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Rhys would be here.
So would The Founders.
And The Devil’s Knights.
Willow turned on the curling iron, humming a tune under her breath. A song I didn’t recognize. From what I could remember of my mother, she was a lot like Willow—sophisticated and refined, from a wealthy family that expected her to marry well.
Like the Marshalls, my parents married for love. At least, I thought they did. If you asked my grandfather, he would say my father was our family’s undoing. He was glad to be rid of him.
The circumstances surrounding the day my mother died remained a mystery to me. I could recall bits and pieces, fragments that didn’t make much sense.
My grandfather didn’t even let me attend her funeral. He told me she was cremated, but I knew that was a lie. The Adams’ plots took up half of the cemetery. One whole section was dedicated to my relatives. So I knew my mother was buried there.
Didn’t matter, anyway.
Dead was dead.
She was gone.
After Willow curled my hair and dabbed makeup on my skin, I changed into a pretty red dress. It was floor-length, strapless, and fit me perfectly.
“Gorgeous.” She wiggled her fingers, and I grabbed her hand. “Come, our guests are waiting.”
“I thought I was free from my grandfather,” I muttered, deflated.
“I wish I could say that someday you will be. But look at us.” She waved her hand to where the second floor overlooked the foyer as men and women in expensive clothes entered the house. “We must follow The Founders’ rules, same as you.”
“Couldn’t some of you rebel against The Founders Society?”
She shook her head. “It’s not that simple. Our families have maintained wealth and power because of our connections. To break free from The Founders would be worse than exile. We could lose everything.”
I was glad I had been spared this for the past ten years. Thanks to my adoptive father, I had a new name—a new identity. On paper, I was no longer an Adams.
I was pissed at first about my grandfather changing my name. But after I left town with the Colonel, I felt a sense of relief. My last name and family didn’t follow me from city to city. I could move across the country with my new dad and live a normal life.
Until now.
As we entered the ballroom, I spotted Cole standing by the bar with his best friends from York Military Academy, Hunter Banks and Braxton Cade. They drank amber liquid from glasses, talking to a group of guys.
“Go say hello,” Willow suggested, tapping me on the back. “I have to find Mark. We’ll join you soon.”
At least two hundred people filled the space. In a house this size, it didn’t seem that claustrophobic. But I wasn’t used to being around so many people.
I wasn’t used to people.
Period.
“Hey, princess.” Rhys curled his long fingers around my arm and pulled me into his chest. “Where are you going?”
I looked at his bruised skin that darkened around his eyes and right cheek. His split lip looked like it would gush at any second. Cole messed him up, and I was glad because I wanted to set him on fire.
Rhys tightened his grip when I ignored him and tried to walk away. “Hey, I’m talking to you.”
Shooting him a nasty look, I swatted at his hand. “Take a hint, Rhys. I don’t want to talk to you. Not after everything you’ve done to me.”
He breathed bourbon in my face. “You’re going to be mine. Stop fighting the inevitable.”
I snorted at his comment. “Never gonna happen.”
