The Initiation (Darkness Within Duet 1)

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Later that day Draven knocked on Ian Miller’s office door. He’d sat in this office a couple of times. More often than not, Ian would turn up at his father’s house, complete with paperwork that they always had to sign. Always so much paperwork, it pissed him off.

Ian looked up from his desk, and Draven couldn’t help but smile at the instant anger that flashed in the older man’s eyes. “I guess I don’t need a rocket science degree to know that you’re pissed?”

“What do you want, Draven? I was unaware of you stopping by.”

“No one knows that I’m here if that will make you feel any better. I figured you and I were destined to have a little chat.”

Ian dropped his pen to the desk and leaned back in his chair. The money his father paid this man had bought all of this. The fancy office, Hannah, all of it. In a way, his father’s meddling and jealousy had also helped Draven get Harper. Kind of a win-win for him.

He walked toward one side of the room where there were lots of boring law books.

“You read all of these?” Draven asked.

“Most of them. I use them for reference as and when required.”

“Always the lawyer.”

“Why are you here in my office?”

“I’m sure you’re aware right now that I’m seeing your daughter.”

“I’d like you to leave Harper alone,” Ian said.

Draven smiled. “I’m sure you would. It makes me wonder if you’ve even taken the time to talk to her, to look at her, to see the truth of what she’s been going through.”

“I know my daughter, Draven. I don’t need you or anyone else to know what I’m going through.”

“So you understand the pain and anger. How moving in with you and Hannah, the main cause for her mother killing herself, hurt. You understand that at night, Harper wakes up from nightmares of being covered in blood. Her mother begging for help and she not being there to save her.”

“How do you know this?”

“I don’t need to tell you how it is that I know about Harper’s dreams. You were an eighteen-year-old, you think about it.”

“Harper’s a good girl.”

“Harper will always be a good girl,” Draven said. “There’s no doubt about that. The thing is, that day, and maybe even before that, there’s been a little bad inside her as well. Anger and rage from being ignored, from watching her family crumble before her very eyes, and all this time, you’ve ignored it.”

“You haven’t?”

“I’ve not tried to get Harper to be the good girl. I’ve got her to be the person she wants to be without fear of the door being flung shut in her face.”

“I know what you’re capable of, Draven. I’m not a fool.”

“So you know exactly what I’ll do to you if you think for even a second of interfering with what is going on with Harper, me, and my guys.”

Ian sat up ramrod straight. “The rumors are true.”

“She belongs to all of us.”

“And you think in five years’ time, ten years, that’s going to be good enough. You’re all going to use her until you’ve had your fill and spit her back out again.”

“We’re not like you. We value what’s ours.”

Ian flinched. “It’s not happening.”

“The time for fighting it was months ago. When you first moved your daughter into your home. You should have recognized the signs. I did. You chose to ignore her. The pain and the memories were too hard for you to cope with. In turn, you lost her. She’s ours now, and if you even try to force her to stop seeing us, or in any way affect our relationship with her, I will come for you. I will make you wish you’d never set eyes on me, or that you hadn’t gone and gotten Harper.”

“You don’t scare me.”

“Then why are you pissing your pants right now? You know what I’m capable of. What my father is capable of. I don’t fall far from the fucking tree. Right now, Harper keeps me … sane, shall we say? Take her away and I will make sure that you feel everything I do to you. I won’t numb your body. You’ll feel every single bit of sting.”

With that, he turned on his heel and left.

Chapter Sixteen

Christmas came and went within the Miller house. Harper spent most of it with Draven and the guys. They either stayed at Axel’s or Draven’s. She preferred Axel’s place, but she’d never met the guy’s dad yet. He always seemed to be out or on business, whereas Draven’s was there all the time.

Watching.

Waiting.

She got the sense he was anticipating another one-on-one with her, and each time she glanced Alan’s way, his gaze was on her. It creeped her out, so she did everything she could to avoid him.

By the New Year, she was feeling pretty good, and she knew it wouldn’t be long before the initiation. She had the ink, and she had feelings for all of them. When it came to Draven though, her feelings were the most intense. They spent the most time together, whereas Axel, Buck, and Jett tended to spend time with her but also keep her at arm’s length. She didn’t mind at all. They were good friends, and she was loyal to all of them. That was the difference. They were all friends, but with Draven, it was something more. There was no denying that. It hadn’t come between the guys though. She watched them all, making sure she didn’t create a problem. They were united as one.