“I can’t do anything about it, Lucius.” I sank down into a chair in the study while Lucius paced around the room.

“I’m tired of the Sovereign taking such a huge cut,” Lucius said. “We work our asses off—well at least I do while you’re out playing public servant—and then fucking Cal comes in here and demands a goddamn ransom.”

“You know we have to pay.” I pinched the bridge of my nose. “We’ve been over this a million times.”

Being Sovereign came with an untold number perks, the main one being a cut of all the income from the other ruling families. There was a yearly price and it was due within the month. Pay or suffer the consequences.

I was already dealing with far too many consequences to add non-payment to the list.

Lucius kicked the waste basket next to my desk. “We’re working the fucking Brazilians to death and putting even more pressure on our already troubled relations with our Mexican producers. Sugar cane isn’t as lucrative as it used to be. Even a fuckwit like Cal should be able to do the simple math.”

“I’m aware. It doesn’t matter. We have to pay Cal.” I couldn’t say it any other way. The facts were what they were.

He stopped pacing and stared out the window into the deepening night. “What else are we going to have to give him?”

“What do you mean?”

“You know what I mean, who I mean—Stella.” He turned to me, giving me the same pissed off look he’d worn ever since he realized I was the oldest and, therefore, in charge of him.

“Stella is none of your concern. She’s mine.”

His eyes narrowed. “She doesn’t have to be.”

I stood, suddenly seething. Did he know? “What are you talking about?”

He crossed his arms over his chest, a self-satisfied grin on his face. “Mom told me some of the rules. She said if Stella chose me, I could take your place in the Acquisition.”

Fuck.

I was bone tired after the long day with Stella. I had a short fuse and Lucius was doing his damnedest to light it. “Oh did she? Did she tell you the rest of the rules? Did she tell you what happens if you lose?”

“You don’t get to be Sovereign.” He shrugged. “So what? That’s not a loss. We’d be in the same situation we’re already in.”

I hesitated on the verge of telling him the true penalty, the blood that would be required for us to keep our position. It was an exhausting secret, one that weighed more heavily on me every day. Maybe if I shared the burden, it wouldn’t be so crushing. I opened my mouth to speak the lethal truth when Farns knocked and entered.

“What?” I snapped.

“We’ve had a call from the hospital in town. It seems Ms. Rousseau’s father has taken ill. He is in intensive care. Her stepbrother has requested she come. I wasn’t sure what you would like me to do with this news.”

“I know what I’d like you to do.” Stella entered behind Farns, her quiet steps masked by Lucius’ and my argument. How long had she been listening?

“It’s probably some sort of trick cooked up by your stepbrother,” I said. “I forbid you to go.” Surely, she realized it was nothing more than a desperate ruse? Transparent and dumb, just like her stepbrother.

She strode to me and stared into my eyes, my soul. “You can’t forbid me from seeing my father in intensive care.”

I gave Farns a look. He took the hint and backed into the hallway and closed the door.

“I can and I just did. Go back to your room.” I wasn’t letting her out of this house again, not after what had happened in the cabin earlier. She’d gotten to me, lanced through my rotten core and into the one piece of true heart I had left. I didn’t even know it was there until she’d clawed her way in there, too. Goddamn her.

“I’m not going anywhere until I speak to my father.” She kicked her chin up and put her hands on her hips.

Lucius walked up behind her. “Sin, it’s her dad, maybe you should—”

“Maybe you should shut the fuck up, Lucius.” Seeing them together, standing like a united front against me, finally lit the powder keg. I grabbed Stella’s arm and ripped her away from him, pressing her back into my chest and putting my hand at her throat. She tried to scratch me, but I squeezed harder, cutting off her airway until she complied. I held Lucius’ gaze the entire time.

“She’s mine. All of this.” I slid my hand down her side, around her thigh, and cupped her pussy like the piece of shit caveman I was. “It’s all mine. So, back the fuck off.”

Lucius glowered and tensed. “I’ve had it with your shit.”

I held her fast, taunting him. “What, you want to fight me? Won’t you be embarrassed when I kick the shit out of you in front of your little crush here? Maybe then I’ll fuck her while you’re bleeding on the ground?”

Lucius raised his fists. “Let her go, and I’m going to knock your fucking teeth out.”

A sharp pain in my ribs shocked me out of our stare down. Stella had managed to sneak in an elbow while Lucius had me distracted. She pulled away from me and darted to stand behind Lucius, her hand on his arm. I thought I was a powder keg before. Now I was a fucking black powder factory going up in a blaze of heat and sound. He reached back, put a possessive hand on her hip, and smirked at me.

“I just want to see my father. That’s all. Please, Vinemont.” Her plea, delivered behind my leering brother, pushed me far past my limit.

“You do? Are you sure?” I turned my back and went to my desk, digging for a certain sheaf of papers.

“Yes, I’m sure. Please, I’ll come back. I promise. I just need to see him.”

“I’ll tell you what, Stella.” Venom laced every word. “I want you to do a little light reading. Then tell me if you still want to see him. If you do, you can go and visit him. How about it?”

“Fine.” She sounded relieved.

I laughed, the sound cruel and harsh even on my ears. I found the papers I was looking for and held them in my hand. She’d have to come to me.

“Hand them over,” Lucius said.

“Go fuck yourself. Stella, come here.”

She stepped out from behind him and tentatively approached me. She wasn’t fearful, but she wasn’t trusting, either. I gripped the papers tighter.

Lucius trailed his hand down her arm. I wanted to pummel his face until he was no longer capable of begging me to stop.

Her fear was back. I needed it. I ate it up. It reminded me of what I needed to do, what I had to do. Even so, it tore at my heart, leaving a part of me shredded and raw. I wanted to say I’d never hurt her. Never give her reason to fear me. But it would be a lie.

I passed her the papers and then held my hands up to show her I meant no harm. But I did. The papers were the dagger, her reading them would twist the blade deep into her back. She took them over to one of the sofas next to a bright lamp. Darkness had fallen outside, painting the grounds in somber gray tones.

She read the first page, then flipped to the second. I knew when she understood. I knew the exact moment when she read the words, when she flipped to the third page to see her father’s signature.

“He sold you to me, Stella.”

Her gaze rose to mine, horror shining in her eyes along with myriad other emotions—all black, all painful.

“Before you even came in that night, into the room where he and I sat, he’d already signed that contract in your hands. One million dollars. I was so pleased with my good fortune. That was a pittance for a woman like you. He eagerly agreed, signing the paper and sending you to me. He even told me how to phrase my offer to you before you came in. Very helpful, really. And it worked. Oh, how it worked. You came out to the car as planned. Then you came here, as planned. He knew you’d sacrifice yourself for him. The one man you thought loved you was actually the one man who sold you to me. And, just so you know, he was guilty of every single charge against him. I give you my word.”

Her hand rose to her face, covering her mouth as she gasped for air. I hadn’t hit her, hadn’t touched her, but I knew as surely as she sat there that I’d destroyed some deep piece of her heart. It was blasted away, spoiled so that nothing could ever grow there again. Loathing rose in me—for myself, for her father, for everything.

She dropped the papers and stood, turning her back on me and staggering to the dark windows. Lucius rushed to her, steadying her by the shoulder. I could do nothing but wish him harm and wish her comfort. After all I’d done and all I would have to do, I still just wanted her to look at me again the way she had in the cabin. It was only hours ago, but now seemed like a lifetime.

I thought I’d seen love in her eyes, or something like it, as if I knew. I didn’t know anything about that particular emotion, not really. But, I didn’t remember anyone ever looking at me that way, with so much genuine feeling. It was guarded, but it was there. I wanted it back. I’d strangled any fledgling feelings she may have had with the documents that now lay on the floor, but I still wanted her. I wanted her to come to me for comfort, for support.

Lucius pulled her into his side as her sobs rose and fell. I willed her to leave him and come to me, to return to me and throw her arms around my shoulders. I would hold her while she cried. I would whisper sweet words into her ear. I would soothe her and bring her out of her despair.

My heart swelled, as if drunk on her tears. I could make it right. Somehow. I would try.

Her sobs stopped and her breathing slowed. She lifted her head, staring out into the inky gray of night.

I would tell her. I didn’t care if Lucius heard. I was sorry, so fucking sorry.

“Stella—”

“I choose Lucius.”

“What?” Her words were a jolt to my system—unbelievable, false. She couldn’t mean it, not after what we’d been through, what we’d shared in the cabin.

She turned to me, her tear-streaked face bearing an expression that was a mix of heartbreak and hatred.

“I said I choose Lucius as my owner instead of you,” she spat.

“You can’t—”

“You heard her, Sin.” Lucius wrapped his arm around her waist. “She chose me. She’s mine now.”

She stepped back from him, pushing his arm away in disgust. “Don’t touch me. Leave me alone, both of you.”

She rushed through the room, running as if demons were at her heels. We both watched her go—one brother destroyed, and the other exhilarated.

She wouldn’t look at me, though she was all I could see. She retreated down the hallway, disappearing from my view. My soul seemed to have left with her; my legs were no longer strong enough to hold up the empty shell of my body. I sank into the chair.

What have I done?

After a few moments of silence, a door slammed somewhere far away in the house. Her door.

The sound jarred Lucius into motion. He followed Stella’s trail like a seasoned hunter, smooth and focused.

I wanted to stop him, to work the same violence on him that I had on Stella’s heart.

“Leave her alone, Lucius.” Though my soul was gone, my rage still burned.

He glanced over his shoulder, triumphant and vicious. “She’s mine now. I know the rules. I call the shots, and I have no intentions of ever leaving her alone.”

“I will fucking end you.” I forced myself to move and followed him into the hall.

He flipped me off and took the stairs two at a time.

“Game on, big brother.”

* * *