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And I will be dead before I let them trap me into one of those as well.
“We have already been over this,” Dad says, and slams his palm down on the dining room table hard enough to make the cutlery rattle. “You are not getting involved with a Hunter.”
Setting down my knife and fork, I meet his hard stare. “And I have already told you that it’s not your decision to make.”
“You’re my daughter!”
“I’m still my own person.”
“You—” he stops abruptly when Mom places a hand on his forearm.
He glances over at her, and she shakes her head softly. The discussion has grown more heated in the past ten minutes, and she has apparently had enough yelling across the table now. To be fair, she is sitting in the spot between me and Dad, so she gets the worst of it.
As usual, Dad is seated at the head of our grand dining room table. Mikhail sits on his right and Mom on his left, with me on Mom’s other side and Anton on Mikhail’s. After that, the twins are seated on our other side, facing each other across the table. The rest of the chairs are empty since my uncle stepped out for some air.
Midday sunlight streams in through the windows and illuminates the white-painted furniture and the silver-framed paintings on the walls. Since it’s so bright outside, the silver chandelier above the table is unlit. As are the other candleholders along the table.
After another long look from Mom, Dad draws in a deep breath as if to compose himself, and leans back in his chair again. I take a bracing breath as well.
We’ve been at this for hours already, which is why Mom decided that we should take a break for lunch. But lunch just turned into a continuation of the argument.
I glance out at the bright midday sun outside, suddenly very glad that I had the presence of mind to text Kaden while we were still in the car. The moment we walked inside the house, Dad took all of our phones and sat us down for this family meeting. That was hours ago. And given that we still haven’t gotten anywhere in our argument, this is probably going to take all day. But Kaden now knows that I’m at my family’s house, so he won’t panic and start torturing people on campus to get my location when he suddenly can’t find me.
“We’re just worried about you,” Dad at last says, his voice now a bit calmer, after another deep breath.
Picking up my fork, I poke at a tomato on my plate while uncomfortable emotions make my insides twist. “You don’t need to worry about me. I can take care of myself.”
“Not against the Hunters.”
“You trust them,” I begin, using my fork to point at Mikhail and Anton, “to take care of themselves against the Hunters. Why not me?”
His gray eyes soften slightly. “Because you’re not like them. You’re you. Now, I’m not saying that that’s a bad thing. But your brothers, and your cousins too for that matter, have been trained for this world their entire lives. They can hold their own against a family like the Hunters. But you… You just don’t know what it is that you’re getting yourself into with this decision.”
Tears burn behind my eyes at the rejection, but I refuse to let them fall. Instead, I set down my fork again and raise my chin. “You think Kaden is only with me to take advantage of me.”
“Yes.”
Another burst of pain hits me behind the ribs, but I ignore it. “Even after Mikhail told you that he removed a listening device that he had planted and deleted a compromising video as a show of good faith.”
“Yes.” Sympathy, and a hint of pity, floods his features as he holds my gaze. “Because you don’t know the Hunters like I do. Kaden Hunter is a calculating little psychopath who is always thinking fifteen steps ahead. He’s playing the long game. That show of good faith was a calculated move. Just like dating you is a calculated move.”
When he’s done speaking, he looks at me as if he’s waiting for me to start worrying and fidgeting and doubt Kaden’s feelings for me. But I don’t. I know exactly who Kaden is. I already know that he is a calculating little psychopath who is always thinking fifteen steps ahead. After all, it’s one of the things that I like about him. And I know that he often plays the long game. But I also know how he looks at me. How he speaks to me. How he treats me. And most of all, I know how he feels about me. It’s right there on his face, clear as day, every time he looks at me. And there is no faking that.
Holding my father’s gaze, I simply reply, “I know exactly who Kaden is.”
Frustration flashes across his face, and he slams his palm down on the table again. Glasses and silverware rattle from the force of it, and Anton quickly throws out a hand to stop a tiny spoon from tumbling off the edge of the table. The twins exchange a quick look. Mikhail just looks between me and Dad, while Mom sighs and drinks deeply from her glass of wine.
“Stop being so damn stubborn for one second and listen to me!” Dad snaps, leveling me with a look that would’ve made grown men tremble in their boots. “The Hunters cannot be trusted.”
“I—” I begin, but he immediately cuts me off.
“You are a twenty-year-old girl with no real life experience.” His glare sears all the way through my soul. “You will listen to what I tell you.”
My cheeks burn with both fury and embarrassment. Crossing my arms, I just stare back at him in silence.
“The Hunters cannot be trusted,” he repeats. Slowly this time. As if to make sure I truly understand. His gray eyes are hard as granite as he stares me down from across the table. “You might think that Kaden Hunter cares about you, but I assure you that he doesn’t. He will discard you the moment that you become an inconvenience for him.”
Deafening silence descends on the white and silver dining room. Tears burn behind my eyes again, and my throat is closing up. I swallow and try to keep a stoic expression on my face as I raise my chin.
