A Rose to Keep (The Society 1)

I looked toward Gideon and shook my head, but he was already talking.

“Halloween night, you and I have to go to a confirmed location. You will give yourself to me in every single way that matters. After that night, you will be with Dante, William, and Mateo, it doesn’t matter what order it is at, just so long as you are with them. You will be ours in mind and body. You’re ours, Sian. I don’t know of another way to put it.”

This fucking prick. If I could get my damn hands on him and throttle him, I would.

Gritting my teeth, I was saved from doing it by the doorbell ringing.

I got up and took my time. There were six pizzas. I paid a healthy tip and returned to find Sian wiping away her tears.

“Are you okay?” I asked, dropping down the boxes onto the table.

“Yeah, I’m fine. Why wouldn’t I be?” She got to her feet. “I’ll be back.”

I watched her go, and like Dante and William, we all turned our glares onto Gideon.

“What?” he asked.

“Do you even know what the hell you do? Or do you not think?” I asked.

He looked at us. “What did I do?”

“Seriously, let’s start with no tact.” William shook his head. “Fucking asshole.” He grabbed the vegan pizza and made his way into Sian’s room. She still hadn’t come out yet.

“You think because I’m giving it to her real, this makes me the bad guy?” he asked.

I didn’t even bother to answer that. What was the point? He was only going to make up whatever shit he wanted in his head.

I wanted to kill him. Or tear his dick off. I wouldn’t do anything. His methods were callous and unnecessary but his heart was there.

Sian didn’t come out, but I sat and ate my fair share of pizza. I only hoped William would be able to talk some fucking sense in the situation.

Chapter Twelve

William

I spent the whole night with Sian. She ate her pizza while I finished off mine. We sat in silence for a long time. I got the sense talking was the last thing on her mind. After Gideon’s revelation, I waited for her to go bat-shit crazy. It didn’t happen. Instead, we ended up talking about some old memories of school. Our projects. What we hoped to achieve in the future. My family owned a pharmaceutical empire. Our reach was vast and one of my hopes was to finally find that cure for cancer. I thought I’d like to be the one who got the chance to do it. That was what I would love to do, but the competition was steep.

Sian was impressed. She didn’t think I had a plan for the future. I had an entire dream cast that I’d like to delve into. Cancer was just the beginning. World hunger was another. They were all fanciful dreams at the moment, but I was the kind of guy who believed in going big or going home.

Of course, none of this was even possible unless I completed everything my dad and The Society needed from me. The selection was only part of the process. To be part of The Society, there was an endless list of tasks and initiation procedures. This wasn’t a one-time deal. Halloween night and claiming Sian was only part of it.

To be honest, I didn’t know why taking a woman was considered to be a big deal. I got that it was kind of hot to share a woman between four men. I liked to watch a woman come apart, and I had no problem sharing her with my three best friends. Call me sick, but I liked to think we were close like brothers to be able to support each other and bang the same girl. Yeah, I sounded like an asshole, I knew that.

Sian was … complicated. Even though she was Joan Roberts’s daughter, she didn’t have the first clue about what the hell was going on, making this more of a challenge than I thought any of us would have liked.

I didn’t mind struggling, but this was different. Sian was innocent and she hadn’t been a part of our world.

None of it made much sense, but I imagined in time, all would be revealed, or it was just one of those glaring coincidences that mean absolutely nothing. Life fucking sucked at times.

Still, I got to hang out with Sian. She stopped crying, which was a relief. I hated to see her so upset.

Entering school the next day with Sian between us, I saw how tense she was. I moved in close to put a hand at her back, trying to offer her some comfort and support. “Remember, you’re in a position every single girl here wants to be in,” I said. This was all about showing her she was meant to be by our side.