hear anything,” I answer.

  "Why don't I believe that? What was your name…Laura?"

  “Lena,” I answer, narrowing my eyes at him. “Why, were you saying something that you wouldn’t want people to hear?” I question.

  “I don’t reckon she heard anything, man,” the pale guy pipes in. I take another look at him, noticing the tattoos that cover up one arm and crawl up the same side of his neck. I wonder if he’s like that all over.

  “Yeah, but do we want to take that risk?”

  “Are you saying we should…?” the man trails off.

  “We might as well,” Alex mutters.

  “You might as well what?” I cut in, glaring at the both of them.

  “Are you sure it’s a good idea, they’re already doing one tonight. Too many failures get noticed, and we both know the odds,” the pale guy replies to Alex, neither acknowledging my question.

  I look nervously around the room, not knowing what was going on, but knowing it wasn’t something I wanted to stick around and find out about. I try and assess the situation. One of me, three of them. One of them stands directly between me and the door, and the other could easily grab me before I can move. Shit. I’d scream but I’m sure nobody will hear over the music pounding from the club.

  “I don’t see many other options, I’ll do it,” Alex mutters, moving closer to me. I back away and smack into the wall behind me. I freeze looking straight at Alex like a deer in headlights. A hand lays on Alex’s shoulder, pulling him back away from me. I look over his shoulder, expecting to see the pale man and, instead, find myself staring into amber eyes. That earlier pulling sensation returns, and I find myself wanting to reach forward towards the man with amber eyes. I catch myself just before I step forward. I flatten myself against the wall behind me, my eyes darting around trying to take him all in. Tanned skin, a strong jaw with a light stubble, broad shoulders, and his eyes again. I find myself drawn into the expressive, amber colour.

  “Leave,” the man says quietly, his low-toned voice sending a shiver right through me. I go to move and he chuckles. “Not you, sweetheart,” he says softly. Th
e corners of his lips turn up slightly in amusement, the expression enhancing his attractiveness.

  “Cy?” Alex questions

  “Leave,” he repeats. He pushes Alex in the direction of the door and steps closer to me. Alex and the pale man shoot confused looks at each other and then make their way out the door, casting wary glances behind them. He shuts the door behind them and then approaches me again slowly, each step feeling like it takes far too long. I can feel the rising tension.

  "Lena," he says slowly as if testing the name out. Feeling unable to form words, I incline my head. "Is it short for anything?" he asks.

  “Selena,” I mumble.

  “Selena,” he echoes. “My name is Cyrus, and I’m wondering, of all the people in the world, what were the odds of you walking into my office uninvited?” He steps even closer towards me and I feel my heart racing even faster, hammering against my chest so hard I swear it makes my whole body shake.

  “Uh… um… I’m not sure,” I trip over my words. I lick my lips nervously and his eyes zone in on the movement. I shudder and try to move back but my back is already firmly against the wall. He steps even closer, so there’s only a hair’s breadth between us.

  I swallow nervously, feeling like a complete fool. I’m never one to be lost for words, or one to lack confidence, but staring into his amber eyes as I’m trapped against the wall by his larger frame, I’m feeling nothing like my usual self.

  He reaches out and trails his hand across my cheek lightly, I find myself unconsciously leaning into the touch. I notice and pull back, alarmed at my own behaviour. He frowns at my retreat, I feel a stab of regret at the sight of the unhappy expression marring his perfect face. I reach out and touch his face lightly with my hand, instantly his frown dissipates. He turns into the touch and presses a light kiss to the palm of my hand. My breath quickens, and I feel my body trembling. He curves an arm around my waist and presses himself up against me, leaning his face towards mine. As his face nears mine, I look down quickly. Why am I acting like this? What the hell is he doing to me?