Page 11 of Fated
“I know the story,” I said in a clipped tone while I held his gaze. How did that have anything to do with me?
“Well, you know, instead of the evil stepmother and stepsisters, but in your case you had the evil father,” he tried to explain. I shook my head at him and passed him as I walked out of the room that had been my prison. Wasn’t Cinderella a good person that got treated badly? I wasn’t good, so that didn’t make me a Cinderella.
This guy was going to annoy the hell out of me and we’d just met. I wondered how I was going to cope with him being around all the time and breathing down my neck. The whole exercise was going to impossible to get through without wringing his neck.
“Hey, don’t forget about me,” the annoying person reminded me from behind me as I stalked forward. I couldn’t wait to get out of here and back to where I belonged.
“You know this might go quicker if you could be friendlier,” he muttered, but I didn’t acknowledge him.
I didn’t dofriendly.
As we made our way from the basement into the garage, I couldn’t stop my eyes from wandering, looking for glimpses of Blake. Just the thought of him made me relive the pain of my rejection.
Hang in there,I told myself. When I was at home and in private I would be able to mourn the loss of something I’d never had, nor ever would.
It was a good thing I had a good memory because I remembered the way out and when I opened the front door of the house and stepped outside I saw Scarlett standing beside a couple of SUV-type cars. I wanted to roll my eyes at her and tell her to stop but instead I played the indifferent card. If I showed her no reaction she might get the hint quicker.
She stepped forward and I halted.
“I just wanted to see you off,” she explained while she gauged me for a reaction. I remained tight-lipped and her gaze flickered to her cousin.
“You’d better be right,” he muttered to her.
“I am right,” she said before her eyes settled back on me. I didn’t have the heart to tell her that she was wasting her time.
“I’ll speak to you soon,” he said to his cousin as he gave her a brief hug.
“Let’s go, Cinderella,” he said, opening the passenger door of the first SUV for me. I stepped past Scarlett and got into the car. When Kyle got into the driver’s seat I turned to him.
“Where’s my father’s body?” I asked.
“In the back,” he answered.
“Let’s go,” I instructed. I had everything I needed.
I turned to face the front of the car and I felt Kyle’s eyes linger on me for a few more moments before he started the car up.
The drive was quiet and I lost myself in my own thoughts. As hard as I’d tried to keep my secret, there was no way to hide it from Kyle. I felt nervous and fearful of it being used against me. When Kyle found out, he would tell the rest of them and there was no way to stop him.
I let out a resigned sigh and saw Kyle give me a side-glance. I ignored him and kept my eyes on the scenery we passed as he drove us through Cade’s territory. It wouldn’t be long before we entered my territory. Rubbing my forehead, I could feel the start of headache from the stress and nerves I was feeling.
Half an hour later Kyle pulled up to the massive property where my pack lived. I opened the window and looked into the video camera that was mounted on the gate. The outside of the property, with a tall wall, was cold and unwelcoming.
The gates opened and Kyle drove slowly into the property. I could feel that Kyle was a little nervous about being without anyone from his pack in another pack’s territory.
“No one will harm you,” I stated. He looked at me for a moment and gave me a brief nod.
I wasn’t like my father. I didn’t want a war.
My eyes drifted over familiar surroundings. It was different from Cade’s property where his pack lived. He had a massive house with a compound that looked like blocks of apartments at the bottom of his property where everyone lived. Here there was no big house on the property. It was just four rows of apartments that reached two levels. It was nothing fancy, just basic. Even inside the apartments there was very little furniture. Beside the rows of apartments was a single building that housed the cafeteria, gym and small medical center.
Victor believed that members of the packs were just soldiers in his army. He’d owned them, like he’d owned me. It was hard to deal with the freedom we’d been handed with my father’s death. We’d lived under his iron fist for so long that it was going to take time to get used to the freedom I would ensure they would have.
The other SUV pulled up beside ours and I looked to see Curtis get out the driver’s side as I exited the car. I smiled and bit my lip as he rushed to me and pulled me into a hug.
“I was so worried about you,” he whispered as he held me. I hugged him back and avoided the curious eyes of Kyle while he watched our exchange.
“I’m fine. They didn’t hurt me,” I assured him. He released me and scanned my features.
