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"Craig! We gotta go. Mrs. McMillan called and something's happened at the center." I called out and heard the sliding of metal over the cooktop and the clicking of burners flipping off. I nearly ran smack into him as he met us at the entrance to the room.

"Did she say–" Craig started.

"No, she didn't say anything. Just to make sure I brought one of you. You installed the security system, so I thought."

"Good thinking Princess. Let's go. J, fill Rich in when he wanders out. I'll let him know something as soon as I do." He said, pulling a small thumb drive out of his pocket and handing it to Joey. "Not sure what's up, so hang on to this.Do not lose it. If I need you to use it, I'll call with instructions."

Craig grabbed my hand and pulled me behind him as he headed for the door. He stopped long enough to slide on a pair of sneakers and grab a gun hidden in one of the fake plants in the entryway.

"You guys just stash guns anywhere?" I gaped. "How many times have I passed by that plant not knowing there was a gun hidden in it?"

"Since the attack on Temptat!on." He shrugged. "We normally don't leave guns stashed just anywhere, but after that,we wanted to be prepared for anything. Which meant hiding guns anywhere we could to always have them in reach. There's one in the drawer too."

The shock of finding out the guys had stored guns literally everywhere they could find in the manor allowed me to forget my panic about Mrs. McMillan's call. I was tempted to make Craig give me a thorough accounting of all their hiding places, but better sense told me I didn't really want to know. Instead, we made the drive in silence, my nerves returning as the youth center came into sight.

Rather than pulling around back like we usually did, Craig pulled to a stop on the curb in front. I was out of the car before he had it fully in park. Mrs. McMillan was pacing just inside the doors.

"Took you long enough." She spoke, her eyes snapping up to my face when I stormed into the center. "Did you bring one of the boys like I told ya?"

"I'm here," Craig said, entering behind me.

"Good. Maybe you can explain how this happened because lord knows I can't."

Mrs. McMillan turned on her heel, moving quickly toward my office. The woman was a few inches shorter than me, but she moved so quickly that I practically had to trot to keep up with her. I'd been so focused on keeping up with the older woman that I didn't notice the door to my office until Craig spoke again.

"Shit." He breathed. "It looks like someone took a battering ram and a couple axes to it."

He was right. The door to my office was bowed inward, the wood broken through to the other side in strange patterns that only made sense from an axe. By some miracle, it remained hanging by one hinge; the others ripped clean from the wall. The scene only grew more disastrous as I stepped inside. The filing cabinet looked like it had been crushed in on itself, and torn filesand papers were strewn about. The chairs were also crushed and dismantled, torn apart by whatever had done in my door. Only the desk appeared intact.

I ran to the other side, intent on checking that my donor files were still secured in the desk drawers. The old corded phone and ancient desktop computer sat, smashed to bits where my office chair should have been, and the desk drawers had been ripped open.

"No, no, no, no." I wailed, dropping to my knees to rummage through the wreckage.

The donor lists carefully curated by my mother and I were gone. My chest heaved with a silent sob, and I planted my hands on the desk above me to hoist myself up from the floor. The movement brought me face to face with a blue Tiffany's box the size of the now destroyed computer monitor, wrapped in a delicate white bow. I hadn't noticed it placed neatly on the center of the desk, too focused on the damage.

"Let me open that, Princess." Craig said, moving toward me. "We don't know who did this and we don't wanna risk you opening something dangerous."

I pursed my lips and shook my head. Nothing on the way to my office had shown any signs of damage. Whoever had done this it was personal, and I needed answers now. Before I could lose my resolve or Craig could stop me, I snatched the bow and lid from the box. Nestled inside on a bed of soft white fur swatches was a heart. A heart with a picture of my best friend held to it by a small, silver letter opener, piercing her image through where her heart would be.

"What the fuck?" Craig breathed, peering into the box.

He continued to speak, but I wasn't listening. My eyes snagged on the corner of a matte card tucked just under the sick gift left for me. Carefully, I eased it free and scanned over the fancy scrawling text.

Remember who you belong to before your games get someone hurt.

CHAPTER TWENTY

Craig

My heart nearly stopped when Victoria tore the top off the gift box on the desk. It was almost a relief when I realized it was a pig's heart in the box, an image of Tiffany attached to it by a letter opener. Someone had clearly intended to send her a message, and I couldn't stop myself from muttering, 'what the fuck.'

Tearing my attention from the box, my eyes raked over Victoria. She was pale and shaking with her hands in her pockets, clearly rattled. I wanted to comfort her, but I wasn't sure how. Instead, I turned to Mrs. McMillan.

"Was anything else in the center disturbed?"

The older woman pursed her lips and shook her head. "No. Just this office. If I hadn't needed to grab a new sign-in sheet before we open for the day, I wouldn't have even known someone had been in here."

"I need to check the security footage, see if we can figure out who did this." I said, turning to Victoria. "Will you be alright here, Princess? Or do you want to come with me?"