Debt Collector's Due

“Yes.” His tone turns respectful. “We have no quarrel with you.”

“You’re contacting my woman and threatening my family, so yes, you do have a problem with me. One we both know you don’t want, and can’t afford. Doesn’t look well for a new leader to be engaged in a war. Makes people antsy. They start to doubt him, and the whole thing begins to crumble from the inside as loyalties are divided, especially when you’re working together with another family.”

“What do you want?”

“For you to drop this. Athena and Kier are mine. Their last names will be changing soon enough. You don’t have to worry about them coming back to claim a damn thing. Their legacy is here.”

Silence falls. “And what about, Porter?”

“What about him?”

“You aren’t trying to recover him?”

“Our history is no secret. Why should I care?” I ask, refusing to show my hand or any sign of weakness.

“Get your house in order, and your problems with us will disappear, the same way Porter Douglas is about to.”

The dial tone fills my ear. I’ve bought us time, but they will follow up.

She rushes out to me. “What happened?”

“We’re okay, for now. We need to get you situated here, though.”

“And Dad?”

I shake my head.

“What do you mean, no?”

“There was nothing I could do to help him.”

“You expect me to believe that? After what he did to you?”

“They want his legacy ended. If I asked to keep him, or brought him here, we’d never go off their radar. A normal life would be impossible. This is a clean break.”

“Yes, with his life as a forfeit.”

“He knew that, Thena. He asked me to take care of the two of you, and that’s exactly what I’m doing.”

She shakes her head back and forth.

“Yes. It’s why he set everything up, spent that last day with you at the beach house, and shipped you off. Why else would he apologize after all this time?”

“I just can’t believe there was nothing.”

“You know how cold this world is. Second chances and redemption have no place here.”

“And what magic words did you say to gain our freedom.”

“The truth. I told him you weren’t a threat to the Douglas family because you’re mine now.”

“How could you do that? Those are choices for me to make.”

“You had ten years of making your choice and doing things your way. Now it’s my turn. You’ll both wear my name because it’s right and there’s power in it. He’s not going to risk starting a war right out the gate over this. It would make him look weak and incapable of toppling the current regime.”

“So you forfeit my freedom?” She croaks.

“To keep you safe? Yes, every time. You’re no prisoner here. There’s a world to explore –