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“If I told you, it’d scar your innocent ears,” Austin teases, bumping the fridge door shut.
Amelia grins, but her eyes remain on me as she lifts her glass to her lips and takes another small sip of vodka. Her unblinking attention is making me feel all sorts of squirrely.
“Will you stop doing that?” I finally say. “It’s annoying.”
She lifts a brow, her gaze never wavering. “Doing what?”
“Staring at me like a weirdo.” When she continues to stare at me, more amused than before, I massage my temples with my fingertips. “How much longer am I going to be here? Or am I ever leaving?”
Her expression softens. “You’ll be able to leave …” Her voice drifts away as the sounds of rumbling engines rise from outside.
Motorcycles maybe? Or muscle cars with really beefed up engines.
“Oh yay, Daddy’s here,” Amelia says flatly.
“And let the fucking mind games begin,” Austin mutters then downs the rest of Amelia’s drink in one large gulp.
They appear nervous. These two, weird, creepy lunatics are afraid of their dad, which means …
I’m really, really in over my head.
Hadley
A few slamming heartbeats later, the sound of growling engines begin to fade. Eventually, the air grows quiet again, and I free a shaky breath. False alarm. It must have been just a few motorcycles driving by.
“Don’t relax yet, princess,” Austin says when he notices me starting to relax.
As if on cue, the front door opens and in walks a man who somehow makes Liam the Grizzly Bear look like a cuddly, little Teddy bear. And that’s only the beginning. One by one, people file into the house, both men and women, and all share one trait.
They look scary as hell, all bulky muscles and scars. And of course, don’t forget the weapons, some carrying a knife while others have guns tucked into holsters. The more people who cram into the room, the heavier the air gets.
I can’t breathe.
I’m going to die.
Holy shit, I’m going to die.
Who the hell’s going to take care of my sisters when I’m gone?
Are these people going to go after my sisters when I’m gone?
I should’ve warned them instead of keeping them in the dark and trying to handle everything by myself.
As the last of the people enter the house, Amelia gets up, crosses the room, and sits down on the back of the sofa beside me. “Relax. The more you panic, the worse this will be.”
“I’m not panicking,” I lie, my voice coming out as smooth as melted chocolate.
The corners of her lips tug upward. “That’s good. You sounded convincing. This might actually work.”
“Huh?” I stare at her, totally lost. “What might work?”
She leans toward me and whispers, “Getting you out of this mess.”
I roll my eyes. “Like you’re actually—”
She places a hand over my mouth, her grin growing. “Yes, I am. Now stop arguing and agree with everything I say, got it?” She waits for me to nod, and I do, but I don’t really mean it. “Good girl.” She traces her finger along my bottom lip. “Your lips are so soft. I bet Blaise likes that.”
I lift my hand up and pry her hand off my lips. “Blaise hasn’t touched my lips,” I lie.
“Really?” She appears positively pleased by the idea. “Then who has?”
“Are we really going to sit here right now and talk about my kissing life?” I give a pressing glance around the room that’s filled with … well, for now I’m going to call them mobsters.
Her smile is so blinding I swear the damn thing glows. “Austin is right. You’re feisty.” She wets her lips with her tongue. “I’m not surprised, though, that you turned out that way.”
“I’m not …” My words fade from my tongue as I replay what she said. “What do you mean, you’re not surprised I turned out that way? You say it like …” Well, like she knows me.
“Like what?” she asks, sounding lost, though her sparkling eyes suggest otherwise.
“I don’t …” My mind pulsates as images of the day my mom died flash through my mind, sharp and clipped then blurry.
“Quiet,” a man whispers. “Everything will be fine as long as your dad pays his debt.”
“Just be quiet,” a girl whispers. “If you don’t, my dad’s going to get mad.”
My chest tightens, squeezing the air from my lungs. “Do I know you?”
“We just met, remember?” She talks to me like I’m stupid while observing me closely. “I’m Amelia, Axel’s daughter.”
I shake my head. “No, I know you from someplace else.”
Her lips part, her expression softening, but before she can say anything, a man waltzes into the condo and an eerie hush spreads across the room. I’m not sure why. Based on appearances, the man is the least scary of the lot, shorter and less steroid-y, with styled dark hair and wearing a clean-cut suit. To me, he looks like he should be working in some office in New York, so the tension flooding everyone’s expression has me wondering what this man has done to make a bunch of beast-sized men and women look like they’re about to piss their pants.
“Father,” Austin greets the man with a short nod and a shaky smile. “It’s so nice to see you again.”
The man—Axel—silently stares at Austin until he becomes twitchy and squirmy. “I wish I could say the same, but I can’t.” He reaches for the bottle of vodka on the counter and picks it up. “I would’ve preferred if you’d stayed in New York so that I didn’t have to have the constant reminder of what a fuck-up my only son is.”
Ouch. I may not like Austin, but holy asshats, that was harsh.
“Sorry,” Austin mumbles, wrapping his arms around himself.
“Don’t be sorry. It’s pathetic.” Axel hands the bottle to Austin. “Now pour me a drink. And try not to put too much ice in it this time.”
“Yes, Father.” Austin takes the bottle from his dad then cowers deeper into the kitchen to get
a glass and some ice, but he ends up spilling ice all over the floor.
Giving an annoyed sigh, Axel twists around and turns to a tall woman with blood-red hair. “Nat, will you please supervise my son with his incompetence. And while you’re at it, take him out back and try to beat some sense into him.”
The most sinister smile spans across the woman’s—Nat—scarred face. “It’d be my pleasure.” She slips a set of brass knuckles on as she heads into the kitchen. Without warning, she cranes her arm back and slams her fist into his side. Austin groans, dropping to his knees and dropping the glass. It shatters across the floor. Nat picks up a piece and presses it against his cheek.
My eyes widen and my lips instinctively part. “Stop—”
Amelia slaps her hand across my mouth and hastily shakes her head, panic flowing from her eyes. But it’s too late. Axel is already turning, his dark gaze landing on mine. He studies me without an ounce of emotion in his cold eyes, causing a chill to spread across my skin.
I’ve spent a lot of the last few years crossing paths with sketchy, bad people, but never have I seen such hollowness in a person’s eyes. It tears my next breath out of my chest. Makes me way too aware that I might not be leaving this condo ever again. Makes me regret a lot of choices in my life. It’s amazing how a few single seconds can do that to you. How a few single seconds can have such an impact on your life. How is that possible? How can you spend years not realizing a lot of things? Not knowing what you want, not being able to see things for what they really are, then suddenly, some six-foot-something man with the emotional deformity of a zombie gives you a withering stare and all that stuff you lazily wondered about abruptly makes sense?
“You must be Hadley Harlyton,” he says calmly.
Even his calmness is freaking me out.
I may be able to pull a chill act out of my ass in almost any given situation, but this time, I’m not so sure how my skills are going to hold up. Deep down, a part of me wonders if that might be for the better. If perhaps I should just keep my mouth and be cooperative. But considering Austin is currently getting his ass kicked for doing just that, I decide to go the Hadley Harlyton route.
