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  The drive passed in a blur as I fought with my emotions. My mom always said money don’t solve money problems. I still wasn’t sure that was correct, at least it didn’t feel like it. Kennedy would be the voice of reason. She would make all this seem not so bad. She would hug me and we’d eat ice cream. She’d help me come up with a plan to move forward. Kennedy had always been my go-to rock in life.

  I mean graduating from college and losing your job while your student loan bills and life bills continued to pile up isn’t the end of the world, right? It’s just money, after all? Unfortunately, I didn’t have anyone else to fall back on but my sister. She got to be the lucky winner of my woes, but what the hell were sisters for if it wasn’t to be the reminder that life could always be worse?

  It wasn’t like I got fired because I sucked and was a lazyass who didn’t do my job. It was some ‘last one hired is first one fired’ policy on layoffs and I was at the top of that list.

  Graphic design – my passion. Kennedy told me to go for it and the work would come. That I could build myself up in the company and be able to take on my own clients. Maybe if I had a freelance business already built up like I originally intended before taking this job, I’d have a cushion. But right now, all I had was a whole lot of talent and nothing to eat – literally.

  Pulling up to her house, I put in my code for the gate that swung open with ease. Parking my car behind the black Cadillac, I admired the beautiful ride before taking the steps up to the front door. It wasn’t a car I had seen before, but then again Malcom always kept my sister in the newest cars so maybe it was a gift. Entering the sprawling house, I rushed into the formal sitting room where Kennedy sat on the loveseat beside Malcom. I wasn’t thinking, I wasn’t paying attention. In fact, my mind filled with thoughts of sister talk and ice cream. I noticed him, but didn’t really register that he was home from work in the middle of the day. This wasn’t usual so my brain was slow to put things together as my mind reeled with my latest devestation.

  She was in a royal blue dress, her blonde hair pinned back in an elegant way and makeup on point. Malcom sat beside her in a suit with his dark hair cut short and styled to the side. The room had this tension as I entered and a man stood from the couch. He was tall, definitely over six feet and towered over everyone in the room. His dark hair was a buzz cut with just a little longer spiking on top. The charcoal suit he’s wearing was undeniably high end because of the way it hugged his body perfectly. The top two buttons to his white shirt were undone, trying to give a relaxed feel that didn’t come to me. I glanced quickly noticing some ink under the shirt, which typically wasn’t someone that Malcom and my sister would ‘hang out’ with. They were elitists. Not my sister by herself, but with Malcom they definitely stayed with what he would consider their class of people. Yeah, he was a pompous ass, but my sister wasn’t when she was alone. My eyes scanned upward to meet his.

  They were dark. Not black, though. More like a deep blue, they drew you in, lured you like the depths of the dark ocean they seemed to swirl.

  He extended his hand to me. “I’m Onyx Blake.” The deep baritone of his voice gave me butterflies in the pit of my belly, but something about him wasn’t right. The air didn’t calm, in fact, it was like he commanded the space. I knew better than that. Malcom never let anyone take charge over him and especially not in his home.

  Shifting my gaze from Onyx’s, I didn’t shake his hand or reply. I was too on edge. The whole room, this scenario didn’t feel right. Instead, I dismissed him and looked to my sister, “Kennedy, sorry I came over unexpected. Can we talk a minute?”

  Malcom’s face had fury etched in his features and swear his hands in fists were shaking. He had never looked at me like this before, most of the time it was with indifference. Sure, the man normally was standoffish, but what did I care? He made my sister happy and at the end of every day that’s all that mattered to me. He had taken care of us so I didn’t need to be his best friend or have him shout accolades for me, just respect him as my sister’s man.

  “Malcom, it’s obvious you’re in a business meeting. I can wait in the guest room until it’s over. Sorry, Kennedy is just usually available. I didn’t realize she was in the meeting too.” I rambled out to my brother-in-law while Onyx Blake stood in front of me watching intently. Finally, he put his hand down, but he continued to study me as if he was trying to read me.

  I almost laughed thinking to myself. Hot mess found to your left Mr. Blake, run as fast as you can away from a woman like me.

  His gaze had my body heating up like laser beams going up and down me igniting every inch of my body. I felt the flush crawl up my skin no doubt reddening my cheeks and neck. With my pale body, there was no way to hide it, never could, my mother always saying it was one of my tells. My eyes locked on his and I became stuck in place, air swooshing from my lungs.

  The way he took command of a room was dangerous and all consuming. Almost like the room was closing in, putting all of its energy on this man, and forcing us to do the same. The concoction, I found to be threatening and unstable.

  I took a step back as Kennedy stood in my peripheral vision. She grabbed my arm forcefully and led me out calling behind us as I stumbled backwards trying to keep up. My eyes stuck on the stranger’s even as my mind screamed for me to break the hold between us.

  It was intoxicating. It was heady.

  “Sorry for the interruption, continue on without me,” Kennedy said as Onyx moved in line behind us blocking our departure.

  “No, stop.” He demanded in a deep baritone that commands the room and rumbles through my belly once again. “I’ll take her. You want to negotiate on a deal that is non-negotiable. I want her for my assurances.”

  Kennedy froze in place causing my momentum to throw me off balance making me stumble over my feet briefly. Her grip tightened on me so much that pain shot up my arm to my shoulder. I looked in to my sister’s eyes and saw the tears already forming threatening to escape. What in the hell was going on here?

  “She knows none of this Blake.” Malcom stuttered, his demeanor changing to concern in a flash as he moved to us. I wasn’t sure if he was planning to attack this man or something, but if he did, Malcom would lose, big time. The Hulk himself would have a hard time with this man.

  “I don’t give a shit. How do I know you two won’t flake out and fuck shit up?” The man’s tone never waivered. “At this point in time, you two owe me in order to keep any deal going. You broke the terms of our original agreement. It had consequences. I haven’t dished those out though, have I? In fact, considering the state of things between us, I think I’ve been a relatively understanding man. You knew what you were signing.”

  My sister didn’t turn around to face the men as I watched her crumbling in front of me. My strong as hell sister, who had always been my rock shattered to pieces on the floor smashing in a dust. I started to ask what was going on, but Kennedy squeezed my arm again, giving me a small shake of her head silencing me. Confusion consumed me as my problems were forgotten. My mind raced with what my sister could have gotten herself into.

  She was honest and carefree, not having a single, horrible or mean bone in her body. My sister would give someone the shirt off of her back. There’s no way she would get involved with a man like Onyx Blake unless it was something huge. Something that she couldn’t find another way, but what that was, I had no idea.

  Malcom moved to stand beside Onyx, a small droplet of sweat falling down his worry lined temple. “We haven’t messed up yet. Look my wife and I have lost enough, we just wanted a little more reassurance. That’s all we asked Cole for.”

  Onyx Blake gave a smirk. A cocky, powerful, he really didn’t give a single fuck about anything my brother-in-law had to say smirk. “Yes, but your agreement is with me and not Mr. Cole. He is no longer your contact, everything goes through me. And I’m not asking for her — I’m demanding it.”

  The way he said the word demanding sent shivers through my body, but co
nfusion had set in hard and fast making it all difficult to process. Demanding? Me?

  “She’s not part of the deal, Blake.” Malcom tried to explain.

  The man looked at my brother-in-law and laughed. His words are confident, arrogant. “She is now. My world, my rules. You knew it going in and she leaves with me.”

  “Wait!” I cried out pulling my arm out of my sister’s grasp. “What do you mean leaves with me? I’m not going anywhere with you.”

  He cut his gaze to me sharp and concise, “Yeah, you are.”

  Hands on my hips, I searched my sister looking for something, anything to tell me what was going on here. She gave me nothing, but sadness. The despair in her eyes had me more on edge wanting to do anything to help her, but terrified of what that might be.

  I turned to her. “Kennedy, what’s going on here?” Tears streamed steadily down her face taking with it the black mascara she had painstakingly put on each lash.

  “Tor, I …”

  “Enough.” Onyx demanded making me jump an inch off the floor. I turned around to glare at him. “She knows nothing you say? So, leave it at that.” His eyes searched mine looking for a sign that I knew something, anything, which wouldn’t be a hard task.

  “And what makes you think that I’ll come with you?” I snapped back at him, wondering who in the hell this guy thought he was.

  He leaned in close, the smell of some kind of cologne, or hell maybe it’s just him hit my nostrils. It smelled good, it was woodsy with a hint of vanilla, and far too good. The man’s body language screamed menace and power. “Because you want your sister happy and I hold the key.”

  My stomach fell to my feet and the small sandwich I had earlier started to roll around threatening to come up. “What does that mean?” When Onyx didn’t respond, I stole a glance at Malcom then Kennedy, each one sad and scared like their world was falling apart around them and they had no way to fix it.

  “They can’t tell you anything about it, but if you want your sister to be happy, you’ll come with me. If you don’t, I take you anyway.” He was frank with his words leaving no doubt.

  He’d do it, I felt it to my very soul. This man did not seem like the type that would make empty threats and judging from my family in the room, they knew it too.

  “Kennedy?” I asked again hoping she’ll tell me something, give me some kind of clue what the hell was going on here.

  She glanced to Onyx then back to me as she shook her head. “What will you do with her?” She questioned with a tremble in her voice.

  This wasn’t happening. This shitty day could not be twisting around to make it the shittiest of my hell filled life. My sister couldn’t actually want me to really go with this guy.

  His sinister laugh filled the air. “Whatever the fuck I want.”

  My back straightened as all kinds of twisted scenarios ran through my head. I blamed it on my horror movie addiction trying to let myself hold onto hope that this couldn’t be real. Each thought became scarier than the next. There was nothing good that could come of this.

  Malcom came around wrapping Kennedy in his arms tight. There was some sort of silent conversation going on that I wanted in on, dammit.

  Kennedy’s expression read pure devastation. “The deal’s off.” The words came out barely above a whisper.

  Onyx chuckled in a menacing way, goose bumps ran through my body and my heart sank. “Again with the negotiation. You’re already in. No backing out unless I cut you off. And you already know too much so either way you’re a liability.”

  Kennedy’s face washed out in fear. “But you can’t take my sister. I’ll give it all up just to keep her here.”

  My sister threw it all out there for the mad man. She was giving up whatever this guy had just to keep me away from him. That told me two things. One being this was scary as hell, because if what the man said was true and he held the key to whatever in the hell they wanted, I would have to go with him. And two, they feared him which didn’t mean good things for my future.

  “No. Deal goes as planned and I get collateral.” He stood tall, the frank in his tone and this demeanor about him that told me there was no escaping my new fate. Either way, I was going with him. Either my sister would get what she wanted or she wouldn’t and I’d be in the care of a scary, crazy man. But there was still a sliver of hope.

  “Please don’t hurt her.” Kennedy pleaded with Onyx like I wasn’t even in the room two feet in front of her. There was this detachment in her voice and a void in her face that sealed it. They knew they couldn’t fight for me. They knew nothing would change his mind and they were terrified for me.

  “Like I said, I do whatever the fuck I want. This isn’t a debate. For some reason, you have it in your head you control this. Let this be your reminder, you don’t.”

  My sister turned to me, tears and pain bleeding from her eyes. “I’m sorry.” The defeat in her expression twisted my heart in two. I felt like my life was shattering in a way I wouldn’t ever be able to piece it back together again.

  “What kind of trouble have you gotten into Kennedy?” When she remained nothing but a sobbing mess, I turned to Malcom who held my sister tight. “Well?”

  “It’ll only be for a month, two at the most. I think” Kennedy whispered to me without looking me in the eyes.

  “Why a month?” I barely spoke the words, but I had to ask the question.

  “I can’t.” Her voice was so soft and pained. All I wanted to do is wipe the pain away for her. “I’m so sorry. You weren’t …,”

  “Times up.” Onyx ordered. “We’ll be in touch.” Onyx grabbed my arm and began pulling me out of the room. I yanked back, needing more time. I wanted to know what was going on.

  “Wait!” I yelled trying to get out of his grasp. He ignored me. Instead he lifted me up, hoisting me over his shoulder. My fists beat down his hard back over and over. “Put me down!”

  Kennedy ran up to us. “I’m so sorry.” Those were her parting words as she crumbled to the floor on her knees sobbing, my heart breaking for my sister.

  That’s when Onyx Blake hit me on the ass, hard. Everything inside of me stilled. As he walked us through the door the fear set in beyond anything I had ever felt before.

  The hatred. The anger.

  All of it swirled around inside me. Who was this man to take me from my family? What kind of power did he really have? What did he have that my sister needed?

  And in the moment, all I could think was – survival.

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