When I made it to the library, however, I found it empty. I checked the bronze antique clock on the wall and saw I was on time, which meant Angel should have been here. Had he changed his mind and left without me?
Rather than to succumb to paranoia, I decided to wait him out. Angel was the head of a criminal empire and only just last night murdered several people including a senator’s son. Maybe he’d been pulled away to deal with something urgent.
My gaze caught something familiar resting at the furthest end of the table and my heart sped up. I couldn’t stop my feet from pulling me closer until I was lifting the leather bound book from the glossy hardwood.
Holding the book felt like holding Pandora’s Box and opening it would unleash all the evil in the world. I didn’t remember sinking into the chair. My fingers caressed the leather nervously.
Did I dare?
With a deep breath, I flipped to the first page. The harshly scripted ink was faded and hard to translate, so I flipped through two hundred years until a date caught my eye.
April 4th 2007.
The day my mother died.The Parties:
Arturo Knight
Cecily Ross
Victor CastroThe Order:
On this day, April 4th 2007, Arturo Knight orders the death of Cecily Ross as a permanent end to the affair. Such order was executed by Victor Castro.The Debt:
$20,000 paid to Victor Castro.The Bandit:
Arturo
The Fifth KnightI hadn’t realized I was crying until the first tear dropped onto the paper, smudging the ink.
Hurt. Betrayal. Confusion.
Each emotion fought for the right to shred my heart until there was nothing left to ruin.
My mom hadn’t died of cancer. It had all been a lie.
She’d been murdered by a man who thought his secrets were worth more than her life. A man she loved until he took her last breath. And then he callously recorded the end of her life as if she never meant anything to him or to my father… or me.
I turned the page to see if there was more and there was. So much murder, scandal, and lies, but none of it was about my mother. She was merely a blip in this family’s legacy.The Parties:
Arturo Knight
Theodore RossThe Order:
On this day, June 24th 2013, Theodore Ross orders the marriage of his daughter. Such order will be executed by the heir apparent, Angeles Knight. Father John Adams and County Clerk Michael Kelley will bear witness to this legal union.The Debt:
Mian Ross
Angeles KnightThe Bandit:
Arturo
The Fifth KnightJune 24th…
It must have been the day Angel and I had been married without our knowledge. My desire to be Angel’s had come true, and my right to be a part of it had been stolen by my father. I flipped the page, no longer able to stand seeing my fate so coldly decided for me with the stroke of a pen. I flipped until I recognized another date.The Parties:
Angeles Knight
Alon KnightThe Order:
On this day, November 1st 2013, Alon Knight orders Angeles Knight to assume his rightful place as The Knight. As his duty, he will inherit Alexander’s legacy, and become the sixth Bandit. Only by death or succession of a male heir will this Knight’s duty end.The Debt:
His first-born son.The Bandit:
Alon
The Fourth KnightHis reign began when my life ended.
The day after Arturo was murdered, I was feeling my world turn upside down while Angel had inherited his precious legacy. The Knights tore apart my family so they could continue to feather their nest.
It was time they learned how high the price for losing everything could get. The fireplace beckoned as I pushed away from the table and rose from my seat.
Angel may never forgive me, his family may hunt me, but they started this war.
And now I was ending it.
Turning on the gas, I watched the fire flicker to life and then held the book over the fire. The flames licked at the leather and burned my fingers. I just needed to let go.
The library doors burst open just as I began to let the book slip. Clutching the book at the last minute, I hid it behind my back and faced the intruder.
It was Lucas and Z, and they looked ready to kill.
“I was just—”
“No time, princess.” Z slammed the library doors with more force than I’d ever seen from him. Lucas lifted the nearest chair and flung it at the wall. It splintered into pieces before crumbling to the floor.
“What’s going on?”
“They took him.”
“Caylen?” I didn’t wait for them to answer. I was already racing for the door, afraid for my baby, and promising retribution to anyone who harmed him. I never should have left him.
Z blocked the door and wrapped his arms around me to keep me from leaving. “It’s not Caylen, princess.”
Then why did he still look ready to vomit?
“Then who?” As soon as I demanded the answer, however, I knew. “Someone took Angel?”