One by one my guys stepped into the light, dressed completely in black. I looked at Jasper first, avoiding Beck because I couldn’t handle the devastation of his betrayal yet. Jasper’s eyes were filled with so much emotion when they met mine; he mouthed “sorry” to me as our gazes clashed. Tears burned my throat, because I might not know exactly how they betrayed me, I just knew they had. Evan, who was next to Jasper was expressionless, and I lingered on him for only a moment before going to Dylan. There was dark anger defining his features, and while I saw a glimpse of the guy who’d stood between me and his best friend, it was tempered now. He might not have wanted to be there, but he clearly had no choice.

Finally, when I couldn’t ignore his darkly magnetic pull any longer, I turned to Beck. The first clue I had that this was bad, was his eyes. They were dark and cold, the look he wore on occasion that made the world think he was a sociopath. Maybe that look was the real Beck after all, because there was no sign of the guy who’d cared for me when I was injured. The one who loved my body like it was precious to him. This was straight up the Beck who shot dudes in the head.

“What the hell is going on, guys?” I asked cautiously, backing up a little. “Why am I here?”

More black-suit clad fuckers stepped out of the shadows, and the heirs were joined by their parents. I didn’t recognize all of them—but it looked like even Beck’s dad was there. I mean, of course he was, his goons were the ones who kidnapped me.

He looked like a slightly older, dignified, tired version of Beck. Handsome, with a strong jawline and bronze skin. Only his eyes were colder than his son’s had ever been. Which was scary as hell.

Catherine addressed me. “All of Delta successors have to prove their loyalty to our company. As we’ve told you before, we are an old partnership, and we have rules to ensure that our five remain loyal and strong. Rules that ensure that the best interest of Delta is always upheld. You’re required to do something for us, and in return, we will place your piece of history into the vault. After this you will be afforded the privilege, wealth, and responsibility of this noble company.”

“Blah blah fucking blah,” I said, my voice a snap of hatred. “Get to the point, bitch. I don’t have time for these games any longer.”

She lost her composure then, lurching toward me. If Jasper’s father hadn’t reached out a hand to stop her, I had no doubt we’d be on for our third bitch fight this month.

“Let’s get this over with,” Mr. Langham said, looking bored and resigned. “Until we have her tapes in the vault, we’re running a huge security risk.”

Catherine shook him off, but she didn’t disagree. Waving a hand toward the heirs, she snarled, “You four get her into fucking line.”

Uh oh, Deboises don’t curse. Looked like I pushed her all the way this time. I was almost proud of myself.

Beck leveled Catherine with a look so dark that she slammed her mouth shut and backed up a little. “Don’t ever tell us what to do again,” Dylan said, sounding pissed off. “We’re not the ones to push around. We don’t need you. You need the heirs, otherwise the global shares end up back in circulation. And then you’re all fucked.”

She glared, but that was about all she had at that moment. The guys left their parents then and stepped over to stand in front of me. If I reached out a hand I could have touched them, but right then that was the last thing I wanted.

“You all knew about this?” I asked quietly, looking between the four of them.

One by one they nodded, and my heart cracked as I absorbed the truth of that. Not one of them had warned me.

“I was naked when your father’s goons ambushed me in bed,” I said, facing Beck.

The smallest of twitches was visible in his rigid jawline, and his eyes were as dark as ash.

A low, sickening laugh came from behind Beck, and his father said, “Might want to correct her on that one, Sebastian. I don’t have goons.”

My breath caught in my chest, a low sob wanting to choke out, but I held it back. Beckett. “Yours?” I said, realizing the truth. “You let two strange men come into the room while I was sleeping and kidnap me?”

Beck snarled. “I knew I could keep them from touching you.”

It didn’t matter though. That was such a betrayal of my trust. I had been asleep, vulnerable. Fuck, the only time I got any sleep lately was when Beck was with me, and now that was gone as well.

And still, as I stood here before him, my body craved his. Treacherous bastards. Both of them.

“We need you to repeat and swear your loyalty to Militant Delta Finances,” Dylan cut in, looking tired. “The sooner we can do this, the sooner we can get back to destroying Huntley.”

I crossed my arms over my chest, well aware I was still braless, shoeless, and wearing ill-fitting clothes. “I don’t understand. I was on the plane where we were going to a company thing. Why do I have to suddenly ‘prove my loyalty’ now?”

Catherine was the one to laugh, and I did my very best not to look at her face, because it just made me furious. I wanted to keep a level head. She didn’t care though. “That flight was taking you to a Delta meeting, within which you needed to pass a test. It’s always something different, and the heir does not know about it until it’s happening. This is take two on that little test, and the stakes got upped because you pissed me off.”

Part of me knew my guys were victims of this bullshit, the same way I was, but they had been aware that this was coming and not one of them told me. I’d been blindsided, and the fear I’d felt for the last few hours was spreading through me. Filling me up with too much emotion.

“I refuse,” I whispered, taking another step back. “You can’t make me do anything.”

I’d been wondering what Catherine was going to use to control me once I turned twenty-one and controlled my seat in the company. This was what it was. I knew it deep in my gut.

“Don’t you even want to know what the test is?” Evan asked, tilting his head while giving me an odd stare. “I mean, you should be curious, right?”

That was his nature, the curious jokester. Always dissecting me with his stare.

Jasper reached out a hand to me. “I thought you wanted this, Riles? To be part of us.”

Biting my lip, my teeth cut into the soft pad. “How can I trust you now? I thought I was being kidnapped. I prayed and said my fucking goodbyes.” My voice rose at the end, and I sucked in some deep breaths to get myself under control. “I don’t know what to think.”

My Langham stepped forward. “You have no choice. Catherine will not release her family from Delta.”

I finally met my birth mother’s gaze. “You can’t make me.”

She grinned, and it was filled with the sort of joy that had to mean bad things for me. “You have no idea how wrong you are.”

She stepped back and ripped away a black curtain. I hadn’t noticed it at first because the room was so dimly lit, but on the other side a man was tied to a chair. Everyone moved out of the way so I could see him better, and I recognized him straight away.

“What the hell?” I whispered, revulsion crawling up the back of my throat. “He tried to kidnap me, why is he here?” I’d thought he would be in police custody or something by now.

Catherine moved forward and dropped a gun into my hand. On instinct, my fingers curled around the heavy piece. It wasn’t my gun from Beck; this one was just a standard black, with a few shiny accent pieces.

“Kill him,” Catherine ordered. “Kill him and we will record it as security against you ever betraying Delta. This ensures loyalty. If you betray us, that footage is released to the world, and you will spend the rest of your life in jail. The worst jail we can find. A much harsher punishment than simply killing you.”

My fingers trembled, and for a brief moment, I wondered if I could shoot her. Catherine. The bitch who brought me into this world.

“This doesn’t make any sense,” I choked out. “I mean, you guys are so rich, you could destroy me if I said anything anyway. You don’t need evidence.”

Jasper placed a hand on my shoulder, but I shook him off. “This is how it’s always been.” he said sadly. “All of us have tapes. All of us had to do something which would end us if it was released. It’s the bond we share, the reason we don’t betray one another.”

And yet in my mind, they had already betrayed me.

I looked between Dylan and Beck. “This was why I got the gun training. Not so I could defend myself, or feel safer, but so I wouldn’t miss when I had to murder a man.”

Beck scoffed. “This piece of shit is not a man. If he wasn’t required for your loyalty task for Delta, then I would have killed him myself.”

Dylan made a sound of agreement. “Don’t forget that he tried to kidnap you. You don’t want to know what they do to young, gorgeous girls that fall into their hands.”

“It’s for the best,” Evan added, also reaching out to me.

I avoided him as well. I didn’t want anyone in this room touching me.

“I don’t care what he did, or what he would have done had he succeeded in taking me. All I know is that I cannot shoot a person tied to a chair. Maybe if he was actively trying to hurt me, I’d give it a literal shot, but … this is wrong.”

Not to mention letting these fuckers have that sort of leverage over me. Like … no way. I mean, how did the vault even work? Who got to access it? There must be an independent party who oversaw it … what if they decided one day to expose us all. This was a stupid, outdated thing which clearly came from the nineteenth century.

“You have no choice,” one of the parents said. I didn’t really care which one at this point.