by Fawn Bailey
Silence followed, and I ran my hand through my hair, feeling fucking agitated.
"You promise you won't be mad?" she finally whispered.
Fuck. At the mere mention of it, anger bubbled inside me. So there was something she'd been keeping from me... And now I'd have to pretend like it didn't bother me that she hadn't fucking told me anything.
"Just tell me," I said. "I won't get mad."
"She's... said a few things," Ginger finally admitted.
My hands formed fists at my sides.
"She hasn't really spoken to Ryker," she rushed to tell me. "But sometimes she says a word or two to me."
"Why didn't you tell me?" I demanded. "Why haven't you been honest with me, Ginger?"
She burst into tears, and I resisted the urge to smash the phone on a nearby rock. I had a feeling about where this was going, and I didn't particularly want to hear it.
"Ginger," I said, trying to make my voice as gentle as possible. "Do you understand you can't have feelings about this situation?"
She sobbed on the other end of the line, quietly. I could tell she was listening, desperate for me to say what she so badly wanted to hear.
"Not for Ryker," I said, skirting around the truth. "Not for me. You need to be professional. That's why I hired you. Do you understand that I won't be able to keep you around if you don't fulfill your role?"
"Yes," she let out through choked sobs.
I could almost picture her, tears sliding down her pretty face and making her irresistible. It was a fucked-up situation. She had feelings for me, but I wanted her to be devoted to Ophelia instead. I would never love another woman. I'd known that since the day I took Ophelia prisoner. She was it for me. If she left, that would be it for me. I'd be a lone wolf, I'd never find another mate.
"Get back to work," I told Ginger with a kinder tone. "Let's talk tomorrow."
She whispered something barely audible and I sighed heavily.
"You're a good girl, Ginger," I told her gently. "You will find love too."
She didn't say a word, and I cut the call with those last words, staring at my phone's screen for a long time and contemplating what to do with myself. I'd really gotten us all in a royal fucking mess. It wasn't the first time I regretted letting Ryker have Ophelia.
As I was standing in the gardens, I suddenly heard a shot being fired near the house.
Chills went down my spine as I looked in the direction of my home. I couldn't see the front with the driveway from behind the house, but a moment later I heard a blood-curdling scream.
My legs moved by themselves as I started to run. Adrenaline pulsed through my veins as I made my way through the forest surrounding the perimeter of the house. I ran as fast as I could.
It had finally happened, I fucking knew it. There was nothing else that could've happened.
Michael had arrived, and he was going to fucking kill me.
They say your life flashes before your eyes right before you die. Mine didn't.
All I saw was Ophelia's face, pale and beautiful, young but so experienced. She was looking up at me the way she used to, from her position on the floor, kneeling and waiting for my next order.
God, I fucking loved her. I should never have let her go. I should've healed what I'd broken myself, and I was a coward for not doing it.
I kept running, falling down as I stumbled over a branch. I heard voices behind me, farther back but nearing by the second, and I forced myself up again despite the throbbing pain in my ankle. I kept going, running, hiding behind tree trunks with my heart pounding.
Run.
Hide.
Escape.
Save yourself.
Save Ophelia.
I reached a small creek in the forest, where there was a clearing that made it harder to hide. My heart was fucking pounding. The only place I could hide was a hollowed-out tree trunk by the creek, and I contemplated running on my bad ankle until I heard the voices nearing even closer.
"Fuck," I muttered, and without giving it a second thought, climbed inside the hollow trunk.
A moment later, I heard footsteps, heavy boots, at least a couple pairs, smashing leaves and branches underneath their soles. The woods were full of them. They were going to fucking get me.
"You need to find him," I heard a voice say. "Whatever the fuck it takes, find that bastard and bring him to me."
Footsteps drew nearer, and I held a palm over my mouth to shut up the heavy sound of my panicked breathing.
Someone approached the trunk and kicked it, right where my ankle was throbbing with red hot pain. I let out a groan and paled when I realized what I'd done.
It took them moments to pull me out of the trunk. Moments before I was standing, shaking on two legs in front of my biological father with my heart throbbing out of control.
"There he is," Michael said pleasantly, waving his gun around. "We've been looking all over for you, boy. You like playing hide and seek?"
"Fuck you," I told him plainly.
"I've had just about enough of you, boy," he snarled at me, his handsome face twisting with anger.
He looked like a monster when he let his true feelings take over him. Maybe it ran in the fucking family, because I looked just the same.
I spat at him, right in his face, and his expression darkened.
He walked right up to me, getting so close I could feel his minty breath on my face.
"You're going to regret ever finding me," he told me, his voice a low, threatening murmur. "I'm going to make you rue the day you were fucking born. Your mother should've gotten rid of you like I'd wanted her to. You were a mistake from the moment you were fucking conceived."
"Yet I'm the one who's going to ruin you," I smirked at him.
"We'll see about that," he growled, pulling a gun from behind his back.
I was scared, but I wasn't about to back down. I owed it to everybody involved, including my parents, to stare danger in the face. To fucking kill the bastard who had taken everything away from me.
"Coward," I smirked at him, not even fighting the death grip on his guards on my arms. "You're a fucking coward. You're not going to kill me."
"I'm not," he confirmed, smiling at me. "At least not yet, sonny dearest. But I might as well hurt you good while I'm at it, don't you fucking think?"
He cocked the gun and aimed it at me, and I kept staring.
"Are you scared?" he asked me in a childish, sing-song voice. "Little boy doesn't want to get shot like his Mommy and Daddy? You know they begged for mercy, don't you, boy? Your father was as much of a coward as you are, hiding out here in the woods."
I raised my chin high. I wasn't going to let him intimidate me, and I sure as fuck wasn't going to die. I had too much to do in the world to let some piece of shit like Michael Marino intimidate me.
"So hurt me," I challenged him. "I can fucking take it."
"Sure about that?" he asked wickedly, walking up to me and shoving the barrel of the gun down my throat.
I knew the safety was off, but I kept staring into his eyes, my saliva coating the gun.
"Pathetic," he told me dismissively. "You'd really die for her?"
I nodded, sweat beading on my forehead.
"All of you," he shook his head. "All of you so fucking obsessed with this little girl that's nothing but a throwaway whore."
My vision darkened as he pulled the gun out of my mouth.
"Don't you dare speak about her that way," I growled at him.
"Oh, I shouldn't?" he raised his eyebrows at me. "What are you going to do about it, boy?"
I stared into his eyes, restrained by three guards, with guns aimed at me, and I ground out, "I'm going to fucking kill you if you harm a hair on her head."
Michael roared with laughter, toying with the gun in his hands.
"We'll just see about that," he told me. "I might want to have a go, see what makes that sweet little cunt so special."
I roared to life, struggling with inhumane stren
gth against the guards. Somehow, I managed to wrangle out of one of their arms, and the other one hurried to grab me, but I was faster, kicking him in the shin and elbowing him in the face.
"Get him!" Michael roared.
I saw the red mist descend before my eyes and I didn't give a shit about anything but stopping him.
I threw myself at him, spitting, kicking, punching, desperate to kill him.
This time it took five guards to pull me off.
Michael picked himself up, dusted off his designer suit, walked up to me and aimed the gun at me.
"I was going to play nice," he growled. "But now you're fucking dead, boy."
The gun retreated and he smacked me over the head with it.
And then everything went dark.
Chapter Sixteen
Ryker
"Mr. Marino?"
I looked up to the sound of the voice, my new head of security standing in the door with his arms crossed.
"Yes?" I asked. "I'm kind of busy here."
I motioned to the game of chess I was playing with Ginger while Ophelia sat on a pillow on the floor, watching us play.
It was the closest I'd gotten to her lately, and I was ecstatic about her progress. I wasn't about to let this dick pull me away on some business matter.
"A call for you in your study," he told me.
"Tell them I'll call back," I said dismissively, turning my attention back to the chess board.
The man cleared his throat, his eyes darting between me and the two women next to me.
"What?" I barked.
"Sir," he said awkwardly. "It's... It's your father on the phone."
I got chills down my spine when he delivered the news, but I wasn't about to let anyone in on that. Awkwardly, I got up and ran a hand through my hair, glaring at the guy who'd interrupted us.
"Why are his calls getting through?" I asked roughly, and he had the decency to look apologetic.
"He seems to have an untraceable number," he admitted. "We didn't know it was him calling."
"I see," I replied icily, turning my attention to the girls. "Do you mind if I take this, ladies?"
Ginger shook her head, her cheeks so red I thought she might spontaneously burst out in flames.
I shifted my attention to Ophelia, who was sitting demurely on the pillow. Her eyes were wide and scared, and she gave me a barely there nod to confirm I should go.
"I'll only be a moment," I said easily, my words more carefree than I really felt. "Stay right where you are."
I followed the guy down the hallway, resisting the urge to slam him into the wall. I didn't want my father calling the house. Hated how familiar he'd gotten with me like we were actually still fucking family after what he did to my brother.
Once I was in the study, I motioned for all of the guards to file out. They respected my request, gathering in front of the door as I sat down in my armchair, my brows furrowing when I picked up the phone.
"Hello?" I barked down the line, and my father's quiet, sinister laughter followed.
"Hello, Ryker," he said in that charming voice of his. "I've been wondering when we'd be able to have a chat. We haven't had a chance to talk in so long."
"I have no desire to speak to you," I informed him coolly. "Actually, I have to go. Do not fucking call this number again."
I started to put the phone down when he spoke up again.
"Oh, I think you're going to want to stick around for this," he said, and I could just picture the smirk on his face.
"Is Mom alright?" I hissed, and he laughed again, pissing me the fuck off.
"Oh, your mother is just fine," he finally replied. "Spoiled rotten and as fake as fucking ever."
"What do you want?" I barked into the phone. "I don't have time for your games."
"Well, it's very simple, actually," he said. "I'd like to call a truce."
"What?" I asked, my eyebrows shooting up. "A truce?"
"A truce," he repeated. "I want to bury the hatchet. You know, put our little issues behind us."
"Our little issues?" I growled. "You killed my brother. Your own son!"
"We both know he wouldn't have made it," he sighed heavily. "He was the weaker one. The weakest link. He was never destined to be my heir."
"You've always wanted to get rid of him," I accused him. "You tried to have him killed when he was just a kid, you piece of shit."
"Your brother was an obstacle, Ryker," he interrupted me icily. "Now, unless you want to become one, I think it would be good if you thought about my offer."
"Are you threatening me?" I hissed at him.
"No," he laughed easily. "Not as long as you agree to my terms."
My knuckles were so white they fucking hurt, my nails digging into my palms.
"I don't give a shit about your terms," I said. "I'm just going to-"
"You're going to listen very well," he growled at me, shutting me up effectively, his tone threatening as all hell. "That new chief of security you hired? He'll kill you if I tell him to."
"What?" I asked, my heart pounding into overdrive. "The fuck are you on about?"
"And if you don't follow my orders," Dad said sweetly. "I'm going to make you watch him kill the women. That sweet little blondie first. Blow her brains all over your walls. And then Ophelia. But I want to see her suffer for you. So might as well have some fun with her, right?"
My blood ran cold. I couldn't come up with a single word in response.
"She always was a pretty girl," he laughed easily. "And I've always wanted to dip my cock inside that tight little-"
"Shut the fuck up," I whispered. "Shut the fuck up right now."
He laughed as if he'd just told the best joke.
"Alright, I'll shut it," he said. "Wouldn't want your old man to embarrass you. So, are you going to do as I say?"
I gritted my teeth, refusing to answer.
"You know what the alternative is," he told me plainly. "I'm not asking for much, Ryker. You're going to rejoin the family, as my rightful heir. It would make your mother so happy to see us all back together."
"Join you?" I laughed bitterly. "After what you've done?"
"Need I remind you of the stakes?" he said stiffly. "Think with your fucking brain, son, not with your dick."
I spat out an Italian curse, making him laugh out loud.
"Good to see you still remember your roots," he hissed.
"What would happen to Ophelia?" I asked.
I needed to remember she was my first concern. My father fucking hated her.
"She can stay," he said, his tone begrudging. "Since you love her oh-so-much."
"And Ginger?" I added.
"She can stay too," he said. "Blondes were always my type."
My nails broke the skin, drawing blood from my palms.
"She's off limits," I growled, realizing with a start I was repeating Kain's words from only a few weeks ago. "You don't get to fucking touch her."
"No?" he laughed. "Got a little crush on the help, do you? I wouldn't recommend it. Look where it fucking got me."
"You need to keep your hands off her," I told him plainly. "I don't want you touching her. You need to swear you'll leave both of them alone."
A silence followed, then he finally laughed, as if he were mocking me.
"I'll do my very best," he growled. "I promise."
It wasn't enough, but at least it was fucking something. My heart was still pounding from his revelation about the head of security. I should never have hired him. I needed to be more careful.
"What about Kain?" I asked, remembering my half-brother who was also a key player in the whole situation. "What happens to him?"
"Nothing," my father got out through gritted teeth. "We stay as far away from him as possible. I don't have time to deal with a goddamned bastard, and neither should you. He was never part of the family. And I'd like to keep it that way. He doesn't belong. What do you think?"
My heart pounded with the implications of his words
.
Kain would never get Ophelia back.
She'd finally belong to me, just like I'd wanted all along.
But it meant breaking our arrangement, taking the one thing that kept him sane.
Could I really do it to my own brother?
"I need to think," I told my father. "I need at least a few days."
"You have until tonight," he told me coolly. "I'll be expecting a call at eight pm sharp, and if I don't receive one, you're all fucking dead."
I breathed out through my mouth, resolve setting in as I nodded.
"I will call you then," I told him, ending the call.
I set the phone down and took a deep breath, knowing I had a huge decision to make.
I walked out of the study, bumping into the new head of security on my way out. He stared me down, and I glared at him, wishing there was something I could do. But once again, I was entangled in my father's games, and there was no getting out of the mess he'd made. It was always like this with my father - I always got caught up in his ploys.
I returned to the living room where the two women were staring at me with their eyes wide and frightened.
"Everything's alright," I told them with a placating smile. "Let's return to our game."
"But..." Ginger started.
I turned my eyes to her, glaring until she shut up and averted her gaze.
I sat down and moved a chess piece while Ophelia stared into my eyes. I pretended not to notice, unwilling to admit what had happened.
Finally, her gaze wandered down and she didn't say a word as she contemplated her next move. A moment later, she moved the chess piece and we started playing again.
My head was swimming with thoughts of what to do. There was no way out of the situation though, and I knew I had to accept my father's offer. It was my best bet for keeping us all safe and alive.
All of us, with the exception of Kain...
What would Ophelia think when she found out I'd forsaken the man she loved? Would she ever be able to forgive me?
It was something I'd have to do no matter what. And I assumed Ophelia valued her life more than his... or at least I hoped so.
