Chapter One
Sunday, May 22, 2022
9:47 PM
Rays of light peaked through mossy branches; birds chirped happily at the warm weather, most likely, the last of the year. Tendrils of snow cover reached down the twin mountains, dusting the hillsides, and promises of winter whispered across the bright November sunrise.
Selene took no notice of the changing colors of the horizon as she drew in a slow breath and held it. Looking down the scope, she saw the target clearly. Exhaling, she pulled her finger back and braced for the familiar punch to her shoulder as the rifle recoil bounced off. She kept her eye down the scope to see what became of the target.
The buck she had shot ran a few hundred yards before it stumbled and fell. It wasn’t a clean kill. She sighed. Getting to her feet, she slung her rifle and gear pack across her back and picked up her bow, a small breeze chilling her exposed neck. She trekked down the mountain until she got to the poor animal. Kneeling next to the buck, hunting knife in hand, she tried to calm it and, giving a blessing to its spirit, she sent it away with a quick flick of her wrist, the knife easily slitting its throat. In the distance, she heard her twin brother crashing through the woods. Selene cursed under her breath. She hated taking her brother hunting.
“Be nice, and show him a good time,” their father, Randall, had said. “It’s not every day he gets a break.” Selene had asked him how this was her fault, why she had to be responsible to entertain a grown man on his day off, but Randall brushed her off. “Just do as I ask, Selene,” he had said. And that was the end of that conversation.
As she worked on the carcass, Payton finally caught up to her, cracking every twig and breaking every branch in his path. “Did you get it, Sellie?”
“What do you think, Payton? And stop calling me that,” she snapped as she wiped her hunting knife off on her pants.
“No need to be a brat about it.” He watched the red become more apparent on the wooded camouflage fabric of her pants, his stomach doing a few flips and mouth filling with saliva. “I can’t believe you just did that.”
She looked at him with one eyebrow raised. “Did what?”
He tried to swallow the lump in his throat. “You just wiped off your bloody knife onto your pants.”
“Yeah? So? I know how to wash my clothes. They call it a washing machine for a reason.” Selene sheathed her knife aggressively before she ended up using it on him.
“That’s just so—” he paused and swallowed again, “gross.” Selene stayed silent as she finished getting the carcass ready to pack out.
Selene and Payton started the long hike back to the truck in silence. Payton made repeated attempts at small talk; he couldn’t stand silence. One attempt finally piqued a response from Selene.
“Oh, did I tell you? We’re getting a new sibling.” A look of excitement momentarily crossed his face as Selene turned her head towards him.
“What? You’re joking. I thought Laura couldn’t get pregnant?”
“I’m not joking, it’s true. I guess she’s been bragging about it at various functions for a couple of months.”
“Oh, I wouldn’t have heard, I rarely go to Company functions.”
“I know, I know, ‘you’re too busy,’” he said, drawing quote marks in the air. Selene rolled her eyes yet again. Payton caught her and gave her a swat on the arm. Selene glared at him.
“There have been rumblings that Laura cheated on him, but dad is adamant the kid is his.”
“Honestly Payton, I don’t really care.”
“You should care. Dad will probably be around a while, and now we have another legitimate sibling to contend with in the future, and being so much younger than us, don’t you think it’s likely dad will give the Company over to them? Younger means longer life span, which means longer legacy, which you know that’s all dad cares about.”
“Yep, still don’t care. The kid can have it. As long as I get enough money to live the way I want, I couldn’t care less what happens to the Company.”
Payton remained quiet for a few breaths. “Well, I do care what happens to the Company. It’s our birthright. I’m not busting my ass for this 4.0 just to have some measly kid I’m only half related to messing up my chance at CEO after business school.”
“Kind of too late for that. What makes you think dad will choose us instead of Lochlan anyway?”
“Lochlan is a meathead.”
“Payton, you’re a meathead.”
“I’m a smart meathead.” Selene gave Payton an incredulous look, then shrugged.
“Guess we’ll see.”
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A black SUV drove down a winding gravel driveway lined with trees, leaves fluttering in a light breeze, ducks lazily floating in a small pond without any care. As the SUV turned a corner, a large white brick mansion burst into view, ivy slowly staking a claim on the house, appearing to swallow the mansion back into the countryside. Sun glinted off the south facing windows, giving the house a gilded look. The auspicious house belonged to Randall, and Laura by association, though she only became the mistress of the house after Randall’s first wife passed away prematurely. The SUV pulled up the circular drive to the front steps, and a large man stepped out of the passenger side of the vehicle. Lochlan, Randall’s oldest son, told the driver to meet him at the front steps in an hour, and swiftly turned around and ran up the front steps, taking two at a time. He opened the large wooden entry doors, light spilling onto the marble floor. He started up the stairs which sat directly across from the front doors, up to the third floor.
Lochlan walked briskly down the hallway. He stopped at a doorway and, checking behind him, quickly opened the door, entered, then shut the door quietly behind him. “Laura? Laura!” He whispered as loudly as he dared.
“Lochlan, you can talk normally. Randall is at the Company right now.”
“Oh. Okay. What did you want to see me for?”
“We need to talk about this baby.”
“Why? Isn’t everything going according to plan?”
“Yes, but we need to keep everything quiet for a few years, so if I hear any more rumors about my cheating on Randall, I’ll know where they came from.” Lochlan paled, a lump forming in his throat. “Let me be very clear, Lochlan. I only need you for one reason, so if you want to be included in plans after Liam is born, you will do only as I say. Understood?”
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Selene sat at the conference table quietly tapping a pen on a black folder with gold lettering which read “Abel Technologies” trying to not fall asleep. No matter how hard she tried, she hadn’t been able to escape the corporate job her father all but blackmailed her to take. Payton nudged her for the fifth time, as her tapping slowed and eyes drooped shut. Her head snapped up, eyes wide, trying to look like she had paid attention the whole time.
Payton suppressed a laugh as Selene shot a stern glare at him. Randall glared at both of them, and they straightened up in their seats. The meeting adjourned, but before Selene and Payton could escape, Randall called out to them.
“Payton, Selene. I’d like to speak with you a moment.” The twins looked at each other quickly, a silent exchange going on between them. They plastered smiles on their faces and turned toward their father. Randall led them out of the conference room and continued along the banister of the fifth-floor balcony, which looked out to the grand lobby of the building. Stopping in front of the elevator, the twins exchanged another look. Randall remained silent, waves of icy tension falling off his broad suit-clad shoulders. Selene and Payton were unsure what version of their father they were about to get but felt it wouldn’t be good.
The strange atmosphere continued in the long elevator ride to the second to last floor where all the executive offices were held. The top floor housed a large penthouse where Randall lived most of the time, preferring proximity to work as opposed to the company of his wife at home. Randall led them to his large corner office, which looked more like a small apartment. The double doors opened to a seating area complete with an ornate coffee table surrounded by two leather armchairs on either end, and two leather couches facing each other. Three people sat on the couches in various positions. Aiden, the twins’ uncle, sat with one leg swung over the other, his hand holding up his head looking rather bored. Next to him sat Lochlan, sitting at attention, looking nowhere in particular, much like a Doberman on sentry duty. He sat across from an older woman scrolling on her phone, her hair pulled up in a stylish updo done so tightly, it appeared to pull back the skin on her face, so she looked perpetually astonished. Her gaze lifted from her screen at the sound of the door, and Selene was horrified at the amount of makeup on Laura’s face.
“You know, Dad, I have to go, one of my…” Randall cut Selene off with a wave of his hand. Selene closed her eyes and sighed in defeat, Payton subtly pushing her forward.
“Oh Selene, how are we ever going to find someone who will marry you if you continue looking like that? You could have at least tucked the shirt into your pants,” Laura said with an upturned lip. Selene straightened at the challenge, tilting her head to the side, and smiled flatly.
“Well, Laura, if I had wanted a partner, I would have one I assure you.”
“Well, thankfully it’s not up to you.” Laura smiled sweetly.
“I have my work and the woods. That is all I need, thank you.” Selene smiled a bit too devilishly, her tongue grazing her sharp canines. Randall shot her a glare as Aiden chuckled.
“Laura, can you leave us please? I have some business to discuss with these four.” Randall stood at the end of the seating area, closest to Aiden.
“Of course, dear, I need to head home anyway, Liam should be home from school soon. Will you be joining us for dinner tonight?”
“Yes, I’ll be home tonight.” Laura rose with an air of regality and sashayed her way over to Randall where she kissed him on his cheek. She shot one backward sneer at Selene and Aiden, glanced at Lochlan briefly, and gave Payton a winning smile. As soon as the doors shut behind her, Randall shot another glare at Selene. “Can you not antagonize my wife please?”
Selene shrugged. “As soon as you muzzle her, sure.” Aiden laughed out loud. Randall glared at him.
“Can you not encourage her?”
“Randall, get over yourself. No one likes your wife, you might as well accept that. Hell, even you don’t like her all that much.” Randall unbuttoned his jacket and plopped down in one of the chairs, hands rubbing his temples.
“Let’s get down to business,” he said, still rubbing his temples. Selene and Payton sat down across from Aiden and Lochlan, who hadn’t moved or acknowledged that anyone else had come into the room. Selene froze halfway through sitting down and waved her hand in front of her older brother’s face.
“Anyone home?” She asked, still waving her hand in front of him. He continued to stare straight forward. “Hello? Hello? Is this thing on? Dad, I think Lochlan’s broken.”
“Lochlan!” Randall yelled. Lochlan started and looked around the room.
“Oh, sorry. I think I fell asleep. Where’s Laura? When did Payton and Selene get here?” Everyone but Randall shook their heads and suppressed a laugh.
“Enough. I pulled you all in here to talk business. Let’s focus. Aiden, how are the government contracts coming along?”
“Everything is on schedule, and we’ve had a few requests for new contracts.”
“And how is Lochlan’s training on those coming?” Aiden stayed silent. “Understood. Selene, you’ll start training with Lochlan and Aiden on the government contracts next week.”
“What?!” Lochlan’s head snapped to his father.
“What does that mean for my current workload? Hunting gear isn’t going to invent itself.” Selene’s annoyance was apparent on her face. Lochlan glared at her and then Aiden.
“You’ll continue that work in addition to the new training. You’ll see that it will fit nicely with what you already do. Payton, how are you doing with the additional duties?”
“Great. I’ve delegated most of my duties in the Energy department to a few executives I trust in order to free up a lot of my time so I can focus on those VP duties. I should be ready to take over VP whenever you’re ready for me to do that.”
“Good, good. Last order of business. Selene, your uncle has someone for you to meet.”
“I don’t have time for new friends, especially since you just threw something new on my plate.” Selene glanced at Lochlan briefly, who still fumed silently. She thought about telling him to cool it, but the thought evaporated from her mind as soon as her uncle spoke.
“It’s not a new friend. It’s a marriage meeting,” Aiden replied.
Selene laughed. She stopped when she noticed Aiden continued to look stoic. “Surely, you’re joking.”
“I’m not.” Aiden waved a hand lazily in his brother’s direction. “Your father insisted I find someone for you.”
“I made my position on marriage clear to all of you. I am not some pawn to be traded to the richest prince for some merger proposal.”
“You don’t have a choice if you want to retain your position in this company and this family.”
“Fucking have it all then. I never--” Payton put a hand on Selene’s arm, stopping her. He widened his eyes, giving her a signal to shut up before she said something she regretted.
“Need I remind you that your brother’s position is entwined with yours?” Selene quieted and pursed her lips. “I see you did need that reminder. Your meeting is tomorrow afternoon, you have a salon appointment in the morning. I expect you to do everything the stylists tell you to. I’m not asking you to fall in love with the man. I’m asking you to make a business deal. Get it done, do it well.” Randall dismissed them all. Selene stormed out and marched down to her office. Aiden and Payton stood in front of Randall’s office watching her go.
“Who did you set her up with Uncle?” Payton turned to Aiden.
“His name is Theron. His family owns an international digital media company, Delaney Media Corp. Randall’s been trying to break into that sector for decades, and now he has a chance to do it. Since Selene is the only legitimate daughter he has, it falls onto her. I feel sorry for the poor kid, honestly.” He chuckled; Payton gave him a sidelong look.
“You find the strangest things amusing.”
“When you’ve lived with Randall as long as I have, you find everything funny.” Payton nodded in agreement. Aiden heaved a sigh. “Well, I guess I better go talk to her.”
Payton threw a side-long look towards his uncle. He smirked and started shaking his head in sympathy. “Yeah, good luck. I don’t think even you would be able to make her feel better. Better watch your head when you go in there, she was testing throwing knives earlier.”
“Ah, thanks for the heads up, nephew.” Aiden watched Payton walk the other way and sighed. There wouldn’t be a better time to tell Selene his intel but could feel a homicidal aura coming from her office in waves from where he stood down the hall. He didn’t look forward to this conversation. He sighed, cracked his neck back and forth, took one look back at the double doors, fleetingly wondering what happened to his weasel of a nephew Lochlan, and sighed again. Deciding he had procrastinated enough, he started down the hallway to Selene’s office. A hand on the doorknob, he could hear thunk! thunk! on the other side of the door, punctuated by a string of curses. He knocked gently on the door, a loud Go Away! in a deceptively cheerful sing-song voice answering him. He opened the door and froze as a throwing knife landed in the door frame next to his head. Maintaining eye contact, he reached up and retrieved the knife, smirking at Selene, who was standing there breathing heavily, a murderous glare plastered on her face.
“Have you lost your touch dear heart?” He walked into her office and shut the door behind him, putting his free hand in the pocket of his tailored dress pants, tossing the throwing knife adeptly in his other hand.
“I can’t believe you did this to me. I thought I was your favorite. I hate you.” Selene continued to glare at him as she straightened up from her throwing stance. Her suit vest and dress shirt were flung across the floor at her feet where she threw them off in a fit of rage, her wall peppered with holes and throwing knives. She stood up straight, white camisole tucked into her belted dress pants and crossed her arms over her chest, the animals displayed on her tattooed arms, shoulders, and neck seemingly coming to life as her muscles rippled in the action.
“What my brother says goes. Not even you are protected from him, you know that.”
“Did you even fight for me?”
“My dear, what do you take me for? Of course I fought for you. But to be honest, that’s not the only thing I’m here for.”
“Well, then what do you want,” Selene snapped.
“Easy dear heart, you know how fickle my moods are,” Aiden said threateningly. Selene huffed, picked up her clothes, tossing them on the back of her office chair and sat down behind her desk, motioning to a chair across from her.
“So, what can I do for you Aiden.” Selene spat her uncles name out with a flat smile and deadly eyes.
“You wound me.” Aiden said dramatically as he moved to the chair, unbuttoned his vest, and sat down. “Before we get to the other reason, we do need to discuss the marriage meeting. As your father said, the meeting is tomorrow afternoon, and I need to brief you on the prospect. I emailed you a file with a snapshot of the man and his family’s company. His name is Theron Delaney—”
“Delaney? As in Delaney Media?”
“The same.”
Selene heaved a large sigh and leaned back into her seat, hands raised above her head before settling on the nape of her neck. She stared at the ceiling for a minute; Aiden remained silent allowing her to gather her thoughts. She sat forward and leaned on her desk, her fingers steepled in front of her mouth. Her green eyes bored into Aiden’s as a range of emotions flited across her face. She mummers behind her hands, “You know who he is, right?”
“Enlighten me.”
She scoffs and leans back in her chair again. “Surely I don’t have intel you don’t. I don’t believe it, but I’ll humor you anyway. He’s known in the digital underworld as the best hacker in the world.” She gauges her uncle’s reaction. “But I can see you already knew that.”
Aiden smirked and raised an eyebrow. “Did I know that? Hmm.” Selene shakes her head while giving him a crooked smile, tongue grazing her canine. “Say I did, aren’t you glad your father put your trusty uncle on finding you a marriage partner?”
“I wouldn’t go that far. But it will certainly make tomorrow a little easier I think.” Selene sighed. “I just want to live my life and be left alone. Is that too much to ask?”
“When you are an heiress of a company like ours, unfortunately, it is.”
“I never asked to be born.”
“Such is life.” Aiden smiled softly at Selene. She smiled back, but grew concerned as the smile dropped off his face and he averted his gaze. “What is it uncle?”
Aiden sighed. He couldn’t put it off any longer. He looked at his niece, brows slightly furrowed, an almost pained look on his face. “It’s not going to be easy to hear. And you have to know I’ll help you in any way I can.” He stopped and averted his gaze again. Selene grew nervous; she had never seen him look this uncomfortable before. She’d always known her uncle to be cool, calm, and collected, always.
“What is it? What’s wrong?”
“I’m afraid the rumors were true. Liam is not Randall’s son.” Selene narrowed her eyes. Aiden paused briefly and continued. “But it appears you already figured as much. Apparently, the whispering in the digital underworld is Liam’s conception and birth was part of a larger plot to get you, your brother, and your father out of the picture.”
Selene stared at her uncle. “I’m confused.”
Aiden sighed. “I know who Liam’s father is. And I also know Laura and that person are planning to get rid of you, Payton and Randall. Permanently.”
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Selene walked into the restaurant, head held high, despite feeling like a little girl playing dress up. After taking her name, the hostess led her to a private lunchroom. She walked through the doors behind the hostess and saw Theron was already there. He stood and dipped his head while keeping his bright amber eyes locked on hers, his shiny black hair falling forward out of place. The hostess left, closing the door.
“Ms. Abel, you look lovely today.” He pulled Selene’s chair out. Selene noted how much taller he was than her, even in the ridiculous heels the styling team made her wear.
“Oh, uh, likewise, Mr. Delaney. But please, call me Selene. I don’t care for formalities.”
“Okay, Selene, but only if you call me Theron.” Theron reseated himself and gave her a crooked smile.
“Sure, Theron, I’m happy to.” She smiled sweetly. Seal the deal and move on. Just a business deal, she thought to herself.
Theron sat back in his chair and glanced over Selene, taking her in. Selene’s neck prickled slightly as he assessed her, and she looked down at her plate, fiddling with her napkin. He cocked his head thoughtfully. “So, you hate this right?”
Selene’s head snapped up, eyebrows raised. “Pardon?”
“This whole archaic arranged marriage thing. It’s stupid, right?” He played with the butter knife, turning it end on end. He stared at her, a smirk on his face.
Selene narrowed her eyes. “Who wouldn’t? I just want to live my life. But ‘such is the life of an heiress,’ as my uncle and father reminded me yesterday.” Selene assessed Theron’s reaction. He smiled and looked down at the butter knife in his hand.
“Want to get out of here?” he asked, smiling mischievously. Selene felt a small thrill as she smiled.
“Yes, let’s. On one condition.” Theron looked at her confused.
“What’s that?”
“We need to go clothes shopping.”
Chapter Two
Sunday, May 22, 2022
10:12 PM
Lochlan stormed through the doors of Randall’s office in a rage. “This is bullshit!”
Randall looked over his readers, eyebrows raised. Lochlan slapped a newspaper on his desk, a headline announcing Payton’s promotion to CFO. Randall sighed heavily and put the report he was working on aside, sat back in his chair and looked at his oldest son.
“First, you give Selene my government contract job, and then you move Payton into CFO? I’m the oldest! I should be running this company when you retire!”
“Just because you are the oldest doesn’t mean I will be handing you anything. Payton and Selene have a better aptitude for business. My main concern is longevity of the company. Your feelings about the matter mean little to me.”
“Dad!”
“Enough. I’m not discussing my decisions about my business with a petulant child. If you wish to bring this up as a concerned department head, I will gladly listen to your legitimate concerns. You’re dismissed.” Randall picked up his report and continued reading, not looking up to ensure Lochlan left. Lochlan stood there for a few minutes fuming, and finally, turned around and stormed out.
He returned to his office and slammed the door. He grabbed a crystal decanter off his desk and drank straight from the bottle. He threw the decanter across the room, watching it shatter against the wall, dark liquid spraying everywhere.
His phone rang and he answered it, not even looking at the number.
"What?!" He answered gruffly.
"You may want to watch your tone with me. Remember, you are still dispensable to me." A sickly sweet voice greeted Lochlan instantly upsetting his stomach. A knot formed in his throat.
"Laura, I'm sorry, I didn't check the number before I answered."
"Mmm, I see. Did you see the front page of the paper?"
"Yes, I already spoke to dad about it."
"Spoke or whined?"
Lochlan remained silent.
"I see. You'll never get anywhere if you continue to let your rage get the better of you. We need to execute the plan sooner that I thought."
Lochlan felt the blood drain from his face. "Are you sure we need to do that now?"
"Aren't you ready to take on your birthright?" Laura's voice slunk into Lochlan's ear like rancid honey, sinking down into the pit of his stomach. Yes, he was ready. But he wasn't ready for the consequences.
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