Chapter 2 THE CLAIM

"I'll answer your questions but for fuck's sake untie me now."

I squint my eyes at him suspiciously, my hands shaking as I move toward the bed. 

I kneel on the mattress and start working at the resistance bands. They're knotted tight, how did they even manage this? My fingers fumble with the first knot, but couldn't get it loose. 

"Faster," the man orders.

"I'm trying, they're really tight." I snap back, fear making me somehow more brave. "

He mutters something under his breath that sounds like a curse. I finally get the first band loose and move to the second. This one's even worse. My nails aren't long enough to work into the knot properly.

"Who ties knots like this?" I mutter, more to myself than him.

"Someone who was drugged out of her mind," he says flatly.

"What?"

"Just untie me."

I get the second band free and he immediately pulls his hands away from the bed frame, rubbing his wrists. There are red marks where the bands dug in. I scramble backward off the bed, putting distance between us.

He stands.

Oh god, he's huge.

Sitting down he was intimidating. Standing, he's terrifying. Easily over six feet, broad-shouldered, taking up way too much space in my tiny room. The tattoos covering his arms and chest make him look even more dangerous up close. Dark ink in patterns I can't follow because I'm too busy trying not to panic.

He grabs his jeans from the floor and pulls them on. Then his shirt. I press myself against the wall, trying to make myself smaller.

He buttons his jeans and looks at me. Those dark eyes travel over my face like he's memorizing it. 

"Sit down," he says.

"I'm fine standing."

"You look like you're about to pass out. Sit."

I don't want to sit. I don't want to do anything he says. But my legs are shaking and he's right, I might actually pass out. I sink down onto the edge of my bed.

He runs a hand through his hair and lets out a long breath. 

"My name is Kai Donovan."

Donovan. It's familiar but I can't explain why.

"Asher's older brother," he adds.

My stomach drops straight through the floor.

Asher. Asher Donovan. My best friend for three years. The boy I've been hopelessly in love with since sophomore year.

This is his brother.

"Oh my god."

Asher has a brother. I knew that. He's mentioned him maybe twice in three years. Some vague comments about an older brother who left town and doesn't come back. Who Asher doesn't talk to much. Who's involved in things Asher won't explain.

"Yeah, small world."

"What are you doing here? What happened last night? Why were you..."

"Last night. You went to a party off campus. You know this?"

I nod. That much I remember.

"Someone tried to drug my drink but you grabbed it by mistake and drank it before I could stop you."

I stare at him. "What?"

"Someone from a rival family called the Morellis. They wanted me out of commission. You got in the way."

This can't be real. It can't be happening.

"I saw what was going down," Kai continues. "Got you out of there before anyone could do worse and brought you back here because it seemed safer than my place. Figured you could sleep it off and wake up confused but alive."

"But I....the resistance bands..."

"You were pretty out of it. Paranoid. Thought I was attacking you when I tried to leave." He almost smiles but it doesn't reach his eyes. "You managed to get those bands around my wrists before I could stop you. Pretty strong for a drunk girl if I say so myself.

By the time I got free of one hand, you'd passed out. It didn't seem worth waking you up just to explain, so I figured I'd wait until morning."

Well that made sense...kinda.

"Those men...the ones with guns."

Kai's expression goes cold again. "They work for my father. Marcus Donovan.

"They were tracking my phone and when they found me here..." He gestures around my dorm room. "They would've had questions about who you are. What you know. Why you were involved in what happened last night."

"I don't know anything," I say quickly. "I don't remember anything after getting to that party."

"Doesn't matter." Kai pulls out his phone, which has been buzzing constantly in his pocket. He glances at the screen and his jaw tightens. "They would've seen you as a witness, someone who knows too much about family business."

"But I don't..."

"Doesn't matter," he repeats, looking at me. "My father doesn't take chances with witnesses. Witnesses are liabilities. Liabilities get eliminated."

My eyes blow wide.

Eliminated.

He means killed. He's talking about people killing me.

"That's insane. That's...this is insane. People don't just..."

"In my world they do so I gave them a different story and told them you're my fiancée."

"Why would you..."

"Because It's the only thing I could say that would keep you breathing long enough for me to explain this mess."

"So now what? What happens now?"

Kai's phone rings. He looks at the screen and his expression goes blank. "Now we deal with the consequences."

He answers. "Yes, Father." His voice changes completely. "She's here. We'll explain everything tonight at dinner."

There's a pause. I can hear a voice on the other end but can't make out words.

"Understood," Kai says. "Six o'clock."

He hangs up and looks at me.

The way he's looking at me makes my blood run cold. 

"Here's how this works. You have two options. Option one: you play along with this engagement until I say otherwise. You move into my apartment today. You come to dinner tonight and sell this relationship to my father like your life depends on it."

He steps closer. I press harder against the wall.

"Because it does depend on it," he continues. "My father is going to ask questions. He's going to test you. And if he thinks for one second that I'm lying to protect some random girl, he's going to see you as a loose end that needs cutting."

"And option two?" I manage to ask.

Kai's smile is sharp and humorless. "Option two is you tell him the truth. That this is all fake. That you don't know me and I made it up."

"Then I'm free?" Hope flares in my chest. "I can just go back to my life?"

"Then my father solves you permanently."

The hope dies.

"You're saying...." 

"I'm saying you have two choices, Aria." He knows my name. Of course he knows my name. Asher must have talked about me. "Play along and live. Or tell the truth and die."

I stare at him. Waiting for the punchline. Waiting for him to say he's joking.

He just watches me with those dark, cold eyes.

"How long? How long would I have to pretend?"

"However long it takes to deal with the Morellis. Could be weeks. Could be months." He shrugs like it doesn't matter. "Depends on how things play out."

"This is insane," I say again. "You can't just...people can't just..."

"We can do whatever we like. So what's it going to be, Aria? Are you my fiancée?"

He smirks.

"Or are you a corpse?”