Page 454 of Filthy Elites

Dad’s eyes light up and he smiles widely. “I’ll go and tell your mother, she’ll be so excited.” My dad’s a great guy, he’s not what I’d consider your classic, powerful, rich dude. In fact, in person he appears to be the opposite of the stereotype he’s usually cast in. He’s warm, friendly, inclusive and a great dad. He’s also ruthless, incredibly intelligent and morally ambiguous when he needs to be.

The apple didn’t fall that far from the tree, I’m just like him. That’s why I don’t have even a moment of doubt as I head back up the stairs and into Starling’s room.

My eyes search her out the moment I enter the space. She’s on the bed, her eyes closed, her chest moving up and down in a rhythmic pattern. In sleep she’s almost as stunning as she is in motion, and I sit beside her on the bed and brush the hair that’s fallen over her face back behind her ear.

“Our parents think this might be a good time to get her nano in place,” I tell the doctor, holding out the black case in my hands in his direction.

“But she’s asleep,” he says suspiciously.

“Then she won’t feel any pain, will she?” I tell him with a smile.

“Her mother agrees with your parents about this?” he asks, his tone dubious.

“We all just want to keep her safe,” I say, avoiding his question. “You understand the pressure of being who we are.”

Sighing, he nods then takes the case and places it onto the mattress beside me. Opening the lid, he pulls on a pair of latex gloves, lifts out the sealed sterile syringe and removes the packaging. “Same place as you have yours?” he asks.

I nod, pulling her hair up off her neck and moving to the side as Dr. Harris steps closer to her. He wipes a patch of skin right at the base of her hairline with an alcohol wipe, before bringing the syringe to her skin and carefully inserting the needle into her. She grimaces a little in her sleep, but doesn’t wake as he depresses the plunger and the nano is planted beneath her skin.

Carefully, he pulls the needle from her neck and then puts the syringe, wipe and glove into a disposable waste box he has in his bag. Returning to the bed, he picks up the scanner from the box, turns it on and runs it over her neck. When the scanner beeps, he turns it in my direction, showing me the screen that confirms the chip is active and working.

“Thank you, Dr. Harris,” I tell him. “Please make sure you send your bill to my father’s secretary and wish Amelia good luck with her scholarship application.”

The older man smiles, then packs up his bag and leaves without another word.

Smiling down at my beautiful little bird, I run my finger over the patch of skin on her neck, feeling the tracking chip that’s barely the size of a single grain of rice. We were all fitted with one when a plot was discovered to kidnap me, Clay, Evan and Hunter when we were ten.

Our families are rich and powerful, a combination that attracts those who seek to take advantage of what they thought were our parents’ weak links. The one beneath my skin has never been activated, it’s only there in case of an emergency. Little Bird is mine and the nano in her neck will ensure that even though she might think she can fly free, she’ll always be tethered to me. I’m her gilded cage, the lock and the key all at once and no matter how far she tries to run, she’ll never be able to hide.

I sit with her for a while, stroking her hair and watching as her chest moves up and down as she breathes. Eventually, I reluctantly get up and leave, pulling the door to her room closed behind me as I step into the hallway. Taking my cell from my pocket, I dial her mother’s cell number that Clay gave me as part of the information he’d found out about her.

“Hello,” Cassidy answers.

“Ms. Clark, my name is Sebastian Lockwood, I’m Starling’s boyfriend, we met earlier.”

“Her boyfriend?” Cassidy says, laughter lacing her voice. “I thought you said you needed to speak to her about an assignment?”

“I’m sorry about the subterfuge, ma’am, Starling wanted to wait until tonight to introduce me. I’m calling because she passed out earlier and”

“She what?” she interrupts. “Is she okay? Where is she? What hospital?”

“She’s fine, she’s not at the hospital, she’s at my house. I’ve just texted you the address. Our family doctor was here so he checked her over, and he says she’s absolutely fine. He said it was more than likely exhaustion, which is probably from all the shifts she worked at the diner recently.”

“She works too much, I told her she works too much,” Cassidy mumbles, her voice cracking.

“I agree, which is why she quit her job tonight.”

“Good,” she agrees.

“I think so too.”

“I’ll come and get her. Thank you for calling, Sebastian.”

“She’s sleeping and honestly I think it might be better just to let her get a good night’s rest.”

“Sebastian, I don’t know you, or your family, hell, tonight’s the first thing I’ve heard about my daughter having a boyfriend. I’m not going”

“Ms. Clark,” I interrupt her tirade. “I was only going to suggest you bring an overnight bag and stay here too, so we don’t have to wake her.”

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