Damaged Locke (Locke Brothers,1) Read online

  Damaged Locke

  Copyright © 2017 Victoria Ashley & Jenika Snow

  All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means such as electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the prior written permission of the author of this book. This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, brands, media, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of various products referenced in this work of fiction, which have been used without permission. The publication/use of these trademarks is not authorized, associated with, or sponsored by the trademark owners.

  Cover model:

  Brook Dede

  Photographer:

  Wander Aguiar

  Cover Designer:

  Dana Leah, Designs by Dana

  Proofer:

  Lea Ann Schafer

  Interior Design & Formatting by:

  Christine Borgford, Type A Formatting

  Table of Contents

  DAMAGED LOCKE

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Epilogue

  VICTORIA ASHLEY

  JENIKA SNOW

  ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

  ASTON

  I close my eyes and lean my head back as I take a long drag off my cigarette, letting the harsh smoke fill my lungs and calm my nerves.

  Standing here in the blackness of the night, preparing for what the fuck my brothers and I do, never gets easier for me.

  Although, I’ve convinced myself we do this shit for all the right reasons, some might believe we’re the spawns of the fucking devil.

  A blond-haired, blue-eyed evil son of a bitch to be feared.

  That’s what everyone sees when they look at me.

  I can’t say I’ve done much to prove them otherwise.

  Whispers of the Locke brothers fill the town, facts and reality twisted to fit what these motherfuckers believe they know about us.

  That we’re sadistic bastards, incapable of any real emotions or fear.

  Maybe they’re not wrong about that.

  My eyes open at the sound of Sterling and Ace grabbing their shit out the back of the Expedition before closing the door.

  A light on across the street has my attention pulled in the wrong direction until I feel Sterling hit my arm, dragging my attention back.

  “Here.” He slams my sawed-off shotgun into my chest with force. “Stop holding your dick over here and take this shit.”

  Grinning, I yank it from his hands.

  “Who wants to do the honors tonight?” Ace asks while swinging his expensive-ass titanium hammer around with pride. “Maybe Aston can just blow the damn thing down.”

  “I’ve got it, motherfuckers.” Reaching into his pocket, Sterling slips on his brass knuckles and stalks up to the door, checking to see if it’s locked.

  It must be, because two seconds later, he’s kicking the door open and walking inside as if he owns the place.

  Ace flashes me a crooked smile as he pushes away from the black SUV and walks past me, running his hand over his hammer. “Put a pep in your step, baby brother. The place is wide fucking open. I call dibs on the biggest one.”

  Lifting a brow, I calmly make my way up the steps with my shotgun over my shoulder as Ace disappears into the house, most likely searching for some big motherfucker to take down.

  And so it begins.

  The dark, twisted ways of the fucking Locke brothers.

  Stepping into the dirty house, I look around to see four guys inside. Four perverted, sick motherfuckers that deserve to lose their dicks and their lives for the shit they pulled last week.

  These mind-fucked tweakers can’t be any older than nineteen to twenty years old. A good age for them to believe they’re untouchable and they can get away with taking advantage of a couple drunk girls.

  Well, these dirty untouchable dicks are about to find out just how touchable they are in this town.

  In our motherfucking town.

  Upon noticing there’s now a third person joining the party, they pull their attention away from what Ace is saying and begin shuffling to reach for weapons or whatever shit they keep hidden in this dump.

  Sterling immediately swings his right fist out, connecting his fancy-ass brass knuckles to the side of one of the assholes’ face, while Ace takes his hammer and places it across another guy’s neck, pinning him against the wall and lifting him up it.

  That leaves the other two assholes coming at me.

  One of them must have some brains, because he drops to the ground and surrenders when he notices the gun over my shoulder.

  Now the other one. Yeah . . . he’s stupid as shit.

  Maybe this will knock some sense into him.

  Reaching into my back pocket, I pull the bandana and swing it around, the padlock busting the idiot in the eye socket, blood splattering as his face splits open.

  This has the guy on the ground thinking I’m too preoccupied to see his ass get up and come toward me with a knife.

  That thought gets squashed the second I pull the shotgun from my shoulder and point it at his dick, stopping him two feet from me.

  “Think again, motherfucker,” I growl with a tilt of my head. “On your knees. And place your hands under them . . .” I nod toward Ace. “Unless you want my brother here to show you how good he is with that hammer. He may be pretty and shit, but he’s the most twisted asshole you’ll meet.”

  He shakes his head. “No. No. I’m listening. See. Here.” His bloodshot eyes stay on me, watching my gun as he lowers to the ground and drops his knife, placing his hands under his knees. “There. Can you put that away now? No one needs to get shot, bro.”

  I turn to Sterling to see him leaning against the couch with a smirk, one of his arms wrapped around his guy’s neck to keep him in place. “These sick fuckers aren’t going anywhere, little brother. Put that away . . . for now.”

  “All right. I guess I can do that.” I smile and place the gun over my shoulder before shoving my padlock back into my pocket and kicking the dude in front of me down to the ground. That padlock really did a number on his face. “Doesn’t mean your ass gets to get up.” I bend down and get in his bloodied face. “Those two girls you partied with last week didn’t get the option of getting up when they wanted to. Why the hell should some sick fuck like you?”

  With that I kick him over to his back and dig my foot into his throat, causing him to grab at my boot and choke for air.

  He struggles for a few minutes before relaxing and giving up. “We won’t do it again,” he manages to get out through coughs. “You’re crushing my throat, man. You’re going to kill my ass. We’re sorry. What else do you want from us?”

  I smirk, placing my hand to my ear. “What was that? I can’t fucking hear
you.”

  “We’re sorry. It won’t happen again. Please . . .” He struggles with pushing at my boot again, his face turning blue now as he fights to breathe. “Please don’t kill me. I’m fucking begging.”

  Dropping my shotgun, I remove my boot from his throat and replace it with my hand, dragging him over to the couch, where I slam his head into the arm repeatedly. I don’t stop until the brown fabric is covered in blood and his body goes limp. “Do it again and I’ll shoot you in the dick and then between the eyes. Got it?”

  He nods his head, right before I throw him face-first down into the carpet, watching as he crawls away.

  Feeling the anger completely take over me, I light up a cigarette, grab my gun, and walk outside, allowing my brothers to handle the other three assholes.

  Standing here in the dark, with my hands covered in his blood, I lean against the SUV and close my eyes, attempting to calm myself down. It’s not until I hear feet pounding against the sidewalk that I open my eyes and look across the street to see a woman with long black hair jogging up to the house straight across from this one.

  Stopping in front of the door, she turns to face the street, her gaze landing on me.

  I stand back and watch, my heart pounding like fucking mad, as she looks me over, stopping on my hands once she notices the blood.

  Most people in this town would run by now. They’d hide inside their houses, peeking out the damn windows to get a glimpse of us, but not this one.

  Hell no. She’s standing there, taking heavy breaths as her eyes move up to meet mine.

  She doesn’t say anything.

  She doesn’t scream.

  She doesn’t move.

  She just stands there, looking curious, as if she’s using this moment to take me all in. Every damn bit of me.

  I can see in her expression she knows who we are.

  “Come on, Aston,” Sterling calls, getting my attention away from the beautiful stranger watching me. “Get the fuck in the vehicle.”

  By the time I look across the street again, the woman is gone and the light that was on in the house is now off.

  That must’ve been her bedroom light.

  “Did you get the money?” I ask while backing up and reaching for the door.

  “Yeah,” Ace says with a crazy-ass grin. “Those fuckers were quick to throw us all their dirty money the moment I nearly crushed one of their dicks with my baby.” He holds up his hammer. “These little bitches won’t even be thinking about their dicks for a long time.”

  “Good.” I toss my cigarette at the ground and jump into the SUV, my eyes seeking out the house across the street one last time.

  I can’t quite tell, but it looks like I see the bedroom curtain move. Apparently she hasn’t gotten enough of me yet. She’s braver than most people in this town, and that shit definitely has my attention.

  “Let’s get the fuck out of here then.”

  KADENCE

  I suck in a surprised breath when Melissa yanks me into the house, slamming the door shut behind me.

  “What are you doing?” She sounds worried as she rushes through the house to shut my bedroom light off. “I warned you about the Locke brothers the moment you moved into this town. Are you insane, Kadence? Hell, why am I even asking that? Of course you are.”

  Still fighting to catch my breath from my nightly jog, I meet my roommate in my bedroom and reach for the water bottle on my dresser. “You don’t think warning me to stay away is going to make me curious? I’ve waited two months to get a glimpse of these brothers you’re always going on about. I couldn’t force myself to turn away even if I wanted to, Mel. You should know me by now.”

  She steps away from the window and tiredly runs a hand down her face. “They’re dangerous, Kadence. Everyone in this town knows it. You may be new and all, but you should take my advice and never let them see you watching them. The last thing you want is for them to know you’ve seen what they’ve done. You just witnessed a crime. Do you get that?”

  The sound of the SUV starting has me rushing over to the window, pushing the curtain aside to get another peek.

  It’s as if I’m drawn to him, needing to see the beautiful blond stranger one more time before he disappears.

  I barely get a glimpse before Melissa pulls me away and yells at me for being so careless.

  “Damn it, woman.” She closes her eyes and shakes her head as if she’s about to lose it. “You’re going to get us both killed before we even get to see our twenty-third birthdays. Not only are you insane, but you have a death wish.”

  “How do you even know that?” I question. “Have they ever killed anyone before? You never once told me they’re murderers. All you’ve told me is what you hear from others around town. But has anyone actually been killed by them? Who do you know that’s been hurt because of the Locke brothers? I’m sure it’s not just random violence.”

  “No, not that I know of. I don’t know, but that doesn’t mean they won’t start with us. The youngest Locke saw what you look like. He saw you watching him like a damn nosy person. That whole family is bad news. Everyone knows to steer clear of them. Everyone but you, apparently.”

  “Don’t you think he would’ve marched across the street and hurt me if he wanted to? It’s late at night and the whole damn neighborhood is asleep. He could’ve done anything he wanted to me, but he didn’t. All he did was look at me as if he was curious. It was like he expected me to run away, but I didn’t.”

  “Probably because his hands were already covered in someone else’s blood and he was trying to think of ways to catch you when you’re alone at a later time, damn it.” She stops to catch a breath. “I about died when I looked outside to see him staring this way. It wasn’t until I looked closer that I saw you standing on the porch, looking back at him.”

  “Those guys that live across the street . . .” I pause to take another drink of water while gazing at the curtain. “Didn’t you tell me they scare the shit out of you? That they’re always trying to get you alone and one of them even tried slipping something into your drink once? How do you know they haven’t done that to other women?”

  “I don’t,” she says in aggravation. “And yes, they’re fucking creepy as hell and I’m scared when I see them out at night. Every girl in their right mind is. I’m not denying that, but . . .”

  “Maybe the Locke brothers were there to teach them a lesson,” I say, cutting her off. “Maybe they’re not as bad as you all think. From what I’ve seen, this town is full of judgmental gossipers.”

  “Listen . . . the youngest Locke might look like a beautiful blond angel, but I can assure you he’s as sinful and dangerous as they come.” She lets out a tired breath and stops in my doorway. “Please just promise me you’ll stay away if you see them again? I’m trying to keep you safe. You’re my friend, and you wouldn’t even be in this shitty little town if it weren’t for me. I’m responsible for you here. I’ve been keeping my eye out for you since we were eight. I’m not magically stopping now, no matter how hard you fight me.”

  I nod my head to make her happy and ease her worry as I jump onto my bed. “All right. I get it. You’ve always been persistent and overprotective. It’s because I love your ass so much that I followed you to this small town. Well, that and my old life sucked anyway.”

  She smiles slightly before speaking. “Good,” she says firmly, getting serious again. “Now, good night and lock your window. I know how you like to open it after your nightly jogs, but don’t. Just don’t . . .”

  “All right, woman. On it. Good night.”

  After she walks out of my room and shuts the door behind her, I immediately rush back over to the window and look outside.

  My mind knows he’s not out there anymore, but apparently my body didn’t get the memo, because I look hard in hopes of seeing him again.

  I mean face smashed against the window hard.

  My eyes immediately land on one of the residents of the house across the street ins
tead.

  His face is all busted up and he’s pacing across the lawn, holding something in his hand, looking extremely angry and on edge. It may be a knife.

  I can’t quite tell what it is, but seeing that the Locke brothers didn’t leave them for dead has me completely curious what their business was with them.

  I’ve been here for a little over two months, and I have never seen them across the street before tonight.

  There’s obviously something that brought them there, but what?

  It wasn’t to kill the creeps, and I don’t see or hear any sirens heading this way to check things out.

  Maybe I’ll never know, and that thought is driving me crazy and making me extremely curious.

  This might be a dangerous game, but I want to know about the youngest Locke brother.

  If I see him again, I’m not sure I’ll be able to stay away like Melissa has warned me to.

  ASTON

  My hands are shaky, my bare skin covered in sweat as I sit here in the darkness of the basement with a cigarette resting between my tight lips.

  Ever since we left that house last night, I’ve been slammed with visions of what I witnessed over six years ago, getting me lost in my sick, twisted mind.

  No one should’ve had to witness the fucked-up things I saw that night, let alone a kid of only fifteen.

  Nothing about me has been the same since, and with every day I die a little more inside, feeling tormented and defeated about something I had no control over.

  As time passes, I begin to realize I’m stuck in my own personal hell I’ll never break free of no matter how fucking hard I try.

  One day, I’m afraid I’ll give up altogether and just fade.

  There’s not much stopping that from happening.

  Tensing, I step into the freezing, ice-filled water and lower myself to the bottom of the tub, hoping to chill my body temperature and distract myself from the hell in my head.

  I need something else to pull me from my thoughts. Anything strong enough to keep me distracted. Something for me to fight for and remind myself I’m still alive.