Chapter Two

Cia.

Everything about today felt off. The call from my father making sure I would be at the house promptly at six, then the multiple texts from my brother attempting to confirm the same. I had no idea why they were all so stressed. Each year it was the same thing. We picked one of our many properties as the destination where we would spend Christmas. Mother paid an elite event planner to decorate the house and Father scheduled the jet to fly us there.

I was used to the process, but today everyone seemed overly anxious about the family being in place. About me being in place. When the car service pulled into the circular drive of my family estate, that same gut feeling intensified. Something was definitely off. Two vehicles I didn’t recognize were parked at our home. No one should be here but family, however the Town Car and Bentley didn’t belong to anyone carrying the Malone last name.

By the time I was inside—positioned next to the luggage I’d packed for the weekend—and found my brother standing in the foyer waiting for me, the terrible gut feeling that things were off was solidified. My thoughts shifted to my father but then quickly moved to my mother since I had spoken to him multiple times today.

“Where’s Mom, is she…”

“She’s fine, Ci. Come with me. We need to talk.”

My brother Merrick approached me slowly, void of his usual confidence. When he reached out to touch me, I jerked away.

“Dad?”

His eyes softened and there was my answer. “Oh God, what happened? Is he sick, was there an accident…”

“Cia, he’s fine, for now.”

Merrick’s tone was firm. Firmer than usual which had me rolling my shoulders back.

“Then what’s wrong? He’s been calling all day. You’ve been texting. If everyone is fine, what’s the problem? We’re two days from Christmas and you look like you’re ready to murder someone instead of preparing to spend the week with your family.”

Another thought occurred. “Where’s your wife, Merrick? Is this about her? What has she done now?”

A scowl filled his handsome face seconds before he wrapped his hand around my arm and dragged me through the holding room, not stopping until we were inside the study where he slammed the door.

“What the fuck?”

I growled and he crossed the room, putting his back to me. Once he reached the wet bar, poured a drink, tossed it back, and then poured another, repeating the motion, I fully gauged the severity of whatever this was. Oh fuck, things are bad. He looked so much like our father right now.

“You’re going to do something for the family.”

Yep, this was incredibly bad.

“No the fuck I’m not.”

I locked my arms over my chest and glared at my brother’s back until he slammed the glass down and turned to face me.

“You are, Ci. You’re not going to like it but you’re going to do it because the alternative is far worse than what I’m going to ask of you.”

The alternative.

My father and brother were so deeply embedded in organized crime that the alternative could mean the consequences of their actions had finally caught up with them. For the past thirty-four years, I’d managed to remain disconnected from the life they claimed. But gauging the look on my brother’s face, that would no longer be a possibility.

“No, Merrick. You made a promise.”

His eyes softened again. “I did and I’ve kept that promise for as long as I could.”

“Promises don’t have expiration dates, Merrick.”

“In our world they do. Dad messed up. He really fuckin’ messed up, Ci, and if I were a lesser man, I would kill him myself. I need this because it’s the only way to keep him alive. His debt is open ended and the only payment they will accept is…”

Me.

“No, absolutely fucking not.”

“One year. That’s all he’s asking. You marry Warren Harte for one year and the debt is paid.”

“Warren. You want me to marry that sick bastard. You know him, Merrick. You’ve warned me about the man and now you’re proposing I marry him.”

That deep scowl returned but for a different reason. He did know Warren and no matter what Merrick was asking, the thought of Warren hurting me turned his blood to liquid heat, same as it had when he’d learned years ago that the man had taken an interest in me.

“He will not lay a fucking finger on you.”

“That’s another promise you’ll make but can’t keep. What are you going to do, move in with us, lay in the bed between us every night? There’s no way you can…”

The door opened and my mother walked in. “Leave us, Merrick.”

“Ma, I can’t do that. I need to square this away with Cia and you know why.”

“I do and I don’t fucking care.”

She turned hard eyes on him before stating one last time, “Leave the room, Merrick. I need to talk to your sister.”

His eyes bounced between us before they landed on our mother. He nodded and reluctantly left us, closing the door behind him.

“Please don’t tell me you agree with this?”

“I don’t, and unless it’s what you want, I will not ask you to marry a man you haven’t chosen for yourself.”

I scoffed. “This is not what I want.”

“Then leave and I’ll handle things.”

“Leave?”

I glanced at the door. “Merrick said…”

“Your father’s well-being is contingent on you agreeing to this unreasonable request because he acquired a debt he can’t pay.”

I nodded. “All of this is true but none of this is your issue or mine. I’ve been telling your father and brother for years that their actions have consequences. Your brother wants to save him but that’s neither Merrick’s responsibility nor yours. This is not your problem to fix, sweetheart.” She placed a hand on my cheek and I closed my eyes briefly.

“He’s my father,”

I stated quietly. I loved my father more than I could express. “If they hurt him…”

“Still not your concern. Your life is your own. I will not allow the men in this family to guilt you into solving their problems. They’ll figure it out. They always do. The problem is they want an easy fix and I won’t grant them one at your expense. If this is not what you want, leave now. If you stay, you’ll be married into the Harte family in two days.”

Two days. Christmas. Their fixation on assuring I was where they needed me to be now fully made sense.

“Mom…”

She smiled softly. “I didn’t have a choice, Cia. As much as I’ve grown to love your father, things might have been different. You’re my daughter. My only daughter. I’ve been where you are. I didn’t have a choice so I’m giving you one. Regardless of what you decide, I still love you. Your father and brother will also. Merrick wants to keep his promise to you but he’s also torn between his duty to your father. I’m going to have the same conversation with him. This is not his mess to fix.”

She hugged me, kissed my cheek, and walked out of the room.

###

Hide in plain sight.

Merrick taught me that when I was younger which was why I was currently pacing the floor in a luxurious suite at the LuxAria. I did, however, pay with cash instead of using my card and provided a false name, hoping the hood I tossed over my head before entering the lobby would hide my identity from any cameras in the area. I also learned that small tidbit from Merrick.

They could tap into just about any system in the city. He had people on his payroll who were connected to all walks of life and hackers were at the top of the list. Whatever Merrick needed was handed over on a silver platter, even if blood stained, because he had the money and resources. Which was why I didn’t understand how I’d become the payoff to whatever debt my father incurred.

Merrick should have simply paid the price.

He did, idiot.

You. You’re the price.

Warren Harte didn’t want money. They were equally yoked with our family, if not more affluent. Money had never been the negotiating price. He wanted me. I wasn’t na?ve. Years ago, he became fixated, and when I turned him down, Warren promised me that one day I would be his. The thought only further infuriated me because my father had to consider this when he made whatever poor choices led him to my life being handed over to a man like Warren.

As livid as I was with my father’s lack of consideration, I still couldn’t help but worry. I was promised to a terrible man and I ran. That meant my father could be…

I turned on my heels and traveled across the massive suite for what felt like the millionth time.

One year wouldn’t be so bad. Maybe I should consider the proposal. I could negotiate terms that would ensure I survived this with my dignity intact and my father would be alive and well. I wouldn’t have this terrible feeling in the pit of my stomach, knowing that my refusal to wed a sadistic monster could mean his demise.

One year. I could survive one year married to Warren.

Who was I kidding? The man was impossible. He was known for degrading women. My attitude would be the cause of another Malone death, mine, unless I killed him first and damn if I wouldn’t try.

As much as I believed I could completely walk away from the clusterfuck my father landed us in, I needed to know he was okay. I had already ditched my phone but that didn’t mean I was entirely disconnected from my family happenings.

My mother rushed me out of the house against my brother’s wishes which meant he was likely attempting to locate me. There would be calls and texts and I had access. I halted my steps and hurried to my laptop to login into my Privy account. The phones we had were black market and untraceable by anyone outside of our family, a precaution put in place by Merrick.

I demanded detachment from the family dealings but that didn’t mean Merrick wanted me in harm’s way. He protected me…

Until today.

Demanding I marry Warren was throwing me directly into the lion’s den.

After I powered up my laptop, my fingers danced across the keys until the screen illuminated, providing me access. After a few clicks of my trackpad, I pulled up my secured access to our family Privy account and my heart dropped with the number of texts under my account in the past hour. Almost all of them from Merrick.

Cia, where are you?

Call me immediately.

Would you really run and put our father’s life in danger?

Fuck, Cia, pick up the damn phone.

You want to run, fine, this is all on you. I hope you can live with the consequences.

I couldn’t do this. I refused to be the reason we lost my father. But I couldn’t marry Warren either.

I closed my laptop and dropped my forehead onto the sleek cool metal. Fuck, what the hell was I supposed to do?

Run.

You’re gonna fucking run or your life will not be your own…