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The man in the middle pulls off his suit jacket and hands it to the man on his left before stepping right into my father’s cell. He starts unclipping his cufflinks before unbuttoning his shirt, and as he slowly turns to face his men, I suck in a breath, my heart lurching in my chest.
The man making demands for these strange men to find me, the ones who have been making attempts on my life . . . is my father.
Sickening betrayal claws at my chest, and I slap my hand over my mouth to keep from crying out in brutal agony. All I can do is watch. Watch as he undresses and hands the pieces of his suit to his men, watch as he pulls on his ragged clothes from his cell, watch as he messes up his hair and rubs dirt over his face, playing the part of the perfect prisoner.
But he’s anything but.
Matthias Quinn is a liar. Just like everyone else in this fucked-up world.
He’s been playing us all. Who knows how long he’s been able to slip in and out of these cells. When I went out to dinner a few nights ago, he was able to get a note to me, telling me to run. Hell, he demanded I run. He wanted me to be safe, but this . . . is he truly behind all of this? Is he the one who’s been ordering all of these attacks on me, trying to end my life?
No, it couldn’t be. There has to be some kind of explanation for this.
His men pull his cell closed, and I watch as the one on the right pulls a key from his pocket and locks him inside. “Don’t fuck this up,” my father says, a chilling demand in his tone. “She’s going to be running. Scared. She’s not to slip away, you hear me? The game has changed. With Zade out of the picture, this is my time to rise. Do not fail me. Bring my heir to me and use whatever force necessary.”
Fuck.
Use whatever force necessary.
“Yes, sir,” the two loyal followers say in unison before double-checking that everything is as it should be and slipping away into the darkness.
I’ve been such a fool. Twelve years I spent missing this man, wishing he was here to love me like a father should, to tell me everything was going to be okay and mend the ache in the pit of my stomach. If I knew this was the man I was mourning . . . I never would have wished him back. I would have allowed the hot pits of hell to consume him.
I watch my father for a moment, watch how he so casually drops back onto his unmade bed, propping his arm behind his head as though he doesn’t have a single care in the world, as though he didn’t just give an order for his men to grab his daughter with any force necessary.
My whole life has been a lie.
I should have known. My father has the blood of Empire pulsing through his veins. He’s a callous, cruel man just like his father was, just like Lawson was. Is this what I’m going to become? So hungry for power that I would risk my only child’s life?
Fuck. I don’t want anything to do with this world.
I need to get out of here. It was a mistake coming back.
Remaining in the shadows until I know my father’s henchmen are gone, I finally find the courage to step out of my hiding spot and watch as my father’s head snaps up.
His eyes widen, but he doesn’t take his stare off me, watching as I step out of my cell and put myself right in front of him. He gets up from his bed and moves right in front of me, knowing damn well I just heard everything, and fuck me, he doesn’t even try to deny it or come up with some bullshit excuse.
“Oakley,” he says, keeping his chin held high as if he has something to be proud of. “What are you doing here?”
I laugh, embarrassed by my own foolishness. “I suppose that doesn’t matter anymore,” I tell him, willing myself not to break. “You’re not going to get away with this.”
“Oh, my sweet girl,” he says. “My how you’ve grown. You’re the perfect heir. So strong. It’s a shame my great Empire will never see you as anything more than a weak woman. You would have ruled Empire flawlessly.”
“I’m never going to rule Empire,” I tell him. “I’ll burn it down before it ever comes to that, you and every other power-hungry asshole along with it.”
“I believe that’s what you want, and if you put your heart to it, I know you will succeed. You are my daughter after all. My flesh and blood. But you will never get that far, Oakley. I won’t allow it. I have worked too hard for this. I can feel it. We’re almost there, right at the finish line. Empire is mine to take back, the way it should have always been before Lawson DeVil stole it out from beneath me. You’ll see, my sweet girl. I’m going to rule this great Empire, and there’s not a thing you can do to stand in my way. Hear my warning, Oakley. There’s nothing I won’t do to keep from getting what is rightfully mine, even if it means ending your precious life.”
