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He smiles, but it’s not a nice look. “Oh, you will. My men may have got the wrong girl last time, but this time, I will make sure they get to your little girlfriend if you don’t do as I say.” His voice is menacing, the threat clear.
Seeing red, I am over to his desk, grabbing him by the collar of his shirt before he can blink. “You leave her out of this. You won’t touch Aria.”
Shoving me away, he smooths down his shirt. “I will not touch the girl if you follow my rules. You will only have yourself to blame if anything happens to her.”
Growling, I push away from him and pace the room. As much as I don’t want this, I need to protect Aria. My father will not stop going after her if I don’t go along with his plans, and I cannot allow that. He knows he has me by the balls when it comes to my princess, knows it’s the only way to control me. “Fine. But don’t mention Aria again. She has nothing to do with this. I have done as you asked and come back here, and now, I will marry the girl. You win,” I snarl.
A smug smirk curves his lips, and I want to smack it right off his face. “I knew you were smart. That is the right choice, Xander. I will speak with Spencer and set things in motion,” he says, effectively ending our conversation.
Stepping out of the room, I move down the hall and toward the stairs that lead to my wing in this house. The thought of marrying another woman whensheexists makes my chest tight, and bile rises in my throat. But if it’s the only way to keep her safe, then I will do it. I will play the dutiful son until I can come up with a plan to overthrow my father. I will let him think he is winning, but eventually, he will find out just who he is dealing with. I am not the boy he once knew before I left this life.
As the result of an affair, it was easy for my father to allow me to walk away from The Five Families. He had his legitimate heir, and he didn’t need me. Mom left and took me with her. We stayed on the West Coast, moving to a little town near San Diego, and I had a good life. Then, my father found us. Not because he missed me; he just wanted to torment us both, to show us that he still had power over us.
Not wanting to deal with his shit, we fled in the middle of the night just after I had graduated high school and ended up in the south. It was then we both changed our names, and I became Bishop Hayworth. I went to college, and life was good. By then, Mom had decided to move to the East Coast where I was attending school to be closer to me. It was where she met her husband.
Life was thriving for both of us, and when I left school, I ended up working in nightclub security for years. The pay wasn’t great, but it allowed me to stay under the radar. Although we hadn’t seen my sperm donor for years, I was still conscious he would show up. But life passed by with no sign of him, and I started to get more comfortable. It was then, after years of being a bouncer, a friend told me about a position coming up where he worked guarding a prominent New York family.
He put me forward for the job, and after several interviews, I was made part of the Maxwells’ security team, guarding Christian Maxwell. I was happy. I had a good job with even better pay working for a family I respected. And then, I was assigned toher, Christian’s daughter,and my whole life changed.
At twenty-eight, I had never been and never wanted to fall in love. But then, I fell for her. The beautiful girl who I never saw coming but barged her way into my heart. I never had a choice when it came to Aria Maxwell—she made sure of that. I fell in love with her.Amstill in love with her. She became my everything. The risk I would and will always take. Because nothing mattered but her. Not my job. Not my life. She was mine, and I was hers.
We were going to come clean to her parents and start our life together. Then, my stupid brother had to go and get himself killed, leaving me the only living heir of Calvin Hastings.
That’s when the kidnapping of Aria was arranged, but they took the wrong Maxwell. I knew it was something to do with my father when I received a message with an address and to be there immediately. What I found were my father’s men and a very scared Thalia. I knew then what I needed to do. It broke me to walk away, but if it kept the woman I loved safe, then I could sacrifice my feelings.
For her, I would.
Doesn’t mean it doesn’t hurt every day.
I am a masochist though, and I torment myself every day with memories of her. I also set up an alert on my cell. I want to know everything Aria is up to, whether she has moved on, etc. But so far, there has been nothing. It’s like she just dropped off the face of the earth. I would have gone searching for her had Greg, my old boss and head of the Maxwells’ security, hadn’t responded to a message I sent. He told me that Aria is fine and living in Wellington with her sister, out of the spotlight.
Still, I hate not being able to see recent pictures of her. What she looks like now, how she is doing. It kills me a little more each day, the not knowing.
Sighing, I push open the door to my room and pull my cell out of my pants pocket. Swiping it open, I scroll through until I find the name I am looking for and hit dial. He answers on the third ring.
“What can I do for you, Hastings?” he says by way of greeting.
I snort. “You know I go by my mother’s name. I am no Hastings; I am a Hayworth.”
“Try telling your father that. He is grooming you to take his place as the head of Hastings,” he drawls.
My patience running thin, I snap, “Ryker, listen to me. I didn’t call you to have a debate about my surname. I called because I need your help.”
He sighs down the line. “I just heard about your upcoming nuptials. Congratulations, man.”
Pinching the bridge of my nose, I try to calm myself down at his blasé attitude. I grew up with Ryker before I left Vegas, and he is of the same opinion of the organization as I am. Like me, he is the only heir so will have to take the helm when his father steps down. He doesn’t want that.
“You know as well as I do, I don’t want that. We need a plan to take my father down. Do you think the others will help?” When I say others, I mean the other sons of the founding fathers. Again, I grew up with them, but I am not as close with them as I am Ryker. From our interactions, I get the feeling they don’t want what our fathers are offering, but I need to be sure before I go to them.
Ryker sighs before answering. “I can ask around. I know Stone isn’t happy. Like you, he is being forced into a marriage he doesn’t want. I can feel out Zane. I will arrange a boy’s night, and we can go from there.”
“Do that. The sooner, the better.”
“Okay. Leave it with me. I’ve gotta go. I will talk to you later.” He ends the call.
Dropping down on my bed, I lie back and stare at the ceiling. For the first time since I came back here, I feel a little hope.
Maybe, just maybe, I can get back to my princess.
