He Forgot Our Sacrifices, I Took Back Mine

Chapter 4

It did not take long before I heard the room door creak open.

Dylan strode into the room, and his brow furrowed in confusion when he caught sight of Sia waiting for him in his private space. "Sia, what are you doing here?" he said. "Go back to your room, right now."

Sia looped both her arms around his neck, pressing close. "Dad, I miss General so much," she murmured. "He always sleeps with me every night. Please do not kick me out tonight, okay?"

She pressed a kiss to his Adam's apple, then added in a low murmur, "Dad, why is your body so hot?"

Even as she spoke, her hand slipped under his shirt, sliding slow and teasing across his skin.

Hunger darkened Dylan's eyes, and his voice came out rough as gravel, scraped raw by desire. "Sia, what the hell am I supposed to do with you?" he growled. "You should not be tempting me like this."

He tilted her chin up and plundered her mouth, over and over, greedy for every touch.

I stood hidden in the hidden compartment off the main room, listening to every sound, and my heart well and truly died right there.

I lifted a hand to brush my cheek, and my palm came away ice-cold.

Somehow, without me even noticing, tears had been streaming down my face.

Sia worked up her nerve and fumbled lower, and the second her fingers flicked open the buckle of his belt, a deafening clap of thunder split the air outside.

Dylan froze dead in his tracks. He heaved heavy, ragged breaths.

"It is thundering," he said. "Lena has always been terrified of thunder, and you stabbed her today. I have to go check on her."

Right after he spoke, he bent down, grabbed the clothes off the floor, and wrapped them around Sia. "You should go to sleep," he said.

Then he walked out without a single backward glance.

Fists clenched tight with frustration, Sia wrenched open the door to the hidden compartment where I hid.

"You must be happy now, huh?" she spat. "He still cares about you."

I had already slipped free of the ropes binding my wrists long ago. I rubbed the raw red marks the ropes had left, moving slow and deliberate, a cold, mocking smile tugging at the corner of my mouth.

"What do I have to be happy about?" I said. "Happy that I misjudged the girl I took in, and ended up raising an ingrate who bites the hand that feeds him for a daughter? Or am I happy that Dylan did not go all the way with you? Give me a break. Your pants were already off; does it even matter if he finished or not?"

The scale in his heart had tilted long ago. There was no going back to the days when it tipped completely in my favor.

What I wanted was a decisive, unwavering choice, all-consuming, undivided devotion. Not the guilty obligation he handed out as charity after weighing his options between two women.

I fixed Sia with an icy glare. "Sia, do you remember what I told you when I took you in?" I said. "Anyone who betrays me dies."

My men had already surrounded the entire villa. Suddenly, with a deafening crash, the front door was bashed violently inward, and countless mercenaries clad in black tactical gear flooded in like a tidal wave.

They seized control of Sia in the blink of an eye.

Her face drained of all color, and she stared at me like she could not believe what she was seeing. "How could you possibly have connections to the Raven Guard?" she stammered.

I ignored her completely and barked an order at my men. "Take Sia back."

I was going to settle all my accounts with both of them, one by one.

I had not even stepped through my front door when I heard shouting echoing from inside.

Dylan was roaring so loud it shook the walls. I had never seen him this furious before.

"Get out!" he roared. "Who gave you permission to come here?"

Right after his angry shout, a clear, lazy male voice drifted out. "Lena promised she would marry me, remember?" the voice said. "I am supposed to be her house husband!"