Selling a Sister to Wolves

The afternoon sun dipped below the skyscrapers, casting long, dark shadows across the underground VIP parking garage of the Grand Horizon Hotel. A sleek, matte-black sports coupe sat parked in the corner, its headlights flashing as Robin unlocked it with a click of her key fob.

She had just finished a private international conference call with her fashion directors in Paris. Dressed in a tailored black leather jacket, dark skinny jeans, and four-inch stiletto ankle boots, Robin looked sleek, effortless, and untouchable.

Suddenly, the heavy metal door near the emergency stairwell flew open.

Four men stepped out of the shadows, blocking Robin’s path to her car.

Leading the group was Luke Sinclair.

Luke was Robin’s spoiled, arrogant younger brother—a twenty-two-year-old high-society playboy who had never worked a single honest day in his life. He spent his days crashing expensive sports cars, partying at VIP clubs, and blowing millions of dollars at underground gambling tables. Because Eleanor treated him like an untouchable prince, Luke had grown up believing he was entitled to anything and everything he wanted.

Standing behind Luke were three towering, heavily tattooed underground loan sharks. They wore leather jackets, carried heavy metal baseball bats, and stared at Robin with vile, hungry grins.

Luke took a step forward, adjusting his designer silver watch with a nervous, twitchy smirk. His eyes were bloodshot, and he smelled faintly of cheap gin.

"Well, well, if it isn't my big sister," Luke sneered, crossing his arms. "You made a big mistake throwing Mom and Dad out of your hotel room this morning, Robin. But lucky for you, I’m here to give you a chance to make it up to this family."

Robin didn't back up. She didn't reach for her phone. She stood with one hand resting casually in the pocket of her leather jacket, her sharp green eyes looking at Luke with icy disdain.

"Luke," Robin said, her tone smooth and deadpan. "I see you haven't changed. Still running around with street trash because you're too cowardly to walk alone."

The lead loan shark—a massive, scarred brute with a gold tooth—stepped up beside Luke, tapping his heavy baseball bat against his open palm.

"Is this the sister, kid?" the thug grunted, his dirty eyes raking over Robin’s curves with shameless greed. "You said she was pretty, but you didn't say she was this gorgeous. If we take her for the night, consider your five hundred grand gambling debt wiped completely clean."

A wave of cold, poisonous disgust settled in the air.

Five years ago, Luke had treated Robin like a household maid, kicking her bedroom door open whenever he wanted his luxury sneakers cleaned or his homework done. But this was a new level of depravity.

To save his own skin from underground loan sharks, Luke had brought criminals to sell his older sister's body for five hundred thousand dollars.

Luke rubbed his hands together with a sickening grin.

"Hear that, Robin?" Luke said shamelessly. "You're finally going to be useful for once in your life. Spend tonight with Scar and his boys, and my debt is paid off. You were in the borderlands for five years anyway—you're used to being handled by rough men! Stop acting pure and get in their van!"

Robin’s expression did not change, but the temperature around her plummeted to absolute zero.

"You really are your mother's son, Luke," Robin whispered, a terrifyingly calm smile touching her red lips. "Rotten down to the marrow."

"Shut your mouth and do as you're told!" Luke barked, completely misjudging her silence as fear.

Luke lunged forward with both hands, reaching out to grab Robin by her long dark hair to force her toward the van.

He never touched a single strand.

In the fraction of a second Luke’s fingers entered her space, Robin moved.

Her strike was blindingly fast, honed by hundreds of bloody life-and-death brawls in the northern borderlands. She sidestepped his clumsy grab, seized Luke’s outstretched wrist in an iron grip, and wrenched it upward with explosive, mechanical precision.

CRACK!

The sharp, sickening sound of breaking bone echoed through the concrete garage.

"AAAGH!" Luke shrieked, his voice turning into a high-pitched squeal as his wrist snapped backward.

Robin didn't stop. She grabbed the fingers of his broken hand, twisting them counter-clockwise until two of his knuckles dislocated with a wet pop. She then drove a brutal front kick into Luke's knee, forcing him crashing down onto the hard concrete, screaming and writhing in agonizing torment.

The three loan sharks froze, their jaws dropping in pure disbelief.

"What the hell—!" Scar roared, recovering his senses. "Get that crazy bitch!"

The two side thugs lunged forward at once, swinging their heavy metal bats with lethal intent.

Robin ducked smoothly under the first swing. The wind of the metal bat grazed the air above her head as she closed the distance, planting an open-palm strike straight into the first thug’s solar plexus. The force of the blow shattered his breath, sending him flying backward into a concrete pillar, knocking him instantly unconscious.

Before the second thug could react, Robin spun on the heel of her boot. Her four-inch stiletto connected with brutal, fluid precision against his jawline.

THUD!

The second thug spun in a full circle before collapsing face-first onto the oil-stained floor, out cold with blood leaking from his split lip.

Scar was left standing alone, his face turning pale as a ghost. He raised his heavy baseball bat with shaking hands.

"Stay back, you psycho!" Scar yelled, swinging wildly at her chest.

Robin didn't even flinch. She caught the wooden handle of the bat mid-air with one bare hand, stopping the full swing dead in its tracks. With a single fluid twist, she ripped the bat out of Scar’s grip, drove her elbow into his temple, and followed with a sweep that took his legs out from under him.

Scar slammed onto his back, gasping for air before his eyes rolled into his head, slipping into darkness.

The entire fight had lasted less than twenty seconds.

Three massive street enforcers lay scattered across the parking lot like broken mannequins.

Luke was curled into a tight ball on the floor, clutching his broken, mangled wrist against his chest. Tears and snot ran down his pale, sweaty face as he trembled in absolute, paralyzing terror.

He looked up at Robin, his teeth chattering uncontrollably.

This wasn't his quiet, timid older sister. This was a demon.

Robin casually dropped the baseball bat onto the ground with a loud clatter. She walked over to Luke, her heels clicking slowly against the concrete like a countdown to execution.

She reached into Scar’s open leather jacket, pulled out the folded $500,000 debt contract, and looked down at the trembling boy.

Robin raised her right foot.

THUMP.

She planted the sharp, needle-like heel of her four-inch stiletto directly onto the center of Luke’s chest, pressing down with enough ruthless force that Luke’s ribs groaned under the pressure.

"Please... Robin... no!" Luke choked out, gasping for breath as pain flared through his chest and broken wrist. "I'm your brother! We share a home! Mom will kill you if you hurt me!"

Robin leaned down slightly, her emerald eyes burning with deadly, unyielding authority. She dropped the blood-stained loan contract right onto his tear-soaked face.

"Listen to me very carefully, Luke," Robin whispered, her voice chillingly quiet and clear. "I survived five years of war, mercenaries, and wolves in the north. A pathetic parasite like you couldn't kill me in a thousand lifetimes."

She pressed her heel a fraction of an inch deeper, making Luke let out a strangled whimper.

"This debt contract is mine now. You owe that five hundred thousand dollars directly to me. If you ever come near me again, Luke, or if you ever look at me with those disgusting eyes..."

Robin leaned in until her lips were barely an inch from his ear.

"...I won't just break your bones. You won't leave with your tongue."

She removed her heel, leaving Luke gasping and crying on the floor. Without looking back, Robin unlocked her sports car, slid into the driver's seat, and revved the engine. The powerful exhaust roared through the empty basement as she sped out into the evening city lights, leaving her broken brother sobbing in the dark.