Page 50 of Havoc

“It’s been used by someone in this business,” I spat at him. “Someone who trusts me.”

“If this is that idiot Lennon kid…”

How did he know about Lennon? We’d been so careful.

“No…not Lennon.”

He reached over to his phone and pressed a button. “Chance, get in here.”

Oh no…

I waited with bated breath for my older brother to come into the office. It didn’t take that long for him to walk through the door, take one look at me, and then at my father. He knew I was in trouble and I’d most likely gotten him into trouble.

“Care to enlighten me about the poison?” Gideon asked Chance.

“It works well,” he said with a shrug. “Girl knows her poisons.”

“How did she get them?”

“I bought them for her.”

I looked up at Chance, wondering why he was lying. He looked to me with a dismal smile on his face.

He felt betrayed, I was sure of it.

“Leave,” my father said to me—his tone firm and final. I backed out of the room with one last sorry look at my brother before I closed the door. I wasn’t five feet away when I heard the yelling and something flying into the wall with a thump.

I ran to my room, crying the entire time. I knew I was ready, I had been primed, and even Chance had told me I had a keen sense of knowing right from wrong in this business. He had told me I was ready.

Although he did warn me not to tell father…yet, and now he was taking the punishment for me. Like he always did.

When I got to my room, Hendrix sat on the edge of my bed with a smile on his face. It was him. He’d told father where my vials were hidden.

Betrayed.

Just as I had betrayed Chance.

“Listen to father,” he said. “You are a woman, and this business is for men.”

“I hate you,” I seethed with rage as I spoke. “Chance is hurting now.”

“And that’s your fault, little sister.”

He got off the bed and pushed passed me. “You’re lucky he loves you so much. I’d never stick up for you.”

He slammed the door shut behind him, and I dropped to my knees. My stomach heaved as I stayed on the ground, sobs wracking my body violently. All I wanted was to help my father, to help him and for him to want me to help him. Once upon a time, he had told me I’d be a great help. Now…he was an absolute arsehole, and it seemed he only wanted to marry me off to someone he could blackmail when he the time was right.

I was a pawn.

Gideon’s pawn.

~

An hour later

Chance’s room was close to mine, so when he came back to it a few minutes ago, I waited to cross the hall and enter it without anyone else seeing. My mother hated it when I got along with Chance because he was my half-brother, and she wanted my father’s favourites to be Hendrix and me.

Chance lay on his bed, his head bloody and swollen. His lip was cut open on the side and his eye was almost closed. There was a cut to his cheek that looked like it had a bruise forming already.

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