Arianna would pay for this. She just knew it.

She could only imagine the annoyed look on Jayson’s face when he learned that she’d taken off on his motorcycle. If she’d told him where she was going, he would have tried to stop her. Tricking him into walking across the street to order their breakfast was the only way to escape without protest. Round after round of hot sex outdoors and then once more back at his condo made for one famished wolf.

As she pulled up, she noticed that Roy wasn’t at the gate this time. There was a new guard on duty. She came to a stop next to him, and tore off her helmet.

“When did you get hired?” she asked irritatingly, as the poor guy looked her up and down in shock. “What happened to the other guard?”

“He got fired.” There was a hint of fangs protruding from his lips. Her father had hired a wolf this time. He was no Caedmon, but a wolf spirit definitely sparked around him.

She looked at him skeptically. “Fired?” Now her father was going around firing people out of the blue?

“Who are you, woman?”

“Who are you, wolf?” she shot back.

He seemed taken aback by her knowledge. “Philip.”

“I’m Arianna. Now open the gates.”

His eyes widened in astonishment, before a shameful expression marred his face. “Excuse me, miss. I didn’t know.” His fangs retreated; he bowed his head, and backed up toward the control switches.

“Well, the next time you see me…you will know.” She revved the motor and rushed forward into the gates.

Parking the motorcycle next to her father’s Rolls Royce, she wasted no time as she made her way through the front door.

Arianna passed a maid dusting in the main room and found her father in the dining hall eating breakfast. When she entered, he looked up from his platter.

She pulled out a chair at the far end of the table and sat down.

Her father put down his fork, regarding her studiously. “Are you ready?”

The nerve of him to ask her that. “No, I actually came to tell you that I’m not doing it.”

“I see.”

“What led you to make such an agreement with the Zeldanos?”

He raised an eyebrow. “You want the real truth?”

She crossed her arms over her chest and sat back in the chair. “Nothing but the truth.”

“The Zeldanos have been a client of mine forever. Our liaison started back with my great-grandfather. They have been silent investors in many of my endeavors…the most recent ones include the purchase three casinos and resorts out west.”

Her father had always been one to invest in land and property, so this was no surprise to her.

“Why would you need the Zeldano’s to invest?”

“More capital, of course,” he said. “I’ve limited resources.”

“It’s because you have been gambling away your liquid capital, and losing. A year ago, you bought into an expansion of a strip mall in California that never came to fruition.”

“I’ve failed, yes…but I also succeed.”

Lately, it had been less of the later.

“You still haven’t answered my question. Why did you promise me in an arranged pairing?”

“It was something that I felt needed to be done at the time. Luther and I wanted to ensure a certain degree of nobility in our offspring. This union ensures it.”

“So you honestly believe that I will bear children with Ivan.”

“When you were little, you told me many times how you wanted to live in the biggest castle and wear the prettiest dresses…”

“Times have changed,” Arianna said. “I am no longer a child and those were only fairy tales.”

“For my daughter, I only want the best. Do you know how much the Zeldano’s are worth?”

Her eyes widened. “I don’t care.”

Her father got up and sauntered over to the corner of the room next to the small bar area. “You don’t care now, because you don’t understand how beneficial this will be.”

“To you, you mean?”

“To both of us. For you the most. When I am dead and buried, who will carry on my name and my legacy?”

“I will do this,” she said.

“You will, but I trust Ivan Zeldano to carry on the business as I have done. Their goals and mine are aligned, you see.”

“No, I don’t see.” She got up and joined him on the other side of the granite-lined counter tops.

“You have to understand that things changed when your mother passed carrying my only son with her.”

Arianna bowed her head and swallowed the rising lump in her throat. “I may not be a son, but I am still your child. Like you, I never wanted to see our family being lowered in the ranks like this, but that is something that fate decided for us in this life and something we must accept.”

The Klein’s had once been one of the most influential families linked to the human branch of Caedmons. As soon as it was known that Mr. Klein had no son and that his wife had died, they fell down the noble ladder giving way to others to take the top spot.

Arianna didn’t care about that. She didn’t care about being on the top. Being on the top never ensured their happiness before. It just meant you had to work harder to stay there.

He poured two ounces of whiskey over several cubes of ice. “I believe we can change fate.”

“If my brother had lived, then what…?”

“These plans were in place before your brother was even conceived. My son is not here to carry on the business as I had imagined, so I agreed to sell my shares into the new venture.”

Her father and the Zeldano’s wanted it all, as far as she could see. “Is that why you banned me from seeing Jayson when I was young?”

He paused, his glass stopping in midair just short of touching his lips. “He threatened everything that I had planned.”

“Do you know why he’s a threat to these plans?”

Her father took a sip, and cringed as he swallowed the strong alcohol. “The Klein and Truman business was his family’s bread and butter. If the business had dissolved earlier as I’d proposed to Jayson’s father, I presume they’d be broke.”

Too bad her father only saw what he wanted to believe. He had to have figured out by now that Jayson was connected to her in ways that he refused to accept.

“Let’s say I’d gone off to college and decided to never come back. What would have happened if I had committed to some other man…?”

“The penalty for reneging was written into the contract.”

She was afraid of this. “What is the penalty?”

He frowned. “Public humiliation, punishment, servitude. Anything deemed appropriate to satisfy the debt owed. I’m even subject to exposure by the U.S. government for other dealings that could land me in a real prison.”

Arianna couldn’t stand the thought of her father being exposed to such treatment or being locked up in jail with hardened criminals, rapists, and murderers.

“You know all of this,” he continued. “Although we are known as outsiders, many of us who’ve broken away from the original Caedmon Pack still uphold ourselves to the same core laws. They haven’t changed.”

“Obviously they haven’t changed for the better, but what father would sell his only daughter anyway?”

“Don’t ridicule me.” His lethal gaze nearly burned her. “This is not the first time this has been done. Many noble daughters accept unions such as this. They live happy lives, and never do they want for anything.”

“I’m not after material things. You know that father. This is about money! Your money!”

“Money makes the world go around. It has also provided you with the extravagant life you’ve come to cherish since you took your first breath. Would you give that up?”

“In a heartbeat. Too bad you aren’t prepared to do the same. We all know this is about you—your name—and not me.” Her voice shook with aggravation. “How much do we owe Zeldano? We can offer to pay them in cash—a settlement to end the agreement.”

“No.” He shook his head. “He declined the cash offer I made yesterday. I knew he would.”

“You tried to get out of the agreement, you mean?”

“That is the other matter I wanted to discuss with you.” Her father set the glass on the counter and looked at her over the rim of his glasses. “Did you convince Jayson Truman to offer up his own cash to get you out of this?”

“What?”

“Jayson countered the agreement I had with Zeldano.”

“I had no idea.” Arianna bit her lip, taking several steps back until she hit the table. She told him that she didn’t want him involved in this. This was her mess—not his!

“I don’t believe you,” he said between clenched teeth. “Now you can tell Jayson that his offer is no match for Zeldano. It’s no match for what we have planned.”Before Arianna could take a seat to settle her anxiety and attempt to put the pieces together, the head maid entered the dining hall.

“Mr. Klein?”

“Yes, Madame Angelina…”

“Zeldano’s escorts are here,” the maid said.

Not three seconds passed and two men rushed into the double doors nearly knocking Angelina down.

They grabbed Arianna before she could move her legs and one of them hoisted her over his shoulder. The escorts were wolves. She could smell the evidence of pure animalistic determination on them.

She grabbed at his shirt and pounded at his back, but he wouldn’t let go. As they carried her out of the door, she looked up and confirmed that her father had not moved from his stance near the bar.

He’d set her up. She hated him for it.

“Where are you taking me?” she screamed.

They didn’t answer as they rushed out of the door with purpose.

She already knew where they were headed—they didn’t have to say a word.

Her bottom landed onto the leather seat, and she looked around at the darkened exterior of the limo. There was soft jazz music flowing through the speakers, but it didn’t match her irate mood.

The door was slammed in her face, and the locks were bolted. A guard opened the door on the other side, and sat down in the seat facing her.

“Calm down, Miss Klein. We are not going to hurt you,” he said. “Zeldano sent for you. I’m Gordon. I am at your service until we reach his estate. What would you like? A cold glass of water…champagne? I can slice you fresh strawberries as well.”

His nonchalant finesse disgusted her.

Her lips tightened in a grim line. “I don’t want anything.”

“Very well, Miss Klein.” He nodded, and the limo began to move. “When you change your mind, I will be ready to serve you.”

Arianna shoulders slumped, the tension left her body, and she accepted her fate. She glanced out of the window as the driver backed out of the driveway, taking one last look at her father as he stood on the steps.

‘Arianna.’ It was the first time since before her mother died that her father had called to her telepathically.

As she stared back at him standing between the door frame, he looked helpless…and resentful.

Her eyes flooded and the image of her father became hazy. For the first time, since all of the mess unfolded, she spilled tears. They ran down her cheeks like a waterfall.

The servant handed her a handkerchief. She snatched it and dabbed at her eyes.

Maybe it was time to accept this future where her choice didn’t matter…