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Well, one whore and one slut. Everest was charging men to use her body where Flora has always simply given her pussy out for free. I even have my suspicions that Brix fucked her at some point over the past few years, too.

Wouldn’t that be another cut to her heart? I’ll keep my girl, embed myself deeply into her psyche, I’ll break her and remold her…

And she’ll never be free of me.

Chapter 8

Everest

My head is throbbing. Why the hell did I drink so much wine last night?

Oh. Right. Because I was being forced to sign not just my own death certificate but three others, as well. Also known as planning a wedding that will turn into a fucking blood bath.

At this point, why fight it? The only reason I’d disappeared was to protect Brixton, Kato, and Maddox, and now they hate me and obviously blame me for Christos’ death. And…a lot of things they haven’t bothered disclosing.

I’ve tried a couple times to explain to them that my presence here is dangerous to their lives, and they treat me as though I’ll personally cause the downfall of humankind.

Alexa and I hadn’t gotten very far in the planning last night, but Kato already set the date and I sure as hell have no desire to do a reenactment ofMy Big Fat Greek Weddingcomplete with the big, cupcake looking dress.

So, I’ll play my part, help with the plans, but at no point will I give up trying to find a way to escape this house.

Kato said he would be sleeping in my bed last night, and I assumed that also meant he would be fucking me.

Except, after I’d dressed for bed and climbed under the blankets, I stared at the closed door for so long that my eyes grew heavy and I fell asleep.

Then woke alone.

I’m still dressed, and there aren’t the telltale signs of having sex, so…was he simply trying to build some kind of anticipation? Make me nervous?

Not like I haven’t had sex hundreds – thousands – of times in my life. Not like I haven’t fucked all three of these men hundreds of times when we were together.

I’m right back to wondering whether I’ll be the sacrificial lamb, whether Kato will put me through the public spectacle of the engagement and wedding only to have me killed in front of hundreds of witnesses.

Maybe it’s simply some form of punishment, though I’m no longer sure whether they’re out to punish me for running away or out to punish my father. Maybe it’ll simply be a ploy to start a battle with the local Families. They can easily point the finger at any number of groups as the guilty party.

And people will simply nod in understanding, agree they have every right to avenge the death of Kato’s wife.

The bedroom door opens and Brix steps through. I look in his direction and note yet another new guard is positioned outside my door. Eventually, I want to test this whole shadow thing, leave my room and wander the house and the estate, see if whoever is assigned to watch over me really will follow me around. You know, test the boundaries and see whether I can find a loophole, some tiny opening to slip through before we all end up dead.

Brix stares at me so long, I begin to wonder whether he’ll actually speak. Even through the darkness in his eyes, past the ink covering what parts of his body I can see, and the long, thick hair he’s left loose, I can still see the man I fell in love with before I was old enough to consider such things.

These three men had been my whole life. They were my family. We were going to build a life together.

And within hours of telling them we would be parents, everything had changed.

“What the fuck is this?” my father asks, his voice low, deadly, as he holds the pregnancy test inches from my nose.

I recoil a little since it smells like pee.

“You know what it is,” I say, keeping my chin raised and struggling to keep the tremble out of my voice.

“Who?” he asks, tossing the white stick to the ground.

I clench my teeth and cross my arms over my chest, refusing to turn my eyes from his face.

I hate that there are other people here, his men standing around watching like this is some fascinating show.

Or maybe they’re here on his behalf, his execution squad. It wouldn’t surprise me if he had one or all of them take me out back and put a bullet in my head. I’m nothing, after all. I can give him a grandchild, but he would never be happy unless he chose the father of my offspring himself.