Rhydian POV
I watch the girl walk away with my business card clutched in her hand like a weapon, and I realize I've just made a terrible mistake.
Not the kiss. That was... unexpected. Dangerous. But not a mistake.
The mistake is wanting her to call.
I shouldn't care. Thessaly Crane is eighteen years old, my nephew's ex-girlfriend, and the daughter of my brother's accountant. She's every kind of trouble wrapped in a pretty package. I should forget her immediately.
Instead, I'm standing in Obsidian's hallway, watching her disappear into the crowd, wondering if she'll actually use that number.
"That was stupid, boss."
I turn. Larkin Cross leans against the wall, arms crossed, looking unimpressed. My head of security has been with me for ten years. He's seen me do plenty of questionable things. But even he looks concerned.
"Which part?" I ask calmly.
"All of it." Larkin pushes off the wall. "Jett's already calling his father. Thorne's going to lose his mind when he hears you kissed his son's girlfriend."
"Ex-girlfriend," I correct. "And I don't care what Thorne thinks."
"You should. The family's looking for any excuse to come after you. This gives them ammunition."
He's right. I've spent fifteen years building my empire in the shadows, staying off my family's radar. Getting involved with Thessaly puts a target on my back.
But when she looked at me with those furious green eyes and chose me over Jett—over safety—something shifted in my chest. Something I thought died fifteen years ago when my family betrayed me.
Interest. Curiosity. The tiniest spark of feeling in a heart I thought had turned to ice.
"Let them come," I say quietly. "I'm tired of hiding."
Larkin sighs. "You're going to regret this."
"Probably." I head toward the exit. "But it might be fun first."
I don't go home. Instead, I drive to my art gallery—the legitimate front for my less legitimate businesses. At 11 PM, the place is empty except for guards. I pour expensive whiskey and stand in front of my favorite painting: a phoenix rising from flames.
My phone rings at 3:47 AM.
I don't recognize the number, but I know who it is before I answer.
"Little Crane," I say instead of hello.
Silence. Then: "How did you know it was me?"
"Because no one else would call at this hour." I set down my glass. "Are you safe?"
"I'm in my bedroom. With the door locked." Her voice is small, shaky. "He won't stop texting. Jett. He's saying horrible things. That he'll ruin me. That everyone will know what I did. That I'm a—" She stops, voice breaking.
Rage floods through me, cold and sharp. "What's your address?"
"What? No! I just—I don't know why I called. I should go—"
"Thessaly." I keep my voice gentle, which is hard because I want to hunt Jett down and break his fingers. "Give me your address. I'm coming to get you."
"It's 3 AM!"
"I'm aware."
"My parents are sleeping!"
"Then be quiet." I'm already grabbing my keys. "Address. Now."
She tells me. I'm out the door before she finishes.
Thessaly lives in a small house in the middle-class section of Crescent Bay. Her father works for my brother, doing the books, keeping the illegal money clean. Good man. Honest, despite working for criminals.
His daughter is nothing like him.
She climbs out her bedroom window at 4:15 AM, still wearing that red dress from the club. Her copper hair is messy, makeup smeared from crying. She's the most beautiful disaster I've ever seen.
"This is crazy," she whispers, climbing into my car. "I don't even know you."
"Then let's fix that." I drive away before her parents wake up. "Tell me about yourself, Thessaly Crane."
"There's nothing to tell."
"Liar."
She laughs—surprised and bitter. "Fine. I'm eighteen. I just graduated high school. I'm good at math. I like reading. I wasted two years dating a guy who treated me like garbage. Happy?"
"What kind of books?"
"What?"
"What kind of books do you read?" I glance at her. "If you're good at math and like reading, you're smarter than Jett ever gave you credit for."
She's quiet for a moment. "Mystery novels. Thrillers. Stories where the bad guys get what they deserve."
"Ah." I smile slightly. "A girl who believes in justice."
"A girl who's tired of watching terrible people win." She looks out the window. "Where are we going?"
"My place. We need to talk."
"About what?"
"About what happens next." I pull onto the highway heading toward the expensive side of town. "Jett's going to make your life hell. My family will too, once they find out about tonight. You need to decide if you're ready for that war."
"I didn't want a war," she whispers. "I just wanted him to feel bad for one second."
"Too late. You kissed me. That made you my problem." I say it harshly because she needs to understand. "The Vex family doesn't forgive. They destroy. And you just painted a target on your back."
"Then I'll unpaint it! I'll apologize. I'll tell everyone it was a mistake—"
"Do you think it was a mistake?"
The question hangs in the air between us. Thessaly stares at me, green eyes wide and scared and something else. Something fierce.
"No," she finally says. "It was the first real thing I've felt in two years."
My chest tightens. Dangerous. This girl is so dangerous.
"Then you can't go back," I tell her. "You chose fire, little Crane. Now we see if you burn or if you become the flame."
We reach my building—a penthouse in the sky, all glass and steel. She follows me inside, looking around with wide eyes.
"You live here?"
"I live everywhere." I pour her water, not alcohol. She's too young, too shaken. "I own properties all over the city. This is just one."
"Because you're a criminal."
"Because I'm smart." I hand her the glass. "Your father manages my brother's money. You must know how the Vex family operates."
"Drug running. Smuggling. Blackmail." She drinks the water. "My dad thinks I don't know, but I've seen the books."
I go very still. "You've seen the books?"
"I help him sometimes. I'm good with numbers, remember?" She meets my eyes. "I know exactly how much money your family makes from hurting people."
This girl. This brilliant, dangerous, unexpected girl.
"Does your father know you've seen them?"
"No. He'd kill me." She sets down the glass. "Why? You going to tell him?"
"No." I move closer, intrigued despite myself. "I'm going to ask if you'd like to use that information."
"For what?"
"Revenge." I smile, and it's not a nice smile. "You want Jett to hurt? I want my family to pay for what they did to me. We could help each other."
"You want to use me," she says flatly.
"Yes." No point lying. "But I'd also protect you. Teach you. Give you power instead of letting you be a victim."
Thessaly stands, walking to the window. The city glows below us, thousands of lights in the darkness.
"If I help you," she says quietly, "what do I get?"
"Freedom. Power. Revenge." I move behind her. "Everything Jett took from you."
"And what do you get?"
"Justice. For fifteen years of exile." I meet her reflection in the glass. "And maybe something else."
"What?"
Before I can answer, my phone rings. Larkin's name flashes on the screen.
I answer. "What?"
"We have a problem." Larkin's voice is urgent. "Jett posted a video on social media. It's going viral."
My blood runs cold. "What video?"
"You and Thessaly. In that room. Kissing. He must have filmed through the door crack before you saw him." Larkin pauses. "Boss, it's bad. He's calling her terrible names. Saying she cheated. The comments are—"
I hang up. Pull up social media on my phone. And there it is.
A video. Grainy but clear enough. Me and Thessaly kissing. And the caption: My WHORE girlfriend and my CRIMINAL uncle. Both dead to me.
Thessaly gasps. She's seen it too, on her phone.
"No," she whispers. "No, no, no. Everyone I know—my friends, my school, my parents—" Her face goes white. "My dad works for your family. When they see this—"
"They'll fire him," I finish grimly. "And destroy both of you."
She looks at me, tears streaming down her face, terrified and trapped.
"What do I do?" she begs. "Please. Tell me what to do."
I should send her home. Should walk away from this disaster.
Instead, I take her face in my hands and make her a promise that will change everything.
"You stay with me," I say quietly. "And we burn them all down together."
Her phone rings. Her mother's name appears on the screen.
Thessaly looks at me, then at the phone, then back at me.
In her eyes, I see the moment she makes her choice.
She declines the call.
"Okay," she whispers. "Let's burn it down."
And I realize I've just recruited an eighteen-year-old girl into a war that will destroy us both.