My parents had turned me into a whore.
“Sian,” Gideon said, coming toward me.
I pulled away. He was not touching me. None of them were ever touching me.
Rushing into my room, I closed the door and saw there was no lock. With my back against it, I slid down, drawing my knees up to my chest.
Something told me they all knew.
My parents certainly did. They knew what this meant, and I had been ordered to comply.
“One day, you’re going to have to make so many decisions for yourself and they’re all going to seem scary. Know how strong you are, Sian. Know which battles to fight.”
Did Drew know?
Was my nanny trying to prepare me for what was to come? How would she even know?
I rested my forehead on my knee and wished for her to be back here.
****
Gideon
I had fucked up.
After talking with my dad, I shouldn’t have opted to go to collect Sian. I’d volunteered to go to try to clear my head, and in doing so, whatever ground we’d gained through class, I’d fucking lost.
“So that little advice of us going at a little slower pace, you just ignored that?” William asked.
I glared at him. “Now isn’t the time.”
“No? You see we’re all working on a countdown, and you’ve just made this all difficult for us.” William continued to mock me. “Is this some kind of power trip? You don’t think she’s challenging enough, you want to make it a little harder?”
“No, of course not.”
He stepped toward me, and I saw his anger simmering beneath the surface. My own anger awakened and I took a step toward him, ready to take this shit wherever he wanted to go. Hands clenched into fists at my sides, I was more than ready to fight. I wanted to. The punching bag hadn’t helped.
I craved the feel of human flesh.
Dante and Mateo stood in, getting between us.
“No,” Dante said.
“This isn’t going to solve anything,” Mateo said.
“No, but it will put him in his fucking place. You may be the leader of us, Gid, but you’re not perfect. You just cost us in your little stunt.”
I wanted him to hit me.
“We’re not going to get anywhere if we’re attacking each other,” Dante said.
I waited.
William stared me in the eye, and I saw the challenge there.
“You better fix this for all of our sakes,” William said, stepping away.
Dante nudged me in the shoulder. “Back down.”
I took a step back, but I didn’t want to leave a fight. If William was ready to throw down, I was right there. More than happy to pummel him into the next fucking world. I was ready.
William walked away with Mateo, leaving me with Dante.
“Dude, what the fuck?” Dante asked.
“He…”
“This isn’t about William. You know you fucked up.”
“She’s going to have to learn her place once and for all. I’m tired of pussyfooting around her. She has to get in line.”
Dante put his hands on his hips. “You know I’d very much like to punch you in the face right now.”
“Do it,” I said.
“No, I’m not going to do it. It would give you too much satisfaction. What I am going to do is leave Sian’s food there for you to fix this.”
“I don’t need to fix shit.”
Dante rushed me, shoving me against the wall. His hand went to my neck, but he didn’t squeeze. He held me perfectly still. “I’m tired of all of this bullshit, Gideon. Fix it before I have to.”
“You wouldn’t be able to fix it without me.”
“You’re not invincible. We all know there is a time limit here. Make it work.”
I watched as he took off. I didn’t expect Dante of all people to leave me alone. My phone call with my dad had pissed me off. He’d taken twenty minutes to tell me how important my role was within this. What I needed to do with Sian. He even suggested we … hurt her to get her in line. There was a reason The Society picked the females, and Sian was the choice for us.
I … never hit a woman.
Gripping the back of my head, I growled low in my chest.
Sian was supposed to be easy. This year was supposed to be a breeze, and instead, I’d never been so fucking stressed.
After grabbing the takeout from the table, I moved toward Sian’s door.
I knocked on the door and waited for her to respond. She didn’t.
The soup was going to get cold.
There was no lock, so I opened the door, but I came into contact with a body.
“Sian?”
“Leave me alone.”
I pushed the door and felt the sudden weight of it against my hand.
“You’re seriously trying to keep me out by blocking the door?”
“I don’t want to see or talk to you. Dante, Mateo, William, make him leave.”
“You’re out of luck, princess. They’re not here.”
“Figures.”
I smiled. “You’re got a bad attitude, anyone ever tell you that.”