Cruel god, p.1
Cruel God, page 1
CRUEL GOD
Bella J.
Contents
OTHER NOVELS by BELLA J
Acknowledgments
Author’s note:
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
VIP Club
OTHER NOVELS by BELLA J
About the Author
OTHER NOVELS by BELLA J
Reckless
To Touch You
To Hate You
The Villain’s Duet
The Villain’s Captive
The Villain’s Beloved
Vows and Vengeance Duet
The Devil’s Vow (Book 1)
The Devil’s Vengeance (Book 2)
The Sins of Saint Trilogy
The Rise of Saint (Book 1)
The Fall of Sin (Book 2)
The Sins of Saint (Book 3)
American Street Kings
Depraved (American Street Kings, Book 1)
Defiant (American Street Kings, Book 2)
Deranged (American Street Kings, Book 3)
Destroyed (American Street Kings, Book 4)
The Twisted Duet
Blood and Lies (Twisted Duet, Book 1)
Blood and Vows (Twisted Duet, Book 2)
The Royal Mafia Series
Mafia Princess (Royal Mafia, Book 1)
Mafia Prince (Royal Mafia, Book 2)
Mafia King (Royal Mafia, Book 3)
Mafia Queen (Royal Mafia, Book 4)
The Shattered Secrets Duet
His Regret (Shattered Secrets, Book 1)
Her Torment (Shattered Secrets, Book 2)
The Resplendence Series
Ruin (Resplendence, Book 1)
Rush (Resplendence, Book 2)
Rage (Resplendence, Book 3)
Copyright ©2021 by Bella J
All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review. This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to actual living or dead person, businesses, events, or locales is purely coincidental.
Acknowledgments
EDITOR: Ansley Blackstock
Cover Designer: Cormar Covers
My beta team who are all stars!
Author’s note:
Cruel God is a dark romance not intended for sensitive readers. If you’re looking for a romance with a hero who has redeemable qualities and a strong heroine who rises from the ashes, then this book is not for you.
Cruel God is a standalone romance with a happily-ever-after ending for flawed and broken characters. But if you expect a HEA with declarations of love topped with unicorns and rainbows, then again…this book is not for you.
Prologue
HOPE
8 years earlier
Mom wouldn’t be home for another few hours. It was almost sunset, and I wanted to play outside with the other kids before it got too dark.
I passed Colton’s room on my way to the stairs but paused and glanced inside. “Will you come out and play with us?”
“I can’t right now. I’m studying.” He didn’t even look up from his desk.
“But Mom said I’m not allowed to play outside if you’re not watching me. Please. Just for a short while.”
Colton’s glare snapped in my direction. “I said I’m busy, Hope. Go play if you want to play.”
“But Mom—”
“Just go play and leave me alone. Okay? I won’t tell Mom if you don’t.” He turned back in his seat, and I sighed as I watched him go through his textbooks, making notes. My brother was always studying. It was his last year in high school, and I overheard him and Mom talk about scholarships. Without it, he wouldn’t be able to go to college next year.
My bare feet didn’t make a sound as I dashed down the stairs. I slipped on my flip-flops by the front door before going outside, immediately smiling when I saw my best friend crossing the road from her house. Lily and I had been friends since they moved to the neighborhood a few months ago. She was so pretty with her light hair and blue eyes. I always felt plain compared to her—my brown eyes and hair did nothing to let me stand out. Most boys that lived on the street couldn’t even remember my name.
“Hope,” Lily called out. “Come on. Let’s play hopscotch before it gets dark.”
“I’m coming.” I ran toward her, doing a little skip with excitement. The other kids were already standing in line behind the hopscotch grid drawn on the sidewalk.
“I bet you my whole week’s allowance that I won’t throw my stone out of the lines even once.”
Allowance. Colton and I never got an allowance. Mom barely made enough money for food, which was why I had to wear clothes two sizes too small for me.
Lily looked at me as I glanced down to my feet, wiggling my toes. She placed a hand on my shoulder. “If I throw my stone out the lines once, you owe me one very pretty unicorn drawing. But if I miss, I owe you a chocolate milkshake.”
I smiled, excitement bubbling in my stomach. “Deal.”
Lily turned to face the line of kids as we waited for our turn. “Your mom still working?”
“Yes.” I adjusted the shorts that no longer fit comfortably around my tummy.
“Isn’t your brother supposed to look after you when you play outside?”
I shrugged. “He’s studying. He promised not to tell my mom if I won’t.”
“Your brother is so cool. Mine is just a dummy.”
“It’s because he’s four.”
“Still a dummy.”
I giggled and stepped forward when it was Lily’s turn to throw the stone. The pair of shorts she wore were new. I hadn’t seen her wear them before. Her pump shoes, too. I didn’t like being jealous of my best friend. But I couldn’t help it. She had pretty clothes and pretty hair. And her family went on road trips every second weekend. Plus, she had a father. Something I didn’t have.
I tried hard not to be jealous and not to think mean thoughts. But it was just hard sometimes.
Lily looked at me over her shoulder and winked before tossing her stone on the pavement. It landed outside the lines, but she didn’t even look at where she was throwing.
“I guess I owe you a milkshake now.”
I placed my hand on my hip. “You did that on purpose.”
“I did not. I would never lose on purpose.” She picked up the stone and handed it to me, her smile warm and sincere. “Now, it’s your turn.”
Yes, there were times that I was jealous of Lily. But it would always pass quickly, and then I’d love her again.
I brought my toes to the line and steadied myself, easily dropping the stone in the number one block. Then, with one leg, I hopped to block number two.
A loud noise of screeching tires hurt my ears, and everyone turned to look down the street, a black van speeding down the road.
Suddenly all the kids were crying out, scrambling to get away as the black van stopped next to the pavement. The door slid open, and two masked men jumped out.
“Hope!” I heard Lily’s screams, but I was frozen. “Hope, run!”
I couldn’t. I couldn’t run as I watched one of the masked men rush toward me. It was only when his arm snaked around my body, jerking me up and lifting my feet from the ground, that I started screaming and kicking.
“Colton!” My screams were so loud, it hurt my ears. “Colton! Help me!”
“Leave me alone!” I heard Lily yell. “Put me down.”
“Lily,” I cried out—fat, warm tears streaming down my cheeks. Lily looked my way, and everything seemed to slow down. Like a movie. A slow-motion scene forcing you to see every move, every facial feature, and every second taking a lifetime to tick by.
Lily’s eyes found mine, and the fear that flashed in her irises slithered across my skin. She stopped screaming, her face pale and tear-stained. But she stopped screaming as if she knew it was no use and accepted what was happening.
“Lily.” I whispered. Don’t give up. Don’t stop fighting.
A black bag got pulled over her face, and panic slammed against my chest. “Lily. Li—” A large hand covered my mouth. It smelled like dirt, and I struggled to breathe.
I glanced up at Colton’s bedroom window and saw him look out. For a second, I was so happy to see him, thinking he’d come and rescue me.
But he didn’t.
He never came.
COLTON
12 years later
It’s been twelve motherfucking years, and it finally felt like I was a few steps closer to finding her. She wasn’t dead. I could feel it in my soul. My little sister was still alive, and there was no way in hell I’d stop until I found her.
Not a single night went by that I didn’t think of her. That I didn’t see her little face peeking into my room, asking me to go outside with her. I’d never forgiven myself for not going. If I had, maybe she’d still be here. She’d be twenty-four years old now. Possibly even engaged or married. She’d be living a li fe of her own, and my mom would never have committed suicide because she couldn’t breathe not knowing where my sister was, whether she was safe or harmed. Alive or dead.
Four. That’s how many lives I destroyed because I was obsessed with getting a scholarship so I could go to college. Hope. Lily. My mom. Mine.
I ended up not going to college anyway. How could I? How could I have gone on with my life knowing I had destroyed the lives of those I loved the most? I couldn’t. There was only one thing I could do, and that was to find Hope.
For years I spent every minute of every day working and paving the path that would hopefully lead me to her. I had given up my entire life, my morals, beliefs, and everything to become the man I was now. A man who could survive in the dark underbelly of New York City. A man who could look darkness in the eye without squirming. For years I pretended to be one of them, one of those sick motherfuckers who dwelled within the darkest pits of hell dragging the innocent down with them. I played my part, cloaked my true intentions with deception. My hands were soaked in blood, and my humanity drowned within the tears of the dead, all because I was a man fueled with determination to right what I had wronged no matter how many more lives I had to destroy to do just that. Because in the end, there was only one life that mattered…and that was hers—the girl I had sold my soul to find.
Years of walking among the wicked, pretending to be one of them, had finally brought me to this moment. The moment I managed to get close to the one man in the entire goddamn world who would know where she was. The one man who had the means to lead me right to her. My little sister. The sole reason I was looking the devil in the eye right. Fucking. Now.
That devil’s name. Rex Cain. Self-declared god of everything evil and vile. My last hope of finding her.
Now, all I had to do was gain his trust. Do everything, be everything he demanded of me so I could secure my place in his realm.
Rex Cain has no idea who I am or why I’m here. But he will, as soon as I find my sister…and burn his kingdom to the fucking ground.
Chapter 1
REX
Present
Never underestimate a man who had something to lose.
Me…I had something to lose. Something precious. Something so dear to me that I would slit every motherfucking throat of those who dared try to take it from me.
My most prized possession.
My butterfly.
My salvation.
For years I’ve plotted and planned, schemed and manipulated to make sure I protected my own. Now that I had come so far, there was no way in hell I would allow anything or anyone to jeopardize what I’ve managed to accomplish.
If there was one thing I’ve learned, it was to keep my enemies close…which was why I currently shared a limousine with the one man who had the potential to ruin everything. A man desperate to find what he thought was his. A man who would die by my hand before he’d get the chance.
I turned to face him. “So, Mr. Riggs. How is it that a man like you ended up in this business?”
He cocked a brow. “A man like me?”
“Yes. You don’t look like the type of man who has—how can I put it? Certain tastes.”
He righted in his seat. “First of all, I’ll take that as a compliment.”
“That you may.”
“Secondly, I don’t have certain tastes. I just have a bank account I need to keep filled.”
I smiled. “We all have our own ambitions that drive us.”
He turned away, staring out the window. I could see the similarities. The eyes, the tiny freckles on and around the nose. They had the same pale, flawless skin as well.
I hated that he looked like her.
I hated that he had the same blood that flowed through his veins. If I didn’t need him as an intricate part of my plan, I would have slit his throat and let him hang upside down like a slaughtered pig.
Mr. Riggs had been on my radar for years. Someone whose every move I had watched from the shadows. I was never quite sure how I’d get him on my team once the time came that I needed him. But as fate would have it, an opportunity presented itself—an opportunity I caught with both hands and used to my advantage.
If I had to say so myself, everything worked out fucking perfectly.
Our world had rules. Our society had certain laws we all had to abide by. Without regulations, directions, and a strict code of conduct, this empire we had built would crumble. And I made sure there wouldn’t be as much as a single crack to rattle the foundation my empire was built upon.
“Tell me,” I started. “How do you feel about the theatrical events that led us here together in the same limousine?”
The bondage and wild sex between a slave and her master.
The butchering of a man who deserved no less.
And the final goodbye to a man he considered a friend.
He licked his lips and shifted on his seat. “I won’t lie and say it didn’t make me feel slightly uncomfortable.”
I snickered. “I like you, Mr. Riggs. Most men would feed me bullshit of how tough they are and how they could easily steal a baby from its mother’s breast without feeling even the slightest pang of guilt. But you…you’re honest. I like that. It’s refreshing.” And fucking stupid.
I rubbed my chin with my thumb and forefinger, thinking of the events that led us to this exact fucking moment.
A girl on the run.
A madman and rapist.
A father who wants to protect his daughter.
And the private investigator who will gladly play in the dark if it means saving the woman he loves.
Scarlet Woods and Hunter Keaton’s blooming romance gave me the leverage I needed to bargain with James Baxter—the man notorious for infiltrating the underground sex trade, rescuing girls and rehabilitating them. The man was like a thorn in my fucking side—but after promising him that his daughter and her lover would remain under my protection and untouchable, the man agreed to back the fuck down. To retire from his noble crusade and no longer complicate my business ventures.
But Mr. Riggs here—I’d say he was the best reward. The moment I saw him, recognizing his familiar eyes, my plan slipped into place. And now…here we were.
We walked into my house, and I could feel the tension of the last few hours slowly easing from my shoulders. The dim ceiling lights in the foyer created a sense of calm, warmth—things it never did when my father was still alive.
The Cain mansion had been my home ever since I could remember. It held a lot of memories—some good, some bad…some deadly. But that was the curse I had to carry by having Cain blood running through my veins. No one could save me from the path my father had put me on. No one.
I never wanted this. I didn’t want this to be my life. But then she changed everything, and it forced me to embrace the darkness. To become it. For years I’ve worked my ass off to finally be the king of the empire my father had built, to finally have the control I needed. Lies, betrayal, and deceiving those around me were the only ways I’d be able to protect what was mine.
My father, Victor Cain, deserved his fate. I didn’t grieve my father’s death. The only thing I regretted was not being able to deal the death blow myself. To not have my face be the last thing my father saw before he entered the gates of hell. But I couldn’t afford to get my hands dirty with my father’s blood. There was too much at stake, too much to lose, and I needed to act carefully and strategically for everything to work out precisely the way I planned. And after today, all loose ends had been tied. Brent, the guy who had the honor of slicing my father’s throat, was dead. He, too, deserved his fate. Fucker raped and tortured his adopted sister, then ended up killing the other. And the best part was his little adopted sister, who endured his abuse, had her revenge by watching her boyfriend slice the motherfucker to pieces. It was pretty entertaining, watching it all go down. All I had to do was keep my hand of cards close to my chest, watching, waiting for everyone else to make their move, and to play the game as everyone expected me to. I just gave them a little nudge and a little push without them realizing it. I was the devil sitting on their shoulder, whispering all the things I wanted them to do. I was a master manipulator, the joker who swayed the game, guiding it in the direction I wanted it to go. I knew Brent’s enemies hated him enough to want to kill him. All I had to do was give them the opportunity, and it all worked out perfectly.
