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That same passion turned dark, vengeful, and blind.

“Did you know the castle in this village belonged to him?” I asked, changing subjects. “Small world, huh?”

A heavy breath followed over the line. “I did know, but I hoped that hiding you in front of his nose would make it harder to find you.”

The concept failed big-time, so I mumbled, “Hmmm.”

“Did he… Did he hurt you?”

“No.”

I didn’t really have to lie about that, because he didn’t. When my panic hit, he took care of me. Yes, he was blackmailing me, but really… Did I deserve anything better?

“Do you want to marry him?”

“Sure, I really don’t mind it,” I muttered, surprised by the sincerity in my voice.

I had never been one of those girls who dreamed of their wedding day. Maybe witnessing my mom’s misery with my biological dad jaded me, and her happiness with Kristoff was too late in the game to put those rose-colored glasses on me.

“Okay, I guess that’s something.” Kristoff didn’t seem happy, but defeated.

“How is everyone?” My chest twisted, thinking about Mom and my siblings. Five years was such a long time to be away from them that I almost felt like a stranger. “I’ve missed so much over the last five years.”

Maybe marrying Tyran would allow me to be part of their lives again, and not just over the phone. I wanted to see them, meet up with them when the mood struck, and hug the shit out of them.

“Your sisters miss you. Your brothers are driving me crazy.” I could hear the warmth in Kristoff’s voice when he talked about all my siblings. “And your mom… Well, she misses you. I do too. We all do.”

“I miss them too.” My voice cracked and I cleared my throat. “What else is new?”

“Forget all that crap. Tell me how you’re holding up. Why have you been avoiding our calls? I’m worried about you.”

“Oh, I’m fine.”

My eyes lifted to scout the mess I made in the bedroom suite. My stuff was scattered all around where I attempted to organize it and failed. In the end, I dug up my sleeping pills and my laptop, leaving the rest for later.

“Why do I get the sense that you’re lying?”

“Why would you think that?” I answered with my own question.

“I check your clock-in and clock-out time at the company. You work way too much, and at all hours of the day and night.”

“I know, I know… I need a life outside of work.” I let out a strangled laugh. “But don’t worry, I found it with Tyran.”

Or was it that I found a way to atone for my mistake?

NINETEEN

TYRAN

Ididn’t waste any time after my private jet landed in New York, heading straight to the location where I knew my twin was waiting.

“Thank God,” he muttered. “I was getting tired of watching them mistreat everyone around them and had half a mind to teach them a lesson myself.”

We stood across the street and watched Sienna’s old roommates laughing as they “accidentally” dropped a plate full of food and blamed the staff.

“You can scare the living daylights out of them after I’m done with them.”

He scoffed. “There’ll be no point then. I’d rather do it now, so you smell their urine after they piss themselves.”