Chapter 7
1520 Words
DAISY
This wasn’t happening.
It couldn’t be.
Was I going to die? Probably-
Strong hands clamped down my shoulders, shaking me violently.
“Daisy!” Willow's voice drew me back into my living room. “We need to move.”
I opened my mouth to say something but my voice was lost. It wasn’t until I looked down at my hands that I realized they were trembling. But before I got a chance to react, another set of shots rang outside. They were sharper, often accompanied with a grunt and the sound of bodies hitting the ground.
Willow visibly relaxed, but his eyes were still sharp.
The onslaught lasted barely five minutes and then… silence. My own heartbeat rang in my ears, my haggard breath filling the oppressive silence. Then Willow shifted beside me.
“It’s over.” He said lowly, straightening.
He held out his hand for me, waiting like I didn’t just have my front door shut at by gunned men. When he realized I wasn’t going to move any moment soon, he crouched down and scooped me off the ground.
“What are you-“
“You’re shaking,” he said gently, a contrast to the man I’d gotten to know.
Something about that made my body sink into him as he pulled me closer into his chest. He didn’t take me to my room, instead he moved toward the door, swinging it open.
Scattered footsteps against the concrete made Willow’s steps falter. He shifted my weight to one of his arms, reaching for the back of his belt.
A man stumbled out from the hedges, his black clothes soaked in blood, his wide eyes frantically moving around with fear.
And when his eyes landed on us, he froze.
My stomach turned at the sight. Willow's grip on me tightened protectively. And before he could even speak, a single shot rang out.
Ice filled my veins immediately, a scream fought its way up my throat but no sound came out. It took me a while to realize that it was Willow who shot him. His face was calm, too calm as the man’s body fell with a thud, lifeless eyes haunting.
He just killed someone.
They were trying to kill you.
But he did it so… effortlessly. Like this wasn’t the first time he was taking a life. The thought sent shivers through my body. You need to get out of here. My mind was already thrown into a spiral.
Dad was definitely going to kill me this time.
Imagine the headlines. The defiant heiress strikes again but this time, she makes an irreversible mistake.
I didn’t do anything.
Yeah. I’ll go to the cops, tell them what happened and-
A set of hurried footsteps cut through my thoughts. Willow went alert. Caleb barged into my front porch, pausing as he saw the lifeless man Willow had just shot.
His jaw ticked, his hands curling into a fist so tight that his knuckles went white. His sharp gaze cut to Willow.
The air seemed to drop. No words were said but I could see the communication in their heated stares.
“We need to call the cops,” I whispered, cutting off the tension. Barely.
Caleb’s gaze snapped to me, his eyes lingering on Willow’s hands around my waist before forcing them back to my face.
“No cops.”
I blinked. Then scoffed. “Let me down.” I gritted, Willow hesitated but eventually set me down on my feet.
“I just got shot at by men with mask and f*****g rifles,” I snapped, rage rising. “So yeah, I’m going to the cops so they can find out who the hell did this. I’m also telling my father.”
That, for some reason, made Caleb madder. “You’re not doing anything until I can confirm that more people aren’t coming.”
My pulse stuttered at that. I looked at Willow. His lips flattened to a straight line. Great.
“Why will anyone want to kill me?” I asked, exhausted from fear, the adrenaline was slowly wearing off.
“To get to your father I guess.” Willow provided.
Their words flashed in my head again. They said something about having my head and my father was in debt, owing people. But that was impossible. My father owned a multibillion dollar company and had clients from all over the globe.
“I’m going to speak to my father,” I said finally. “Then, I’m going to the cops.”
“No cops,” Caleb said again, sharper this time as he crouched down beside the man, fingers pressing against his neck.
Dead.
He blew out a deep, rough breath and pushed off his knees.
“She’ll sleep with us tonight.” Willow announced, making Caleb freeze. “We don’t know how many of them are actually out there. I can protect her.”
A dry laugh escaped Caleb. “Why don’t you-“
“Can the both of you quit arguing over my head like I’m not standing right here?”
The silence that followed my outburst felt heavier than the gunfire had. None of them spoke, just stared at me with two very different but very identical expressions.
Caleb stood slowly then his eyes lifted to me, assessing me like I was a problem he didn’t know the solution to.
“We’re not going to the police,” he said again, quieter this time, like repetition might make it digestible.
I let out a sharp laugh that didn’t sound like me. “That’s not a decision you get to make.”
Willow exhaled through his nose, almost amused. “It kind of is right now.”
My head snapped toward him.
“Excuse me?”
He lifted his hands slightly. “You’ve got armed men outside your house. Dead ones now, but still.” His eyes flicked briefly toward the yard. “Police get involved, questions get asked. Questions lead to your father. Your father leads to whoever just tried to kill you.”
My stomach tightened.
“And then what?” I demanded. “I just pretend nothing happened?”
Caleb finally straightened fully. “No,” he said flatly. “You stay alive.”
Something in that sentence made my anger falter for half a second. But still, I crossed my arms, forcing my voice to be steady. “You both keep talking like I’m already part of whatever this is.”
“You are.”
“No,” I shot back immediately. “I’m a bystander in a very illegal, very violent situation that I did not sign up for.”
Willow’s gaze tilted slightly. “That’s generous.”
I glared at him.
“Don’t.”
Caleb was already moving toward the window, looking out into the night, scanning the hedges, the dark line of trees beyond my yard.
“We’re not safe here,” he said.
My heart stuttered again.
Of course.
Of course we weren’t.
I swallowed hard. “Then I’m leaving.”
Caleb didn’t turn around. “You’re not.”
“You don’t get to tell me that.”
Now he turned.
And there it was. That look. Like he already knew that at the end of the day, everything would go according to his grand plan. That pissed me off more than anything.
He was a stranger, intruding in my life. I know it sounded ungrateful but I felt like that anyway.
“You walk out that door,” he said evenly, “and you won’t make it to the end of the street before someone finds you.”
My throat went dry.
Willow shifted slightly beside me.
“So what,” I whispered, “I just stay here? Under your supervision?”
“Yes.”
A laugh almost broke out of me again, but it died halfway because either of them looked like they were joking.
I backed up a step, shaking my head. “This is insane.”
Willow’s voice softened slightly. “You’re right. It is insane. But it’s also temporary.”
My eyes narrowed. “Temporary how long?”
Caleb answered instead.
“Until we know who sent them.”
“And then?”
“Then,” he said carefully, “we deal with it.”
That didn’t make me feel any better. If anything, it made the knots in my stomach grow tighter. “That’s not an answer.”
“It’s the only one you’re getting,” Caleb replied.
My hands curled into fists at my sides. One part of me screamed for me to run. The other part stood still, trying to understand just how much s**t I really was. I forced myself to breathe.
I could run and get kidnapped or worse. Or stay here, with these men that a have proven to be far more dangerous than whoever was after me.
“Fine,” I said finally. “No cops. But I need to speak with my father.”
Both of them stilled slightly, exchanging weighted glances.
“That part wasn’t a request.” I clarified.
- Writer
