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Skye’s head spins to me. “You know about her?”
“Yes.”
There’s silence again as she obviously measures her words. “She’s been taken care of. It’s only me now.”
I consider that, wondering what exactly “taken care of” entails but don’t push for more. I’ll get the truth later. For now, I’m more curious about other things.
“Do you know who I am?” I ask.
For a split second, her attention wanders around the room, then she brings it back to me. “Everyone knows who you are. The Maxtons own half of Philadelphia.”
“But do youknowwho I am?” I ask.
She studies me carefully. “You’re Arran Maxton.”
“Correct.” I down the drink in my hand. “I’m also your father’s worst enemy.”
6
SKYE
“I’m also your father’s worst enemy.” Arran’s words blast through the air like a sonic boom that leaves me deaf to everything else.
I struggle to control my breathing, my chest rising and falling rapidly as I process what he’s just said. He’s one of my father’s enemies? Was I purchased by one of the men I was running from?
“I don’t have money.” The words spill from me, the fear I’ve been trying to conceal visible now.
“Thomas didn’t owe me money,” Arran grinds out.
“W-what did he owe you?”
“My sister’s life.”
I rear back as if he’s slapped me, my fear forgotten. “What are you saying? That my father caused her death?” I shake my head in denial even as my mind rushes through everything I remember hearing about Catherine Maxton’s murder two years ago. It was all over the news. How could it not have been? The heiress daughter of the Maxton empire found dead on the stairs of the Vellermo Art Institute. It was the talk of every local news program. Photographs of her naked body were published before the family’s lawyers put out a cease and desist.
I was unfortunate enough to see those photographs on my father’s desk before he removed them from my sight. And it wasn’t Catherine’s nudity that had made me gasp in horror. It was the obvious brutality with which she was killed.
“My father would never have—” I begin, but he cuts me off.
“He did.”
My teeth clack as I shut my mouth, and it takes all my control to keep it closed. I want to argue with this man. To tell him that though my father was far from perfect, he was no murderer. He could never have done such a thing!
But as much as I loved Daddy, and as much as it pains me to keep quiet, I don’t defend his honor. One day I will, but not this day. Today, all I can think about is my little sister. And the thought of her safety brings back that fear I’d forgotten.
“Is that why you bought me?” I ask, my heart in my throat. “To kill me?”
Shit. I don’t care about myself, but if he kills me, I won’t be able to do what I was sent to do, and Maisie could pay the price for that.
His blue eyes stay on mine and I desperately search for any clue as to his state of mind. I need to know if he’s lying when he answers me.
“I don’t know why I bought you,” he replies, and it rings true, though it’s a useless response.
Of course, if he’d said yes, I would fight like an animal. I’d do everything in my power to kill him first. And if he’d said no, I wouldn’t believe him. Because if I thought someone was responsible for Maisie’s death, I’d tear them apart.
That’s when it hits me. What he really wants. Why Gideon was so sure Arran would buy me.
“You want revenge,” I whisper.
