A Rose to Keep (The Society 1)

“Who told you?”

Fuck! “Look, that doesn’t matter.”

“I think it does. I’ve got to be a whore for the rest of my life. Where exactly does that leave me? What happens when you find a wife? I’m the piece on the side.”

I wasn’t exactly sure how it all worked, and to be honest, right now, I didn’t want to know.

“We can make your dreams of becoming an author real.” The words were out of my mouth before I could stop them. I didn’t know if we could make it happen. What I knew for sure was that I had to get her to agree. We had to be ready come Halloween. That day was fast approaching.

I’d always hated Halloween. It was bullshit.

Now, I despised it in a way I never had before. I had reason to.

“What?” she asked.

“I can make sure your parents don’t get involved. You can have a life away from them. Your future can be your own within reason.”

She tilted her head to the side. “You’re lying.”

“No, I’m not. You’re just scared because this offer is so fucking tempting. What do you think? You living your own life, no longer having to be under your parents’ rule?” I asked. Damn, it even sounded great to me. One day, I knew I would be in that position. Not that I could do anything about my father. He would always be around. His place within The Society guaranteed it.

Sian still had doubts. I saw them swirling in her gaze as she stared at me. “How can you make that kind of promise?”

“I’m the leader, Sian. I’m the next generation, and one day soon, my word will be fucking law.” I took a step toward her. “Submit to us. We will bring you nothing but pleasure. You will love every second of your time with us. You’ll be protected, and you will get to do whatever you want to.”

“What if I want to be let go?” she asked.

“Then when the time is right, if I can make it happen, I will.” That was the biggest lie of all. I hated bringing her false hope, but what else did I have to offer her? Nothing.

My dad’s suggestion of hurting her left me sick to my stomach. I didn’t get off on raping a woman or using force of any kind, not when she wasn’t into it.

She gripped her shoulders, and I saw her struggling to make the decision.

Had I won her over?

She nibbled on her lip, staring at my chest, and I waited.

“I don’t want you to shout at me again or treat me like that. I don’t want to feel like a whore,” she said. “I’ve never had sex with anyone, and up until tonight, I’ve never kissed anyone.”

“Who did you kiss?” I asked.

Her cheeks went bright red. “I, er, I told Heather about … you know, and she offered to be my first kiss.” Her hand went to her lips.

“You do realize Heather is completely in love with you, don’t you?” I asked.

How dare Heather steal our fucking first kiss.

“What? No, you’re wrong. She’s my best friend.”

“And she can’t keep her eyes off you. It’s clear for anyone to see. She wants to fuck you.”

Sian gasped and shook her head. “No. You’ve got it all wrong. She’s not like that. We’re good friends.”

This time, I couldn’t help but laugh. “You’re so blind.” I rubbed at my temple. “Does she try to find ways to touch you? Are there times she seems to linger on parts of your body? Her hugs last a little long? That kiss tonight seemed to hold so much more?”

Her gaze went even wider as she shook her head, and I simply nodded.

“I don’t believe it.”

“Well, why don’t you ask her?”

“You did this on purpose,” she said.

“Do we have an agreement?” I asked.

She ran her fingers through her hair at the same time as blowing out a breath. “I don’t want anything to happen to Heather. She’s so nice, and this place is so awful.”

“We’ll take care of her.”

Sian smiled. “Then yes, we have a deal.” She reached out and shook hands with me.

Now I just needed to prepare her for Halloween.

Chapter Eleven

Dante

Gideon had texted me to meet him at the back of the bleachers on the field. I arrived at the same time Mateo and William did. I didn’t know where they went after witnessing Sian and Gideon’s argument.

“Any sign of him?” I asked.

“Nope. Let’s hope Sian hasn’t gutted him,” William said.

I hadn’t thought of Sian killing him. “He deserved it.”

“Nice to know you’ve got faith in me,” Gideon said.

I turned as he approached. His hands were shoved in his pockets.

“Is Sian alive?”

“And asleep,” he said.

“What did you guys figure out?” Mateo asked.

“We have a deal. So long as Heather is taken care of and a few other minor details are worked through, she’s ours.”