Chapter 4

Aliana POV

Damien dragged me to my room and slammed the door, locking it from the outside.

I didn't waste time banging on the door. I didn't scream.

I threw open the window.

It was a three-story drop, but there was a sturdy trellis covered in ivy clinging to the brick. I had climbed it when I was ten. I could climb it now.

My hands shook, but I found the footholds. The ivy tore at my palms, stinging and raw, but I didn't feel it. I scrambled down, reached the ground, and sprinted toward the staff quarters.

I burst through the door.

My father was on the floor.

He was clutching his chest, his mouth open in a silent scream. His face was turning a terrifying shade of blue.

"Papa!" I screamed.

I fell to my knees beside him. No pulse. No breath.

"No, no, no." I started compressions. *One, two, three, four.* "Come on, Papa. Don't leave me."

He gasped-a shallow, rattling breath. He was still in there.

I needed the hospital. Now.

I ran out of the quarters. The station wagon was parked in the driveway. I saw the keys sitting on the hood-Keith must have left them there for me before he was escorted out.

I grabbed them.

"Going somewhere?"

Damien was standing on the porch steps. Hadley was clinging to his arm, sobbing theatrically into a tissue. Cecil stood behind them, watching like a spectator at a play.

"He's dying!" I screamed. "Damien, move! I need to get him to the ER!"

Damien didn't move. He crossed his arms over his chest.

"Hadley is having a panic attack," he said calmly. "Seeing your... deformity... traumatized her. She needs the security detail to take her to the spa to calm down."

"Are you joking?" I shrieked. "My father is having a heart attack!"

"He's just an Associate," Cecil said, examining her fingernails with bored indifference. "Associates die. It's part of the job description."

"Please," I begged. I dropped to my knees on the gravel. "Please, Damien. I will do anything. I will sign the marriage contract. I will be your maid. Just let me save him."

Damien looked at me. For a second, I saw hesitation flicker in his eyes.

Then Hadley let out a loud, fake wail. "My chest hurts, Damien! I can't breathe!"

Damien's face hardened. He walked over to me and snatched the keys from my hand.

"My driver takes Hadley," he said. "Your father waits."

"He can't wait!"

Cecil stepped forward. She took the spare set of keys from her pocket.

"You want to drive so bad?" she asked.

She turned and threw the keys. They arched through the air and landed with a *plop* in the center of the decorative fountain dominating the circular driveway.

The water was green with algae and sludge.

"Fetch," Cecil said.

I didn't look at her. I didn't look at Damien.

I ran into the fountain. The water was freezing. The sludge coated my legs, ruining the uniform. I fell to my hands and knees, groping blindly in the muck.

I heard the engine of the luxury SUV start. I heard tires crunch on gravel as Damien drove Hadley away.

My fingers brushed metal.

I pulled the keys out, dripping with slime. I scrambled out of the fountain and ran to the station wagon.

I jammed the key into the door.

I looked down.

The tires were slashed. All four of them. Deep, jagged cuts made with a steak knife.

I looked up at the porch. Cecil was standing there, holding a kitchen knife. She smiled.

"Oops," she said.

A scream tore out of my throat. It wasn't human. It was the sound of a soul snapping.

The door to the staff quarters opened behind me. A maid stood there, tears streaming down her face.

"Ali," she whispered. "He's gone."

I dropped the keys. They hit the gravel with a dull clink.

I walked back to my father. I sat on the floor and held his cold hand.

The code says family is off-limits. The code says you take care of your own.

They had broken the code.

And now, I was going to break them.