Page 86 of Peaceful Chaos

I bat my lashes, not doing a good job of feigning innocence, but that's not the point. "Me? What could I possibly do? I'm a girl, and you've made it clear I have no power."

His lip curls in a sneer. Gone is the veneer of civility he sports in these gatherings. This is the demon buried in flesh and flashy clothes. I wonder if he'd have made it this far in politics if everyone could see what lies where his heart should be.

"Don't play dumb, Raven. It doesn't suit you."

I let the expression fall off my face. If we're revealing ourselves now, then he can see the monster he created. "All right, father." I spit the title with all the venom it dredges up inside of me.

"You and I are going to fix this." He grabs my arm again, this time hard enough to bruise. From the corner of my eye I see Sin take a step toward me, but I shake my head.

He's gaining attention at his rough treatment of me, and I manage to jerk my arm free. "If you mean all the off-shore accounts in my name, those are gone too."

Damien's face turns an ugly shade of purple. "I thought I showed you what would happen if you crossed me. Are you incapable of learning your lesson?"

"I'm not sure what you're referring to," I lie.

He snorts, a sure sign I've got him right where I want him. "There's nothing I can't get, and no one I can't reach. You were there when I had your uncle kill your mother. He's searched for her half his life, and yet he still put a bullet in her chest when I ordered it. Don't think you are beyond my reach. You will get that money back."

I thought for sure with the charges almost filed against him that he knew. My shock registers on my face that Grant managed to hide one thing from my father at least, when he sold out nearly everything else.

"Are you talking about me?" Natalie says, seeming to appear from no where, but I knew she was just hiding in plain sight.

His entire body trembles when she stands next to me. "Natalie," he sighs.

"You seem awfully relieved for someone who ordered my murder," she says.

Damien manages to regain control of himself and glare at us both. "I am, I admit. Killing you was much too quick. Now I can really punish you for escaping me all those years ago."

Natalie shakes her head, her long dark hair swishing around her shoulders. "I don't think so. I'll never be your prisoner again."

He laughs, a hollow, bone chilling laugh that makes bile rise up my throat. It's one thing to know about all the horrible things he's done, but another to stand next to him and feel wave after wave of pure evil pouring off of him.

"You'll never be free of me. From the moment I saw you when you were sixteen you've been mine. Even the decade you've managed to be away I bet you've spent most of it looking over your shoulder."

She shrugs. "I'm not a young girl anymore. I've got reasons to fight, and I won't let you do to our daughter what you did to me."

"You think you can stop me? I'll do what I want with Raven. She belongs to me, and I'll see a return on the investment I've dumped into all her schooling."

My fists clench, but I force myself not to react further.

Lucien must sense my struggle to control my anger, because he speaks to me through the ear piece again. "Keep him talking, little bird. You're doing great."

"Your money is gone. You won't be able to pay off anyone to hide any more bodies like I know you did with Jesse and his friends when they failed to abduct me."

"Oh, you stupid little bitch. I'll make more money. I've already got a buyer for you, and once you're gone I'll find the money," he threatens.

"You'd sell your own daughter?" Just a little push, he's incriminated himself, but I need more. It's one thing to coax him into digging a hole, I want him to pull the earth down on top of himself.

"It's what I do. Even without the money I've got the network to make you disappear. You could have been married, had some kind of life, but you refuse to obey me. Now you'll go into one of my clubs and be treated like a whore, just like your mother. Maybe I'll sell you over and over again."

He reaches out and grabs a lock of my hair, and I force myself not to recoil. "My clients will pay top dollar to fuck you. They'll pay even more to make you hurt. Maybe then I won't have to see her face staring back at me. See, I have no choice. Your mother is my biggest weakness, and I refuse to be weak. So, you'll disappear, and I'll find my money. This is nothing more than an irritation."

Around the room cellphones start pinging. He ignores it at first until echoes of his voice fill the room. He blanches when he realizes every threat, every dirty secret he's spewed at me is being replayed over every smart phone in the room.

I tsk. "You're so busy trying to figure out how to get rid of me, and you seem to have forgotten I'm not alone. I want to thank you for making sure Lucien had the skills to upload every word of this conversation online. And not just to social media either, but to law enforcement that have been fully vetted to make sure they weren't in your pocket, no matter how shallow they currently are. Oh, and I believe there were several media outlets included in his direct links."

There's a persistent murmur as the guests digest what they're seeing and discuss the downfall of Damien Blackthorne happening right before their eyes. A hush falls over the crowd, and I look around to see what caused everyone to fall silent.

Several uniformed officers and men in department store suits fill the doorway. They arrived faster than I imagined they would. "Good luck paying your way out of this," I tell him as the crowd parts and they head straight for us.

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