“You sure?”

She nodded. “Yeah. What’s the worst he can do? Talk me to death?”

I hesitantly stepped a few feet away from the cell out of earshot and placed the phone up to my ear.“Hello?”

“Ozias,” came my sister’s soft reply. Her familiar tone instantly brought me comfort. “I just heard about everything that happened from Javier. Are you alright? How’s Demi?”

I exhaled while running a hand over my curls. I hadn’t told her the full details of the Malone ambush. I didn’t even think I wanted to. Everything still felt so fresh and too tender to discuss. I’d already relived it once to the man I hated the most in this world. “It’s . . . been crazy,” I admitted. “She’s recovering. But . . . we lost a baby.”

There was a sharp intake of breath on the other end of the phone, followed by deafening silence. Finally, Maya spoke. “I-I didn’t even know she was—oh my God, I’m so sorry, Ozias. My mind is spinning right now. I can’t imagine what you two are going through. What can I do? What do you need from me?”

Neither could I, to be honest. I hadn’t prepared for any of this. “Nothing,” I answered softly before swallowing the lump in my throat as I looked back toward the cell, training my eyes on Demi. “I’ve got it under control.”

“Fuck that! I’m booking a flight, and I’m coming out there,” Maya insisted, her tone firm, which let me know her mind was already made up.

“No,” I said quickly, my tone harsher than I’d intended. “It’s not safe right now. I need you to stay in Texas and keep an eye on you know who.”

“But Ozias—”

“I’m serious, Maya,” I interjected. “I’ve got everything under control here. I just need you to stay put and do what I asked you to do, alright? You’re the only family I’ve got left.”

There was a pause on her end before she expelled a loud sigh. “Okay,” she replied reluctantly. “But if you need me—if either of you needs me—you call me. Any day or anytime, no matter what. Okay?”

“You know I will,” I promised, though I knew it was a lie. The weight of the world still felt like a ton of bricks on my shoulders.

“Speaking of you know who, I’ve still got eyes on her. I flew two of my men out to Chicago yesterday to observe and report.”

I dipped my chin, grateful for the update. “Thank you.”

“Anytime. I love you. Take care of yourself,” she said softly.

“Will do,” I replied before ending the call.

I stared at the phone in the palm of my hand for a moment, the quiet settling around me. I’d stood there and told my sister that I had everything under control, but truthfully, I felt anything but. Between the weight of Demi’s grief, my unexpressed pain, and the boiling rage toward her father, I was barely hanging on by a thread. But for Demi’s sake and the sake of my sanity, I would keep going. I didn’t have a fuckin’ choice.

Demi

The heavy door creaked behind Ozias’s departure, leaving me alone in my father’s presence. I scoffed just thinking about the term father and what it meant. Whatever its definition was, Cyrus Malone was far from it. I rolled my heavy shoulders before squaring them. The stench of his cell was almost insufferable, but I pushed through by drawing in small breaths.

My steps minced forward, my heels sticking to the grimy floor with each click. The sound of my heels made him look up lazily, his eyes narrowing when they zeroed in on mine.

“Come to see if I’ve found my moral compass?”he mocked, his tone exuding the sharpest sarcasm his tongue would allow.

I balled my hands into tight fists and halted just out of arm’s reach of the rusted iron bars.Keep your cool, Demi. Don’t give him the satisfaction of seeing you weak.“We both know that would be a waste of my time.”

“Then why are you still standing there?”

I drew in a deep breath, trying to ground myself while choosing my following words carefully. “I want—no—Ineedto hear the words straight from your mouth. Why, Daddy? Howcould you do this to me? How could you spill the blood of your child? How could you betray your flesh and blood?”

He replied with an emotionless scoff as he shifted to lean against the concrete wall, the chains rattling with every movement. “Oh, cut the fucking dramatics, Demi. Yes, you were my child, but had you been a son instead of a daughter, maybe you’d be more than a pawn to me. But I can’t change biology or life, princess. Pawns will always be sacrificed before the king. That’s just the way shit goes.”

My chest heaved in and out with fury as my heart rate escalated. “I’m your fucking daughter, not a piece on a chess board, and certainly not your property! You auctioned me off to the highest bidder, showed up to my home and tried to murder me in cold blood, caused the senseless death of my cousin, and—” My voice cracked, and my hands shook with rage and more emotions I couldn’t quite name. “And because of you, I lost my baby. Your only grandchild.”

In a blink, I noticed my father’s stoic expression shift with something—maybe remorse or even shame—but it disappeared as fast as it appeared. “Side effects of the game,” he said coldly. “I did what I thought had to be done. You won’t hear an apology for that.”

My eyes stung with fresh tears, but I blinked them away, refusing to let them fall in his presence. He didn’t deserve one single tear from me. “You could’ve made a different choice,” I retorted with less shake than before. “You chose power over family, cupidity over love. And you have the audacity to sit there, unremorseful, acting like you’re still the fucking king. Look at who you’re ruling over now. The rats in your cell don’t even fucking respect you,” I muttered before spitting at the ground.

My father’s lips twisted into a half-smirk. “You wouldn’t understand. You’re too soft for this life, Demi. All I have to do is talk to you crazy, and you’re like baby shit in the palm of myhand. Contrary to what you believe, this world doesn’t run on butterflies and rainbows. Ask the fuckin’ killer you married.”