Page 13 of Capturing the Ruthless Billionaires

But would everything change now?

“Cara,” Alexandria said, going to her and gently lifting her left arm. “Oh god,” Alexandria whispered.

There it was.

Cara had an extraordinary birthmark on the inside of her arm. It was shaped like a dandelion, with three perfect puffs floating above it as if someone had blown on the pappus.

“Alex? What’s wrong?” Cara asked, fear lining her features. Alexandria could see the light dim in her eyes, and her face paled with trepidation. Cara could slip into herself in a heartbeat. She was an empath, and her moods were dependent on the people around her. That explained why Alexandria and Rhea had kept the finer details of the ritual from her. She didn’t need to know that Alexandria would be giving her virginity to three men who would rather kill her than accept the offer.

Alexandria swallowed and tried to force a smile on her face.

“Cara, please tell me about your book again. Just a little, please. I can’t wait to read it.”

The book Cara was writing was about a little girl and her three brothers, who were big and strong and treated her like a princess. They lived in a trailer in a park near the river.

The three men in the Swan House dungeon had a single dandelion and three little puffs tattooed on their chests, just beneath the three dragon heads. The dandelion looked exactly like the birthmark on Cara's inner forearm—the shape, the way it leaned toward the left side, the position of the puffs.

What had her parents done?

Chapter Seven

Alexandria put up a good enough show that when she left Cara’s room, she had placated her sister enough to get some sleep. They had a big day ahead of them.

Her sister.

That was never going to change. Never. Cara would always be her sister, but Alexandria’s inside felt like tar. She didn’t know what to do, and mental paralysis was not something she needed now.

Back in her room, she had paced the rest of the night away and was now fully dressed while she waited for the sun to rise. The moment it peaked from the sky, she went in search of Melle, knowing she would find the older woman getting her first cup of tea from the kitchen.

The silence in the house suddenly became eerie as Alexandria entered the kitchen at the same moment Melle stepped in from the servants’ side. She struggled to walk, her shoulders more stooped than normal, a sadness in her eyes that had never been there before.

Alexandria hated what she was going to do. She didn’t want to harass Melle for information but she couldn’t speak to anyone else. It was time that Melle told her everything.

“Alexandria,” Melle said, surprised, but then her face whitened as if she knew, by the expression on Alexandria’s face, what was to come.

“You know everything, don’t you?” Alexandria whispered, knowing even the kitchen was bugged, but at this point, did she even care?

“I’m thrilled to see you, my dear. Will you come to the pantry with me and get the Earl Grey off the top shelf? You know how much I like the lavender-flavored one. And while we’re there, maybe we can bring all the tea down onto a bottom shelf so I can reach them myself.

Alexandria was about to protest, but Melle put a hand on her arm, her grip tight, her eyes masked with a warning. She steered her toward the pantry, which was as big as a kitchen, fully stocked with everything anyone could need.

“They seemed to have forgotten to bug the pantry,” Melle said softly.

How had Alexandria not known this before? Although, if she, Rhea, and Cara started bundling into the pantry to plan their escape, they would come off as suspicious anyway.

“Who is Cara, Melle? Tell me the truth, please,” Alexandria begged, a piece of her still hoping she had misunderstood everything and jumped to the wrong conclusions.

“How do you know?” Melle asked instead.

“Oh, god. It’s true. She’s their sister.” Alexandria felt as if she were going to throw up. She reached out and balanced herself on a shelf. “But she grew up with me; with Rhea, I don’t understand.”

“She was brought here when she was eight years old.”

“Who brought her here?”

“A senior council member. He died a year later. But his words to your parents were simple. They were to raise Cara as their adopted daughter until you turned twenty-two—”

“Me?” Alexandria asked softly.

---