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Ariella wiped her hand over her face. She was still groggy. None of this made sense.
“Finn?” Desperate for him to assure her, she grabbed his arm. “What’s going on? Why would you do this?”
He looked down at her hand with utter disgust. She yanked it back, stepping away from him and hitting the back of her legs against the bed.
“Why?” She asked again, barely able to get the sound loud enough to be heard. She’d known Finn for years. He was like a brother, a best friend. Why would he do something so despicable?
“Because I pay better than your father,” Ursa answered simply.
“That’s it? Money?” Ariella’s chest tightened. “You betrayed me. Betrayed my father for money?”
Finn raised his eyebrows. “It’s easy to judge me from where you stand—the last daughter of the great Henry Trident. You’ve grown up with money filling your pillowcase, and you’ll be married off to money. Not all of us are so privileged.”
His words struck her.
“So, all this time, you were just pretending to be my friend?” She pressed her hand to her stomach. The pain still throbbed in her head, and now her stomach rolled.
“I was making nice with the boss’ daughter. When a better deal came around, I took it.” He shrugged. “Look, it’s not like you’re gonna have a bad life from here on out. Your daddy will come save you. I mean, you won’t have much after that, but you won’t be living in the streets.”
“Of course not,” Ursa assured her. “You’ll always have a place here with me.” Her ruby-red lips spread into a wide, emotionless grin. “Your father, on the other hand?” She lifted a shoulder. “He can die in a ditch for all I care.”
“What? No. Why are you doing this?” Ariella’s voice finally came back in full force.
Ursa sighed. “Because my little brother has what belongs to me.” She arched her brow. “And now, I have what belongs to him.”
“Did you give her the aspirin, Finn? Her head must be simply pounding.” Ursa glided over to the windows and threw the curtains open again. Light splattered across the room, making Ariella wince.
“I have it here.” Finn picked up the glass from the nightstand and handed it to her, opening his other hand to offer three small pills. “It’s just ibuprofen.” He pushed his hand at her when she hesitated.
“I don’t want it.” She tried to hand him the glass of water back, but he refused.
“Take the ibuprofen, Ariella. Don’t be a martyr.” Ursa insisted.
Finn dumped the pills into her palm. She inspected them, making sure they were what they claimed, then threw them back and swallowed down the water. She hadn’t realized how thirsty she was until the water hit her throat.
Finn took the empty glass from her.
“What are you going to do now?” Ariella questioned Ursa. “My father won’t let you keep me locked away.”
Ursa nodded, pulling a folded piece of paper from her pocket. “Remember this? The little receipt you signed? This is a copy. Another copy is all set to be delivered to the Tiryns family.”
Ariella took a step closer. The paper was different than the one she signed. The one she’d seen in Ursa’s room had been mostly empty. A few scribbles and her signature at the bottom. This one had more writing on it.
Receipt for delivery of six, received from Ares Morgan and delivered to Ursa Poseidon for resale.
“You changed it!” Ariella accused, swiping her hand out to grab the paper. Ursa stepped back quicker, making Ariella nearly fall on her face.
“You agreed to accept a delivery for me, didn’t you?” Ursa pointed out as she refolded the paper into a neat square before sliding it back into her pocket.
“You didn’t tell me what it was.”
“Doesn’t matter.” Ursa shrugged. “What matters is you will get Daddy into a lot of trouble if they find out about your involvement.”
“You’re sick.” Ariella pressed her hand to her stomach as it rolled over a wave of nausea.
“I’ve been called worse.” Ursa tilted her head to the side. “Are you all right? You look a little green in the gills.”
Ariella took a calming breath. “I’m fine.”
