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What worries me most about them is the alleged crimes they’ve committed. Would they really have sent a man to the hospital to make a deal happen? When I think of the fanatical devotion the three men have towards the future of their species, I can feel some truth in that accusation.

Who have I allowed myself to be Bonded to?

“Good,” my father nods, reading my confusion. “Very good. It cost a fortune, so it had better work. You can’t feel them at all?”

I shake my head.

“Then, the Lieutenant of the Aurelian Enforcement wants a word with you. Are you strong enough to speak with him?”

I bristle at my father’s concern. If he’s serious about grooming me to replace him as the head of our family company, he’ll need to start treating me like the adult I am.

“I told you. I’mfine. Brennan and his triad didn’t do anything to me.” Nothing I want to tell my father about. “I can do the interview.”

I can see the annoyance flash in my father’s eyes when I mention Brennan by name, instead of just calling him a ‘bastard’ or a ‘kidnapper’. To my father, Brennan is guilty of the most heinous crime.

“I’ll be there with you,” my father tries to reassure me, but it has the opposite effect. “Don’t worry. The Lieutenant is in the dining room right now.”

I shake my head. I need to face the Aurelian myself –alone. I finger the ring on my index finger.

It doesn’t budge.

A feeling of panic suddenly rises in my mind. I pull at the ring, but it won’t budge.

“What the Hell? It won’t come off!”

My father doesn’t even have the courtesy to look guilty.

“It’s important that the Bondremainsdisrupted, Natali – until the trial is over. That ring is time-linked. Once placed on your finger, it will stay there for forty-eight hours. Once those forty-eight hours are over, simply press that little button – look, right there – one time to take it off, and one more time to restart the clock for another two days, standard duration.”

At one time or another, this ring must have been used to sever ties between Aurelians and their Fated Mates by force. I feel the coldness seeping from it. It’s not a physical sensation – it’s something in my gut. That same gut I’m growing increasingly ready to trust.

It’s been the only thing that’s never lied to me so far.

Gods! This ring! What will the Aurelians think? I’d thought I’d be able to take it off at any time – so I could reassure them if I decided to choose a future with them.

Now, though, I’m worried they’ll think I betrayed them – they’ll want nothing to do with me.

I shiver, and close my eyes.

I can’t dwell on that. It’s too late. I’ll have to find another way to talk to them. If nothing else, those three Aurelians have given me the gift of trusting my own resourcefulness and courage.

I’ll need them. Iwon’tlet my father determined my future – not any more.

“Why didn’t you tell me that is was time-lockedbeforeI put in on?”

I know my question is useless. My father shrugs – as if I’d asked him something as innocuous as what the weather was doing that day.

“What difference would it have made?” He finally answers. “The purpose of the ring is to stop those three kidnappers from influencing you. It’s to stop them from using the Bondagainstyou.”

He still doesn’t trust me.

All those fancy words about making me the leader of the company were worthless. He still sees me as a stupid girl, unable to decide for herself what is best for her.

But I am not that person any more.

“I will do the interview myself, Father –alone.”

“Wait, Natali…”