“Nothing,” Caleb said.
“That’s not nothing. Not once have you or your parents come here. Do you have any idea what you could be doing right now?” Her gaze went to the house.
I looked back but didn’t see anyone spying on us. Just because I couldn’t see them didn’t mean they didn’t exist, and with the way she reacted, I guessed it happened a lot. Her life was so carefully structured.
After we made the decision to tell our fathers in one meeting exactly what happened, they had done the rest.
Emily was engaged to be married, but she wasn’t aware of the person. We were. He was a wealthy man in his thirties who had a reputation for liking them young. The contract Bernard Crane had signed was for Emily to stay a virgin and three days after graduation, for nearly ten million, she would belong to this tycoon. Only, the man in question dealt in human flesh. He made his money through selling women, trading them, but to the outside world, he dealt in yachts and real estate.
We all had two sides. The side we really were and the façade.
The truth was fear, greed, sex, and money made the world go around. We were just masters of them all.
Vadik took a step forward, as did Caleb. They grabbed her arms, and River pressed the blade against her neck. I happened to notice it was a dull blade. She wriggled, but I pulled her dress up, exposing the bruises across her stomach and the scars from being whipped one too many times.
We knew.
We all let go and she lunged at me first, slamming her fist against my face. I accepted the first blow, but when she went to kick me in the junk, that was unacceptable. I grabbed her arms, spun her around so her body was against me.
She growled. “I fucking hate you.”
“You can hate us all you want, but what if I was to tell you we could stop those beatings right now? Today.” It was already happening, but she didn’t need to know that.
“I think you’re all fucking joking. We all know the truth of what goes on behind closed doors. You leave, and I become his own personal punching bag.” She tried to wriggle out of my arms.
Each move brought her ass close to my cock, and I had to say, I really did like the feel of her surrounding me. So fucking hot and sweet all at the same time. She made me ache for her. I hadn’t even gotten her naked and I knew I wanted her skin to skin. To feel those big tits of hers rubbing across my chest as I fucked her. Her hips would be more than a generous handful.
“Let her go,” Caleb said.
“I’m having so much fun.” I grunted as pain shot through my foot where she stomped on it.
I let her go and she stood in the circle, facing us. “Look, I don’t know what any of this is, okay? I don’t need your help and I don’t want it.” She ran her fingers through her hair, looking up at the house. “I don’t want my father to know what happened. He’ll be pissed because I didn’t say anything.”
“And we all know he’ll be upset that he couldn’t exploit that tiny little detail to get in with our fathers,” River said.
“Which brings us back to why you didn’t say anything or why you helped,” Vadik said.
This time, I remained silent. There was nothing for me to add.
She growled out her frustration. “Can’t you guys just accept that I’m nice?”
“We can accept it,” I said.
“But anyone else would have worked this in their corner,” Caleb said.
Emily laughed, but it wasn’t a natural sound. It was forced. She wasn’t the least bit happy. Couldn’t say I didn’t blame her. We were a force to be reckoned with. If we’d gotten the call from her father, none of us would have been interested. She’d be another girl in a long line of those trying to get ahead in this world.
She hadn’t acted like other women.
She’d saved me and hadn’t exploited my weak position. My father was already aware of the mistake I made and had arranged practice for me to learn from it. That, for me, meant I was going to get the shit kicked out of me until I learned not to turn my back on the enemy. Not bad, all things considered. He could have stabbed me and refused the doctor until he felt I was on death’s door, then tried to save me.
My father loved me. All of our fathers loved us. We were the heirs to the thrones. The ones who would take over and keep this place our kingdom. Weakness wouldn’t be accepted. At this point, I was the weakest link.