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He knows too much about me, even now, after years of not talking to me.
“What do you want?” The discomfort in my tone is cringeworthy.
“It’s not what I want. It’s what needs to be done.” He strides past me and into my bedroom without an invitation.
I spin around to face him. “I didn’t invite you into my room.”
He stops in the middle of my room and faces me. “I’m babysitting you today.”
I roll my eyes. “I’m eighteen; I don’t need to be babysat. Besides, I’m in my own house. What do you think you’re babysitting me from?”
Typically, Ryder is a controlled person. He rarely shows emotion, and hardly ever radiates tension. But right now, anxiety is flowing off of him.
He steps back toward me, reaches past me, and pushes the door shut. “Your father received an anonymous tip that one of the families—none of ours—outside of the city, has put a hit out on you,” he informs me, loosening his tie.
My jaw drops. “What? Why would they put a hit out on me? I’m just a mobster’s daughter.”
It doesn’t make any sense. If hits are put out, it’s usually on the sons, who are heirs to the family name.
He carries my gaze. “You’re the key to tying together four of the most powerful families in the country, which makes you not only valuable but powerful.”
I roll my eyes. “I think we both know I have no power in any of this, or I wouldn’t go through with the fate ceremony.”
His lips tilt downward. “You know, if you’d just accept your fate, you could start using it to your benefit.”
“How do you figure?”
“Because not only are you the key to tying our families together, but you’re also being tied to three future heirs.”
“Who cares? Because those future heirs give zero fucks about me.” With that, I swing around him and head toward the bathroom. “I’m going to take a shower.” I slam the door behind me then slide to the marble floor.
Tears are welling in my eyes as everything crashes over me.
The betrayal.
The sexual assault.
The fate ceremony.
And now I have a hit on me.
Will this darkness and trauma ever end?
I wish I could believe so, but the more darkness plagues my world, the dimmer my hope becomes that any of this will change.
It didn’t use to be this way. No, once upon a time, I felt like I could have a happy ending. Back when I thought the guys were my friends. Back when I was still stupid enough to believe in fairy tales.
FIFTEEN
ALLURA
15 YEARS OLD…
The guys didn’t meet me in our usual spot, which is so weird. We always meet in front of the school, right in front of the statue. But today, they’re not there, and their absences is making me feel like something is wrong.
Things have been so off lately with the four of us. Sure, we don’t spend twenty-four seven together, but we usually hang out every day. Lately, though, it seems like the three of them are doing their own thing without me. It’s been going on for a few weeks now, and it’s making me miserable. Plus, I know they’re keeping secrets from me.
“Hey, girl,” Jessa greets me as I’m pathetically standing by myself in front of the statue, waiting for the guys to show up, even though it’s fairly clear they’re not.
