I was half his size—and without witnesses, I was helpless. I’d never taken self-defence or thought I’d be in a situation that required it. The treadmill trimmed my figure, but didn’t give me muscle to fight.
What could I do but obey? I didn’t move. I couldn’t. Even my vertigo didn’t dare make me queasy when I was trapped in his savage golden eyes.
A moment ticked past before he nodded curtly. “I’m glad you’re acting with more decorum. To ensure that behaviour, I’ll share one piece of information about the debt with you.” He ran a finger along his bottom lip. “You are the only one who can repay. You must come of your own free will. You are the sacrifice.”
I swallowed, flinching at the bruising around my larynx. His level voice lulled me into thinking I had a chance at escape. Keep him talking. Get him to care. “Sacrifice?” I instantly hated the word.
His eyes narrowed. “A sacrifice is something you do or give up for the greater good. All of this could stop…you have the power.”
It could? The promise of freedom hung in the night-sky, taunting me.
I shifted on the seat, shivering from the cold. “If I have the power, why do I feel as if you’re laughing behind my back?” Steeling myself, I snapped, “Whatever you might think of me, I can read between the lines of what you’re not saying. What are the consequences if I don’t go with you?”
I felt ridiculous talking of debts and consequences. None of this made sense, but a horrible sensation slithered up my back. A memory that I’d buried…from a long time ago.
“You have no choice, Arch. I can’t explain it, but you, me, no one can stop this. My only regret is meeting you.”
My father huffed, whirling around in the drawing room of our eight bedroom manor. “Your only regret? What about V and Nila? What should I tell them? What should I say when they ask why their mother abandoned them?”
My mother, with her glossy ebony hair and dusky skin, stood tall and fearless, but from my hidden spot by the stairs I knew the truth. She wasn’t fearless—far from it. She was petrified. “You tell them I loved them but I should never have given them life. Especially Nila. Hide her, Arch. Don’t let them know. Change your name. Run. Don’t let the debt get her, too.”
The memory had ended abruptly thanks to Vaughn throwing a soccer ball at my head and shattering the final moments my parents had together. That had been the last time I ever saw her.
I rubbed my palm against my chest, cursing the tightness around my heart. Confusion weighed heavily, equally as pressing as despair.
Jethro smiled. “I’m glad you’re being more reasonable. That is one question I will answer. The consequences of not coming with me are Vaughn and Archibald Weaver, amongst other things.”
My whole world flipped upside down—and this time it wasn’t vertigo.
“Your life for theirs.” He shrugged. “Simple really. But don’t worry about the details. There’s the fine print and endless history lessons to explain.”
My heart stopped. My life for theirs? He has to be joking. I didn’t know if I should be screaming in terror or laughing with amazement. This couldn’t be real. It had to be a farce. A horrible, cruel joke of my dad’s to ensure I never wanted to date again. Please let it be a joke.
“You can’t be serious.” I might’ve been hidden from the world of men, but I wasn’t completely clueless. “You expect me to believe you?”
Jethro lost his ice, sliding straight into artic winter. “You think I care if you don’t believe me? Do you think all of this is bullshit and you can somehow argue with me?”
My heart jack-knifed. He was so sure. So resolute. No hint of worry that his scam might be revealed. It isn’t a joke.
Jethro lowered his voice to a hiss. “I’ll let you in on another secret about me. I never do things by half. I never take chances. I never hunt alone.” Leaning closer, he finished, “Ever since I set eyes on you, eyes have been set on your brother and father. They’re being watched. And if you so much as sneeze wrong, those eyes will turn into something a lot more invasive. Do you understand?”
I couldn’t reply. All I could picture was Vaughn and my father being exterminated like vermin and never see it coming.
“Say another word and I’ll end them, Ms. Weaver.” With a glacial glare, Jethro grabbed the handle bars and swung his leg over the black powder-coated machine. Every inch was black. No chrome or colour anywhere.
Shit, what do I do? I had to run. Run!
But I couldn’t. Not now he’d threatened my family. Not now my brain had unlocked a memory adding weight to Jethro’s lunatic suggestions. Not now I believed.
A debt.
I didn’t know what it was. It could’ve been code for something I didn’t understand or literal and requiring payback. But one thing I knew, I couldn’t risk not obeying.
I loved my family. I adored my brother. I wouldn’t chance their lives. Not after this so-called debt broke up my parents’ marriage and happiness.
I jumped as the ignition growled to life, tearing through the silence, and somehow granting me strength in its ferocity. Kicking the stand away, Jethro took the weight of the bike.
He didn’t wear a helmet or offer me one. I expected him to turn around and deliver more information or demands, but all he did was reach behind, steal my arm, and place it around his hips. The moment my hand rested on him, he let me go, unknowingly giving me a safe harbour but with an anchor I already despised.
I looked longingly at the building where my brother and father mingled with fashionistas and the only world I knew. I silently begged them to come running out and laugh at my stunned, fear-filled face yelling ‘we fooled you.’
But nothing. The doors remained closed. Answers hidden. Future unknown.
I’m alone.
I’m being stolen for a debt only I can repay. A debt I know nothing about.
I was idiotic to wish for more than what I had.
Now, I had nothing.
With a twist of his wrist, Jethro fed gas to his mechanical beast and we shot forward into darkness.
The Milan airport welcomed me back.
It felt like an eternity since I flew in, though in reality it’d only been two days. My skin was icy, and despite my repellent dislike for Jethro, I hadn’t been able to stop huddling against him while he broke speed limits and took corners at hyper-speed on his death machine. My tiny skirt and sleeveless corset weren’t meant for gallivanting around Milan so late.