Page 31 of Mind Maze

I’m sure as hell not offering that to the conversation, though.

“Huxley will wonder what brought our two families back together after all these years,” Dad says, pressing on. “How serendipitous that your daughter and my son began dating. It was almost as if we planned it ourselves.”

Our relationship was absolutely fabricated as a necessary means to correct what Theo had done. As far as the rest of how she came into our lives, it gives me pause. Dad placed Megan into the CUP program and handled her transfer afterward. I’d known she’d gone to New York and had taken up residence with a businessman, but it wasn’t until after I’d set up the call between Megan and Romy that I learned there was more to her placement.

She’d been sent to live with Bastian Langston, Romy’s brother.

Alarm bells ring inside my skull, but I don’t pay them the attention I want to because I need to keep up with this conversation they’re having. Or, better yet, pissing match.

“…wouldn’t put it past you to design all this just to screw with me,” Gideon says testily. “I advise you not to forget I know all about what you do. I’m in the thick of it with you.”

“You think I’m playing mind games with you?” Dad asks, scoffing. “If I were, you wouldn’t know about it. Trust me.”

Gideon turns his gaze my way. “Is this all a ruse? A setup? Why is Romy going along with this nonsense?”

Without missing a beat, I say, “She’s pregnant and I’m going to marry her.”

Dad’s head whips my way and Gideon gapes. Hell,I’mshocked at my lies, but I need to keep both these men on their toes. They’re not the only ones with power around here. I’m playing my own game and they’re pawns in it.

“She can’t be,” Gideon clips out. “She’s in college. That’ll ruin her life.”

Leaning forward, I rest my elbow on his desk and meet his gaze. “From the sounds of it last night, you did a fine job of ruining it long before I came along.”

Men like my father and Gideon Langston aren’t used to men like me. They get what they want because they throw around their money and connections and blackmail. I don’t want money or power. I just want my fucking sister.

“Marriage?” Dad says slowly. “First I’ve heard of it.”

I turn, meeting his intense stare. “I said I’d take care of things. This is me taking care of it.”

Gideon shakes his head in disbelief. “Taking care of it would be getting the girl an abortion. Marrying her is insanity. How long have you been with her? It wasn’t until recently she even mentioned a boyfriend.”

“Romy needs someone who will protect her and not drug her into oblivion,” I tell her father. “I’d appreciate it if you keep it between us. I haven’t officially asked her yet.”

Dad smirks at me, and I know my words amuse him. We both know I’ve been drugging her at every turn to keep her compliant. It’d be a lot easier if we could just run her through the official CUP program in the lab, but since she’s mentally resistant to my personal one-on-one efforts, it’s unlikely she’ll respond to those procedures.

A twinge of guilt niggles at me. The thought of taking her to our facility and subjecting her to the mindfuck that is CUP isn’t one I want to do. Would she lose the fire in her eyes? The intelligent way her mind works out puzzles so quickly? Would she remember anything we shared this morning? Would I even want her to?

Yes.

The answer is yes.

I’ve seen CUP completely alter personalities time and time again. People with mental issues, traumas, anger problems—whatever it was, the program made them docile and compliant. Their past is forgotten—rewritten to whatever we want—and they’re a new person.

I don’t think I want Romy to be a new person.

“It’s clear you both have it all planned out regardingmydaughter,” Gideon states with irritation, rising from his chair. “Dinner awaits us.”

We exit the office, having been dismissed. Everyone will be going to the president’s event, including my soon-to-be “fiancée.” If Huxley’s connected to both Gideon and my father, does that mean he might have a lead for where Calista may have gone?

As we make our way to the dining room, I tug the murky memories from the recesses of my mind. It’s been so long since I’ve seen her. I can’t even remember what she looks like.

Tiny, sad, confused.

Every time I try to recall her face, I can’t. It’s all a blur, which makes finding her even more complicated. Sometimes I wonder if I’m lost in a constant loop of madness, never truly having an end in sight. I’m always searching but never finding what I’m looking for.

All memories fade immediately when I lay eyes on Romy. She’s standing beside Eva, both of them admiring a dangly charm bracelet on Eva’s twig of a wrist. There’s true joy in Romy’s eyes, her smile pretty and not one I’ve seen before. When she notices our arrival, her features darken. I watch in awe as the lively young woman hardens before me. Most of her frostiness is aimed at her father, but I know some of it is for me, too.

I was a dick this morning after we fucked.

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