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I finally put my foot down about something pivotal in my lifeâthen the universe flips me off.
Fuck my life.
While everyone scrambled, I stood there frozen, watching it happen.
The last man closed the door. The click rang through the house. We were trapped.
"Everyone down!" the scarred man orderedâtowering and lethal.
His voice scared the kids into panic. They pulled away from their mother, screaming. I grabbed them as they darted past, locking them in my arms, pulling them against my chest. "Don't move, or they'll hurt mummy."
They froze. Thank God. Their small bodies trembled against mine, but at least they stayed still.
The scarred man repeated his order louder, gun aimed at Gerald's chest, cocking it with a metallic click that echoed through the room.
I pulled the kids down with me, their chests meeting the ground with mine. Only Ivy stood, quivering like a leaf in the wind, blubbering like she always did when she couldn't manipulate her way out of a situation she didn't like.
The man behind her pressed the barrel harder into her skull, making her grimace.
Scarface looked satisfied. He nodded before speaking. "This isn't a robbery. We're here for one thing." He paced slowly, boots thudding against the floor like war drums. His eyes swept the room, lingering briefly on each person. "Two people here owe me something. I'm sorry to rope the rest of you in, but bullets don't discriminate." He smiled, canines long and gleaming in the light. "So comply."
He turned to Ryder. "Where's my money, Jameson?"
Ryder shook like a tormented cockroach on the floor. He couldn't form a single word.
Scarface approached slowly, deliberately. Ryder only shook harder, his pants darkening as pee leaked from him in a slow, spreading patch. The stench hit the air just as Scarface crouched before him.
The armed men behind us chuckled under their breath.
"Disappointing," Scarface muttered, his disgust as acrid as the odor of piss.
He slammed the gun butt into Ryder's jaw. A sickening crack echoed through the room as Ryder crumpled to the floor with a gargled yelp.
The kids whimpered under me. I tucked them tighter, shielding their faces from the violence.
"Ivy and Ryder Jameson owe me $600k. I gave them two months. Time's up." His words dropped like a guillotine.
Ivy sobbed pathetically. Ryder groanedâhis jaw probably dislocated. I hated that I still had it in me to feel bad.
"I've been generous. I waived interest by 0.5%. And now here we are. A room full of innocent people because of your bad decisions." He turned to his men. "Take inventory. Let's see what we got."
One stepped toward Aunt Agatha.
Her eyes darted furtively around the room before they fell on me. "She has a million dollars. She's Selene Jameson."
Of course.
They froze. Every single armed man turned toward me like predators catching the scent of prey.
I glanced at my auntâjust in time to see her flash me a satisfied smirk. It told me everything. *If we can't have your money, you won't either.*
I raised my head tentatively at the men who now surrounded me.
"Selene Jameson?" Scarface asked. "The Westbrook Wolves?"
He knew me.
His face split into a genuine smile. "You're my little girl's hero. She won't stop talking about you. She hates sports but watched all your games."
He extended a hand toward meâgun still in it.
I flinched. He noticed and passed the gun to one of the others before gently pulling me up.
"Golden eyes indeed." He looked me over curiously, not maliciously. "You look like someone I know. Those eyes..." His voice turned thoughtful before he seemed to push the thought aside.
"So these disgraces are family?" Almost sympathetically, referring to Ryder and Ivy.
"Sorry I banged them up so bad."
I couldn't utter a word. I let him speak, afraid to ruin the momentary pause from the chaos.
He stroked his beard, ruminating. "For you, we can compromise."
My brows flew up. "Really?"
"Of course. But I want something in return."
My heart sank. Loan sharks were lethal. There was no telling what he wanted.
"Come to my little girl's birthday. Spend a day with her. She's not the devil like me." He chuckled. "She's a little ray of sunshine."
"Of course. I'd be honored," I replied, trying to keep the quiver from my voice. "Thank you, sir."
"Call me Jerry." He turned to his men. "I'll waive $300k from the original amount. Three months."
The men nodded.
"Can I get an autograph for my little girl?" One of the men retrieved pen and paper.
I smiled, relieved and, despite everything, flattered. "Of course. What's her name?"
"Lilienne," he supplied, voice almost reverent. "After her mother."
An ache fluttered in my chest. So much love in just the way he said her name. "Beautiful," I murmured, putting pen to paper.
Thenâsuddenlyâmy wrist was yanked.
I looked up in shock to see Jerry staring at the crescent tattoo. "Is this a tattoo?" he asked, but his voice was hard now.
My stomach twisted. I let out a nervous laugh. "Obviously."
He wasn't amused. He hesitated. His thumb brushed the mark. A beat passed. The others crowded in, eyes widening.
My heart was in my throat.
"Could it be..." one of them trailed off.
"Give me the scanner," Jerry ordered.
Someone handed him a device unlike anything I'd ever seen. He placed it on my wrist. A tingling sensation came firstâthen a loud beep shattered the tense air.
"She is..." another began, trailing off just as Jerry looked up at my face again.
I saw a flash of sympathyâright before his expression hardened.
"Everyone get up. We have a proposition."
Silence. Confused, tense silence.
No one moved.
"Get up!" one yelled, raising his gun threateningly.
Everyone rose at the speed of light. Their heartbeats pulsed strangely in my eardrums. What the hell was wrong with me?
"Sit."
Everyone found a surface, all looking up at him.
Jerry surveyed us as though looking for something. He shook his head, inhaled through his nose, exhaled through his mouth. He ran his hand through his cropped black hair.
"Name your price."
No one spoke. We were all confused.
Another tense breath.
"How much for Selene Jameson?"
My blood turned to ice. "What?" I muttered, voice pathetically trembling.
Jerry ignored me, looking at my family as though I wasn't sitting right there. Like I was the commodity to be discussed.
Shock left everyone unable to speak, but Aunt Agatha was the first to snap out of it.
"What would you want this useless thing for?" Her voice came out snide and curious, all the former fear gone.
"Useless?" Jerry echoed, brows knotted like it was the most absurd thing he'd ever heard.
He looked at his men. They mirrored his confusion before it seemed to click, and he rolled his eyes. "Family dysfunction. The black sheep is the only successful one. Nothing new."
If only it were that simple. If only I were truly that innocent.
"But I'm not here for family drama. Name your price before you lose the chance."
My family exchanged glances, long and loaded. Aunt Agatha's eyes darted to Uncle Gerald. He gave the smallest nod, barely perceptible, but I saw it. My lungs could have collapsed.
"Define price," Gerald said stiffly, voice hoarse like gravel. "Cash? Property?"
They were negotiating. For me.
"For a human being?" I rasped, stunned. My eyes darted to the guns, then to the door. No one looked at me. No one flinched.
Because they knew unless I was crazy, I wouldn't move. I was outnumbered, outgunned, in the bad side of town. My words meant nothing.
"I'm open-minded," Jerry said simply. "Cash, land, connections, debt removal. Say the word."
"I'm a person..." my voice cracked. Maybe I could reach somewhere in them where humanity still resided. "You can't justâ"
"Person?" Aunt Agatha snorted. "You stopped being that when you acted better than us."
Fear mingled with anger but quickly fizzled out.
"She's just lucky," Ivy snapped, shrill and desperate.
"Enough," Jerry interrupted. Not loud. Just firm. "Shove your opinions up your asses. You disgust me."
Ryder cleared his throat, sweat trickling down his neck. "Can we get a moment? To talk?"
Jerry raised a brow. "Don't waste my time."
He stepped back, arms folded, as if this were a casual business deal and not my life being auctioned.
They huddled. Whispered. Bargaining over my head like I wasn't right there.
I tried to speak, to stop it, to scream, but my throat was dry. My body was frozen, shame anchoring me.
After a moment, Uncle Gerald stood like the appointed spokesperson. He cleared his throat, straightened his rumpled shirt.
"The debt. Clear it. And two hundred thousand dollars."
My jaw unhinged slightly. Two hundred thousand. That's what I was worth to them.
"Done," Jerry said without hesitation.
That should have been the end.
But Ryder shot up like an eager puppy, nerves and ambition tangled in his expression. "Waitâif you agreed that fast, we undersold. Five hundred thousand? Maybe moreâ"
Jerry tilted his head, amused. "Didn't you just piss yourself five minutes ago?"
Ryder froze, color draining. Everyone turned toward him.
"You looked like a kicked dog. Now you're negotiating?" He chuckled. "You had one chance. You blew it."
To his men: "Wrap it up."
Ryder lunged forward, panicked. "Waitâplease!"
Jerry didn't even glance at him. "Debt stays cleared. Cash? Gone. Blame the pisser."
Something in me snapped. A silent scream unfurled behind my ribs.
Run.
My legs kicked into motion. I bolted toward the hallway. I saw the door. Tasted freedom.
But I didn't reach it.
A hard hand caught my collar, yanking me backward. I crashed into someone's chest. Arms locked around me like a vise.
"Let me go!" I shrieked, kicking, thrashing wildly. "I'm not a thing!"
"Hold her," Jerry said simply. "She'll wear herself out."
Someone restrained me with brutal ease. Another secured my wrists behind me, tight, plastic, biting into skin.
My lungs burned. My mind spiraled.
"We'll say she eloped," my aunt promised over my struggling. "No one will suspect."
A prickle, sharp and cold, before something flooded my veins.
It spread like wildfire. Strange heaviness pooled in my limbs.
My screams died mid-throat.
The fight drained. My knees buckled, vision swimming like oil on water.
I was slipping.
"Noâno, noâ" A whisper now. My head lolled sideways. I caught a blurry glimpse of Ivy's face.
She looked away.
Of course she did.
The last thing I saw before my vision blacked out was Jerry. Still standing at the center of the room. Still watching me as darkness pulled me under.