Chapter 2

The noises from the second floor went on for a full ten minutes.

I tried to get to a window to signal someone outside.

Linc grabbed me by the collar and hauled me back. Buttons popped off my shirt and scattered across the floor.

I gritted through the pain and drove my fist into the side of his face.

He yelped. His cheek went red immediately.

Cassidy came at me from behind, grabbed my shoulders, and slammed me onto the couch.

Hector was up now, wielding a feather duster like a whip, raining it down on me.

"You hit my nephew? In my house? On my daughter's wedding day?"

"You piece of trash — your own parents didn't even want you!"

He kept swinging. The feathers hissed with every stroke.

I covered my head and pushed into the corner of the couch.

And then the sounds upstairs changed.

A single dull impact. Like a skull meeting a wall.

Then a faint, faint trembling — barely audible.

Then nothing. Total silence.

The kind of silence that makes your skin crawl.

Linc straightened his jacket, grinning.

"Well. Sounds like she finally came around."

"Told you. They all act tough. Then they get in the room and their whole attitude changes."

"Brother-in-law, your sister knows a good opportunity when she sees one."

"When she's rolling in Zane's money, don't forget who set it all up."

Hector dropped the feather duster on the coffee table and picked up his drink.

"Young girls today." He sipped, satisfied. "They say no with their mouths and yes with everything else."

"Zane's a real man. Not every guy can handle a firecracker like that."

I stared up at the closed door, my palms slick with blood from where my fingernails had dug in.

I had watched my sister walk out the gate with my own eyes.

But what if she'd come back?

Cassidy checked her watch, smoothed out her gown, and smiled like she'd just closed a business deal.

"All right. We're about due. Zane's probably wrapping up."

"I'll go check in. We'll bring him down for a toast."

"The construction contract hits our account by Monday. Vega Construction is going to own this whole city."

She started up the stairs.

Each step she took landed somewhere inside my ribs.

She reached the door — painted a deep colonial red — and turned the handle.

A click.