Chapter 1

As soon as the words were out of my mouth, Vincent Gray clamped a hand around my throat and smashed me hard against the car door. He roared, "Noelle, are you out of your mind?"

My back hit the metal with a sickening thud, and it felt like all my organs had shifted out of place. Before I could say a word, he turned and gave a fawning smile to the low-level thugs hanging around the perimeter.

He said, "Gentlemen, don't mind her. She's hysterical and talking nonsense. I'll take her in right now."

With that, he shoved me back into the cramped trunk. The drug he'd slipped me was still in full effect—my arms and legs felt like they were filled with lead.

From the front seat, his sister Wendy Gray's syrupy, venom-laced voice floated back. "Vincent, will those psychos from Wicked Valley really let me go once you hand Noelle over?"

Vincent slammed his foot on the gas and reassured her in a soft tone. "Relax. The 18 kings of Wicked Valley have put out the highest bounty for a woman with a phoenix tattoo. Noelle just so happens to have a fake one. As long as we give her to them, it'll quell Mr. Shaw's rage, and your life will be spared."

Fake?

I looked at the vivid blood-red phoenix on my right arm and couldn't help but laugh. It had been personally inked on me by the boss of Wicked Valley, Terence Shaw, who was also Big Dad to me.

Seeing the tattoo was equivalent to seeing Big Dad himself, yet Vincent, the idiot that he was, actually thought it was a knockoff.

My 18 dads probably never dreamed that Vincent and Wendy would personally deliver me right to their doorstep after searching for me for three years and turning up nothing.

Vincent heard my laughter and assumed I was scared out of my mind. He sighed, then said, "Noelle, I've fed you and sheltered you for three years. I've never done you wrong or given you any grief.

"Now that Wendy's in trouble, it's time for you to repay me. You're trading your cheap life for the peace of the Gray family—you should be honored!"

I actually laughed again, this time from sheer anger.

Three years ago, Vincent's company had gone bankrupt, and his enemies had come for his life. I'd taken three stabs for him and carried him on my back for six miles in a torrential downpour.

He'd kneeled outside the emergency room and sworn that he'd cherish me with his life. He'd vowed that he'd never let me suffer even the slightest grievance.

But now, just because Wendy had caused trouble, he hadn't hesitated to spike my drink with a heavy dose of sedatives. He'd packed me up like a pig headed for slaughter and delivered me as a sacrificial substitute.

The SUV jerked to a sudden stop. The door was yanked open, and the harsh glare of a searchlight made me squint.

Wendy looked down at me imperiously. She yanked me out of the trunk, making me fall to the ground. Then, she brought the heel of her sharp stiletto down hard on my shin bone and ground it.

Pain shot through me like a white-hot blade, but I clenched my jaw and refused to make a sound.

"Don't blame me for this, Noelle. Blame yourself for being lowborn." Her eyes were full of vicious glee. "Once those lunatics are done torturing you to death, I'll make sure Vincent gives you a proper burial."

I looked at the feigned innocence on her face and found I didn't want to waste time getting angry at her. She and Vincent wanted to trade me in for Wicked Valley's protection, huh?

Five years ago, some suicidal drug lord had the nerve to yank out a single strand of my hair.

Big Dad had singlehandedly wiped out the guy's entire base. Second Dad had broken every bone in his body and fed them to the dogs. Sixth Dad had strung up his entire extended family at the entrance of the valley and left them there to dry in the wind.

My 18 lawless dads would whip out their guns and start a war if I so much as got a scrape. Once they realized who had been abducted and brought to them, the Gray family would be ground to dust.

Vincent walked over and pushed Wendy out of the way. There wasn't a shred of guilt in his eyes, only feverish urgency. He pulled out a knife and roughly tore open the fabric on my right shoulder.

Cold wind poured down the back of my neck, and the lifelike phoenix tattoo on my arm was fully exposed in the night.

He reached out to touch my face, his tone magnanimous as he said, "Go in peace, Noelle. I'll make sure you're buried with the rest of my family."

I turned my head away in disgust, dodging his hand, and locked my eyes on his. Under the searchlight, I saw a half-inch scar on his left brow bone.

Three years ago, he'd earned that scar after taking a blow for me while protecting me from his enemies. Just for that scar, I'd packed away all my sharp edges, cooked and cleaned for him, and played the soft, obedient partner for three whole years.

I stared at that scar. When I spoke, my voice was as cold as ice. "Vincent, I'll give you one last chance. Are you really going to hand me over to these people? You won't regret this?"

He faltered. Then, his eyes filled with pure disgust and cruelty. He yanked a fistful of my hair and pulled my face up to his. "Cut the act, Noelle. Dying for Wendy is the greatest value you'll ever produce in this life. When I decide something, I never regret it."

The moment the words left his mouth, the ground began to shake violently. A deafening roar of engines ripped through the night. A dozen heavy armored off-road vehicles surged in and surrounded us in an instant.

Wendy let out a shriek and collapsed to the ground. Vincent, on the other hand, trembled with excitement. He grabbed me and slammed me face-first onto the coarse dirt road, then shouted hoarsely into the darkness, "Mr. Shaw, I brought the woman!"