Bought By His Obsession

KATY’S POV “Get down!” My father’s voice was the last normal thing I heard before the first gunshot tore through our house. The sound exploded somewhere beyond the dining room, sharp enough to stop every conversation at once. For one confused second, nobody moved. Mum still had one hand wrapped around her wineglass, Noah was halfway through laughing at something I had said, and Dad sat at the head of the table with an expression I had never seen on him before. Richard Williams was a man who rarely looked uncertain about anything, but in that moment, fear crossed his face so clearly that it frightened me more than the gunshot itself. Another shot rang out, closer this time. Dad pushed back from the table so quickly that his chair scraped against the marble floor. “Katy, take your mother upstairs. Now.” I stared at him. “What’s happening?” “Go!” The front windows shattered before I could move. Mum screamed as glass scattered across the living room, and somewhere near the entrance one of our security guards shouted before another burst of gunfire drowned him out. Dad grabbed my arm and pulled me from the dining room while Noah stumbled after us, pale and wide-eyed. Mum caught my hand so tightly it hurt. We had barely reached the hallway when three men dressed in black entered through the broken front doors. One of them raised his weapon. Dad fired first. I had never seen my father hold a gun before. The shot struck one of the men in the shoulder, forcing the others to scatter. Dad pulled us behind the wall separating the hallway from the living room before turning sharply to Noah. “Take your mother through the service stairs. Get outside and don’t stop for anything.” “What about you?” I asked. Dad looked at me, and I knew he was going to lie before he even spoke. “I’ll be right behind you.” “No, you won’t.” “Katy.” There was something final in the way he said my name. Before I could argue again, he pressed a small brass key into my palm and closed my fingers around it. I frowned. “What is this?” “Keep it.” “What does it open?” His eyes flicked toward the hallway behind me. “Do not give it to anyone.” My heartbeat quickened. “Dad, what are you talking about?” A shadow moved behind him. “Richard!” Mum’s scream came too late. The gunshot was deafening. Dad jerked violently, then stared down at his shirt as blood spread across the white fabric. For one terrible second, he remained standing as though his body had not yet understood what had happened. Then his knees gave way. I caught him before he hit the floor. Everything around me became distant. I could still hear Mum screaming, Noah shouting and more gunshots tearing through the house, but all I could focus on was the blood soaking through Dad’s shirt and warming my hands. “No, no, no. Dad, look at me.” I pressed both hands against the wound even though I had no idea what I was doing. Blood slipped between my fingers faster than I could stop it. His eyes struggled to focus on me. I had seen my father angry, proud, exhausted and amused. I had watched him walk into rooms full of powerful people and command their attention without trying. I had never seen him helpless. His hand closed weakly around my wrist. “Katy…” “I’m here. I’m right here.” “Don’t trust…” His breathing broke apart. “Don’t trust who?” His gaze shifted past me, but whatever he had been trying to say never came. His fingers loosened around my wrist and his eyes went still. I shook him once, refusing to understand what I was seeing. “Dad?” There was no response. “Dad, please.” A hand wrapped around my waist and dragged me backward before I could reach for him again. I screamed and fought so hard that my nails tore across the attacker’s arm, but he only tightened his grip and pulled me farther from Dad’s body. “Let me go!” Another man grabbed Mum near the kitchen entrance. She screamed my name while Noah threw himself at him, trying to pull her free. The attacker struck Noah across the face with the back of his weapon, sending him crashing into the wall. “Noah!” I kicked hard enough to hit the man holding me in the knee. He cursed and shifted his grip, but I kept fighting, twisting toward my brother and mother while panic tore through me. Something slammed into the side of my head. Pain flashed behind my eyes and the room tilted. I nearly collapsed, but the man holding me dragged me upright again. Through blurred vision, I saw Mum struggling as another attacker pulled her toward the hallway. “Katy!” “Mum!” I reached for her even though several feet and two armed men separated us. Someone clamped a hand over my mouth, and I bit down hard enough to make him swear. Then a voice shouted from somewhere deeper inside the house. “The police are coming!” The attackers moved instantly. “Take the girl.” “What about the woman?” “Leave her. Move!” My stomach dropped. I fought with everything I had left, but two men were already dragging me toward the side entrance. Mum disappeared around the corner, still shouting my name. That was the last time I saw her. Outside, the driveway looked nothing like home anymore. One of our security vehicles had crashed against the gate, broken glass covered the ground, and smoke drifted from the front of the house while alarms screamed into the night. I searched desperately for Noah, but I could not see him anywhere. “Please,” I gasped. “My brother is still inside.” Neither man answered. A black SUV waited beside the gate. They threw me into the back so hard that my shoulder struck the floor, and I immediately tried to crawl toward the opposite door. One of the men climbed in behind me and caught my ankle. I kicked at him. He pinned me down. “Stop fighting.” “Go to hell.” His grip tightened around the back of my neck. “You’re making this worse for yourself.” “You killed my father.” The words came out broken. No one denied it. The vehicle moved. I twisted until I could see through the rear window. My home grew smaller behind us, lights flickering through broken windows while smoke spread across the front lawn. Dad was still inside. Noah was somewhere behind those walls, and Mum had disappeared before I could reach her. Then I remembered the key. My fingers were still clenched around it. Somehow, through the gunshots and the struggle, I had never let go. The brass edges had cut into my palm, leaving a thin line of blood beside Dad’s. His final unfinished warning returned to me. Don’t trust… I closed my hand around the key and forced myself to look at the men surrounding me. There were three of them in the SUV, and none of them wore masks anymore. That frightened me more than if they had. People who expected you to return home usually cared whether you could identify them. One of the men noticed me staring. “Richard’s daughter has some fight in her.” I swallowed against the fear tightening my throat. “If you want money, my family will pay.” He laughed quietly. The others did not. “We don’t want your money.” Cold spread through me. “What do you want?” He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. “Something Richard left behind.” “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” “You will.” “I swear, I don’t know anything about his business.” The amusement disappeared from his face. “That’s what your father was counting on.” I looked down at the blood drying across my hands and finally understood one thing clearly: whatever Dad had been hiding was important enough to get him killed, and the men who had taken me believed he had left it with me. The man reached into his pocket and pulled out a black cloth. I jerked backward. “What are you doing?” He leaned toward me. “Enjoy the view while you can.” The cloth came down over my eyes, cutting away the last glimpse of the road behind us. By the time darkness swallowed everything, I had stopped wondering whether they planned to ask my family for ransom. Whatever they wanted from me was worse.