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Trent sighed. “I know, Charles is a bit of a weak link. Your grandparents, now, they were made of stronger stuff. The Fitzgeralds and DeLauries go way back. Long before your mother entered the picture. Your grandfather was part of the club, as well. Now the only member remaining who remembers the old ways in Hade Harbor is my father.”
“The club? You mean Invictus H.H Group?” I struggled to keep up. There was too much I didn’t understand in this conversation.
Trent scoffed. “Invictus H.H Group is just a circle jerk of old rich guys from Hade Harbor investing peanuts. I’m talking about real power.”
Someone walked past and I thought about crying out, but Trent grabbed my arm in warning, and they passed by.
Trent sighed. “Oh Winter, you are truly your father’s daughter. Charles and his fondness for making the women in his life happy… he very nearly ruined his family name. His sister, too, your late aunt…what a disappointment. Both of them have been abject failures, except that Charles produced you and you are lovely…” he leaned in and gripped my face, shaking my head so hard my teeth rattled. I clawed at his hands to get him to stop.
“Even if he did breed with a commoner, his superior blood shines through. You’re the spitting image of your dead aunt, did you know that? My father is fond of looking at you. He’ll get to do it a lot more once I bring you home as his daughter-in-law.”
“I don’t know what you’re taking about, but you need help. You’re not right in the head, Trent!” I cried out when he squeezed so hard my teeth ached.
Letting go suddenly, he stepped back, and I fell to the ground, my knees too weak to hold me up.
“Just to be clear, Selena is a cautionary tale. I won’t hesitate to do the same to Martino’s pretty sister, or his mother, or maybe even yours…Anyone else you know or like. If you have any compassion, you’ll offer yourself instead. Furthermore, if that doesn’t motivate you…cut the crap with the hockey player or his next game will be his last.”
I stared at him in shock, incredulous. “You can’t just threaten us. I’ll go to the police.”
Trent laughed. “Good luck! We have several members in law enforcement in every single town up the coast from here to The Cove. I hope you find one of the good ones to listen to your wild tale.”
I swallowed bile at his words. His confidence was daunting. “You can’t make me do anything. I’m not some puppet you can force to dance on a string.”
“I think you’ll find that you will dance, you will obey, or else everyone you care about will pay the price of knowing you. Will your boyfriend still love you when he has to get his leg removed after an accident? Motorcycles are so dangerous, you know?”
I lunged for Trent, my nails aiming for his face, but he pulled back too quickly for me to make contact.
“Please, Winter, come on. Remember your class. Martino has already had an effect on you, I see.”
“Go to hell, Trent,” I swore at him, getting to my feet as he made to leave.
“Oh, I intend to, and I’m taking you with me, Winter. Make your peace with it now.”
I wandered back to the game in a daze.
“Winter, where were you? The formation was totally off,” Tina hissed at me.
“Sorry, I’m not feeling well,” I mumbled lamely.
She sighed and rolled her eyes. “Just sit down, then. You look like you’re about to pass out.”
I sank onto a bleacher seat and stared at the grass. Trent’s words were going around and around in my head. He’d threatened Selena, Eve…he’d threatened Asher. I had no idea what was going on, but the stress was paralyzing me. I looked at my bracelet, the one with the Latin inscription. All of this seemed mixed up with the history between Duncan and my aunt. The Fitzgeralds and the DeLauries, going back generations, it seemed.
I shivered, feeling colder than the cool weather warranted. Again, the feeling of being watched hit me. Had Trent followed me? I twisted to look at the crowd. My gaze landed on a familiar pair of eyes in the crowd.
The sight knocked out of my spiraling thoughts by my surprise.
Asher was sitting in the crowd, an unmoving black leather dot in a sea of red and white.
I’d never seen him at a football game. He looked out of place as hell, and at that exact moment, there was no doubt in my mind — he was there for me.
Somehow, that steadfast dark gaze on me gave me the strength to finish the night.
He was waiting for me after, sitting astride his motorcycle by the curb. Should I tell him about Selena? No, I couldn’t. I needed the whole story first. He’d rush in headfirst and maybe even get himself in trouble. Selena’s arm was really hurt. I’d seen it myself. Branded. Asher had to stay as far away from that as possible.
“I never took you for a football fan,” I said when I arrived in front of him.
He was holding the second helmet on his lap and now held it out to me. “I’m not. Put that on. I’ll take you home.”
