in danger

Everyone turned to me like I had just exploded, even though my voice had only come out a little too loud.

“This isn't serious.” A nervous chuckle slipped past my lips as I looked around the room, waiting for someone to laugh and tell me this was some sick joke.

“What?” Victor asked with a grin stretched across his face, like a man delighted to have walked into my life uninvited. But his blue eyes were cold.

Beside him, my mother smiled like she'd just won the lottery. The sight alone made my stomach twist. Her voice turned soft as silk when she spoke, softer than I had ever heard it directed at me in all the years we'd lived together.

“Ashley, darling.” She stepped closer and cupped my cheeks. “You have a stepfather now. You don't have to be alone anymore.”

God, that fake sweetness was what I hated the most. If only Victor could see her for what she truly was instead of this perfect little act she wore so well. A cruel mother who couldn't care less about her own daughter.

“You're disgusting,” I whispered so only she could hear, my jaw tightening beneath her hands. “How could you do something like this without even telling me?”

Her expression changed instantly and the warmth in her eyes hardened for a second before the smile slid back into place. I knew she wouldn't ruin this perfect little moment for herself.

“C'mon, Ashley.” She leaned close enough for her perfume to choke me. “Smile.”

Smile?

How the hell was I supposed to smile in the middle of this chaos?

I had already made a deal with Kayden. To strip for him for the next thirty days. To let him control my body however he wanted.

And now he was my fucking stepbrother.

The thought alone made my stomach twist so hard I thought I might throw up right there on their polished floor.

“I just wanted to give you security,” she added softly.

Security?

A bitter laugh almost escaped me at the irony of that word.

Was that what she called it when she gambled away rent money?

When she came home drunk and furious and beat me black and blue because I only brought home one thousand dollars?

She stepped away from me, still wearing that fake smile like it belonged on a billboard, and Victor moved closer.

“Ashley,” he said with a heavy sigh. “I know how hard the past few years have been for you. I'm sorry you had to go through all that. But I promise I'll do my best as your stepfather to protect and care for you.”

He said it smoothly. Like he'd practiced those words in front of a mirror before saying them out loud.

Maybe I wasn't the best judge of character, but there was something in his eyes that made my skin crawl. A cold glint hidden beneath all that concern.

Honest men didn't look at people like that.

“You don't have the right to call yourself that.” I spat the words out, my hands curling into fists at my sides so tightly my nails bit into my palms.

“I know with time, you'll learn to accept me.” He tapped my shoulder lightly.

“Nice to meet you, Ashley.”

Then he stepped back and leaned toward my mother, whispering something into her ear. I couldn't hear the words, only the low murmur of their voices.

My eyes snapped to Kayden.

The bastard was smirking.

Not shocked. Not uncomfortable. Amused.

He was enjoying this.

Which meant he fucking knew.

Then why the hell would he make me that offer?

“I need air,” I muttered before anyone could stop me.

I turned quickly and headed for the door, my pulse pounding hard in my ears. I couldn't stand there pretending to be part of their little family fantasy. I would never accept Kayden as my stepbrother for as long as I lived.

He was a fucking monster.

As I stepped out of the apartment, Sophia's voice floated behind me.

“She'll adjust.”

Her tone was calm and reassuring, like she was discussing a difficult pet instead of her own daughter.

A hollow scoff left my lips.

Was she going to beat me into accepting this too?

I stormed down the staircase. By the time I reached the street, the night had gone quiet. Most people had already disappeared into their homes, leaving behind only a few passing cars and strangers walking beneath the flickering streetlights.

I pulled my phone from my purse with shaky fingers and checked the time.

A few minutes past ten.

Where was I even supposed to go?

I wasn't working at the club tonight, and the last thing I wanted was to show my face there anyway. I couldn't go back home either. For all I knew, Victor might've left already, and that would give Sophia the perfect chance to take all her anger out on me.

My chest ached with every step I took down the street. Tears burned my eyes until the blurry streetlights melted together in my vision.

Memories of my father came rushing back so suddenly it hurt.

He died in a car accident when I was seven. We had been coming back from the playing ground that evening. I still remembered the sound of his laugh before everything went black.

His biggest dream was to send me to college.

But he never got to see me turn twenty.

A painful lump rose in my throat.

He was the reason I held onto college so tightly. Sometimes it felt like that dream was the only piece of him I still had left.

My phone buzzed in my hand.

Kayden.

“Where are you?”

I stared at the message before lowering the phone slowly.

What the hell did he want from me now?

Was ruining my life not enough already?

A shaky breath escaped me.

When I couldn't hold it in anymore, I crouched down at the side of the road, wrapping my arms around myself as the tears finally spilled over. They came hard and ugly, my shoulders trembling with every sob.

In that moment, everything crashed into me at once.

The anger.

The hurt.

The resentment.

The crushing feeling that life kept taking and taking from me without ever giving anything back.

Why did life have to be so unfair to me?

Why did Papa have to die?

I wiped at my wet cheeks, breathing unevenly, and that's when I noticed them.

Three men were walking toward me from across the street.

The orange glow of cigarette tips flickered in the dark as smoke curled around them. Their loud laughter echoed faintly through the empty street, and something about the way they looked at me made my stomach drop.

Shit. What the hell was I even thinking walking outside this late?

I got up immediately, wiping my eyes with the back of my hand as I started walking faster. But the sound of footsteps followed behind me.

My heart dropped straight into my throat.

I glanced back once.

They were still following me.

Fear crawled up my spine.

I broke into a run instantly, and the moment I heard them running too, my fear turned into panic.

I turned the corner too quickly and my foot caught against the uneven sidewalk.

I crashed hard onto the ground.

Pain ripped through my ankle so sharply I cried out, and when I looked down, blood was already sliding from the torn skin onto the concrete.

“Fuck,” I breathed shakily.

Before I could pull myself up, they were already there.

They surrounded me slowly, like hungry wolves cornering prey.

“Look what we have here.” One of them grinned, showing alcohol-stained teeth. “A bird.”

His hand reached for me, but I shoved it away instantly.

“A defiant one,” another said, his voice deeper and rougher.

God.

My pepper spray.

I wasn't carrying it.

How the hell had I forgotten it? I never went anywhere at night without it.

The third man grabbed at the hem of my blouse, and instinct took over before fear could.

I swung my fist straight into his nose.

“Ouch—fuck!” I yelped the second my knuckles connected. Pain shot through my hand so hard it burned.

The man staggered back, cursing loudly as blood spilled from his nose.

Getting beaten by Sophia had taught me one thing.

How to throw a punch.

And tonight, I was going to use every bit of it on these bastards.

“C'mon.” I raised my fists with shaking hands, breathing hard as I forced myself to stand my ground. “Try me.”

If they thought I was some helpless princess, then tonight they'd learn I was a different kind of princess.

“You stupid bitch—”

The second man lunged toward me, but I drove my knee straight into his groin.

He folded instantly with a strangled groan and collapsed onto the pavement, clutching himself in agony.

The third guy looked between his friends, his face darkening with rage. He tossed his cigarette aside and stormed toward me.

I tried to punch him too, but this time he caught my wrist midair.

“Got you.”

Before I could react, he shoved me back hard.

My arm slammed against the wall with a dull thud that rattled through my bones.

A cry escaped my lips.

Pain exploded through my shoulder and wrist as I slid halfway to the ground, breathing heavily and struggling to push myself back up.

But everything hurt too much.