AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I grit my teeth, wrapping my hand around my burnt wrist.
When Mr. Porterson called me back into his office, it was to make certain I understood who owned me now. The way he did this? By calling up two of his men to pin my arm down so he could use a branding iron to mark me with his business’s crest. I didn’t give him the satisfaction of screaming and held as still as I could, obeying only because he threatened my sisters’ well-beings again.
After he marked my skin, he gave me a list of rules I’m to abide to if I want my sisters to stay safe and out of this mess.
1). For the next five years, he owns me and he’ll be calling in all sorts of favors, the first being holding on to the mysterious box.
2). He can call on me at any given time and I’m to obey without arguing.
3). I’m to tell no one of the arrangement, including his sons.
4). I’m to never talk about what I see while working for him.
5). If my father does show up, I’m to immediately inform Mr. Porterson.
Yeah, the last one I have no problems with. The rest, however, I’ve got issues with, starting with actually working for Mr. Porterson. From what I understand, he runs illegal gambling sites, but he wouldn’t give me any details. Simply said we’d be in touch.
I think now is definitely a good time to call up my dad’s old partner. I just need to find his phone number. I think the best place to start is in my dad’s locked-up bedroom at the house. I’m also curious what he’s hiding in there. I just wish I knew if I could go home without worrying about one of Axel’s men showing up.
Maybe I’ll find out the answer to that when I talk to Blaise, something I need to do sooner rather than later, despite what happened in first period today.
“So where do you want to go eat?” Scarlett asks me as she skips up beside me with a sucker in her mouth.
I sling my bag over my shoulder. “Doesn’t matter to me.”
“You sound upset.” She pulls the sucker out of her mouth and frowns. “Do you not want to go to lunch?”
I want to nod, want to lock myself in the car and have a good cry, but when I ran into her earlier in the hallway and she asked me to hang out with her at lunch, she seemed so hopeful, so I caved.
“No, I want to go.” I put on my go-to fake smile. “I’m just not sure what’s good around here.”
“Well, the diner on Main Street has a really hot waiter, but it’s kind of far away.” A thoughtful smirk graces her lips then she loops her arm through mine. “I have an idea.” She tugs me down the hallway.
“Where are we going?”
“It’s a surprise.”
I’m not a fan of surprises, but I’m too exhausted to argue.
* * *
We endup taking my car since Scarlett doesn’t have a license or a car, even though she’s sixteen.
“I’m not allowed to take the driving test yet,” she explains after we hop into my car.
“Your mom won’t let you?” I wonder as I fasten my seatbelt.
She shakes her head, tucking a strand of her shoulder-length hair behind her ear. “Nah, the law won’t let me.” She stares down at her hands, picking at her fingernails, uneasiness flowing from her.
A thousand questions burn at the tip of my tongue, but I bite them back. “Well, you know what you should do?” I ask and she glances up at me, shaking her head in confusion. Grinning, I crank up the last song I was listening to when I pulled up to the school today—“I Fought the Law” by The Clash. Seemed fitting after an officer aided in my ass getting hauled up to Mr. Porteron’s mansion.
Scarlett chuckles as she straps on her seatbelt. “Yeah, except the law won.”
“Maybe he fought the wrong way. Like not dirty enough or something,” I say as I start the engine.
“You don’t want to fight the law around here.” She props her boots up the dashboard. “Trust me.”
“Yeah, Blaise told me they’re bad news.” I steer out of the parking spot and drive toward the exit.
