Chapter 14: Family

"Hannah?" Lori asked on the other end of the phone. "What the hell is going on? You're OK?"

Hearing Lori's voice made my eyes sting with tears. I hadn't realized how much I missed her.

"I'm fine," I said, hoping I sounded fine. "I just had a long night," I added.

"When Dad came home without you I cried" Lori admitted. "I didn't care that he was in a good mood. Dad said you accepted a marriage proposal? That doesn't sound like you, Hannah. How could you do something like that without telling me?"

I pressed my lips together and closed my eyes. If I started crying on the phone she would know I was lying. I took a deep breath.

"What did he tell you, exactly?" I asked Lori.

"He said you two went to a party and met the billionaire, Roman Thaddeus," Lori said. "Dad told us you were thrilled when Roman proposed to you and he couldn't separate you two all night."

'F*cking lying son of a b*tch,' I thought.

"Pretty much," I said, and quickly changed the subject. "How are you, Lori? Are you OK?" I asked her.

If she said anything that sounded remotely like our father had any thoughts of sending her off, I'd walk right out of the Thaddeus mansion and find him.

"I miss you, Hannah, why didn't you tell me?" Lori asked. "What happened to your phone? I was calling and texting, but you didn't say anything."

'I bit my lip hard. You better not f*cking cry,' I thought, clenching my fist. I stared up at the ceiling to hold the tears back. I just wanted to go home to my sister.

"I'm sorry, Lori, I think my phone fell out of my clutch at some point at the club," I lied.

A memory of being pulled so abruptly from a room that dropped everything I was holding, including my phone, flashed in my mind. I closed my eyes against the memory.

"When will you come home to visit us, Hannah?" my sister asked me. I had no idea. There was no way that I could plan for the future right now in this state of mind.

"I'll visit soon," I said. "Things are a little hectic right now." It was certainly true. "Hey, is Freddy around?" I asked Lori, changing the subject. "I need to talk to him really quick."

"I just passed him in the hallway a bit ago," Lori said. "Hold on." I could hear her bounding through the hallway and down the stairs of the main entryway. She must have been on her way to Freddy's study. I bit my lip as I waited. I could hear Lori shout Freddy's name and tell him that I was on the phone for him. A moment passed as I held my breath.

"Hannah?" Freddy asked and I exhaled in relief.

"It's me, Freddy, did Dad tell you what happened?" I asked him.

"Dad said you're engaged to Roman now," Freddy said. "That's rather shocking, and ill-advised, but congratulations are in order."

I rolled my eyes.

"Can you come to visit me?" I asked him.

"Come to dinner tonight. You know Roman, right? He told me you two graduated together."

"We did, but we aren't really friends or anything," Freddy said. "It wouldn't be appropriate for me to show up for dinner, even if his fiancée invited me."

I sighed heavily and clenched my jaw. Fiancée be damned.

"I'll convince Roman, just promise you'll come. I have to tell you what happened" I said, but a voice in the background on Freddy's end interrupted and there was silence for a moment.

"Hannah." My father's sickening voice was grating to my ears. "How does it feel to be engaged?" he asked me. I squeezed the phone in anger.

"I didn't ask to talk to you, you f*cking liar," I shouted at him.

"I'm glad you're settling in," my father said, dismissing my comment.

"Go to hell," I answered.

"Yes, your sister misses you." My father continued his charade. "I'll have to take her to parties with me now, since you're going to be married off soon."

I was silent.

My heart began beating rapidly at the mention of Lori going to his client parties. "Maybe I'll take her to the same club where you met Roman Thaddeus. We'll see if I can't get her married off as well." My stomach churned, and tears flowed freely down my cheeks. I wasn't there to protect my sister from that monster, and it was breaking my heart.

"I f*cking hate you," I said in a low voice, hoping he couldn't tell that I was crying. "I will f*cking kill you," I threatened him.

"Well, your brother and I need to go, but we'll chat later. We love you, Hannah." I ripped the phone away from my ear and pressed the red end call button before throwing the phone onto the bed. Tears streamed down my face as I stormed from the bedroom in search of alcohol. I didn't expect to see Geoffrey on my way down to the main floor, but I turned my head away, praying that he hadn't seen me cry.

When I reached the main family room, I walked straight to the bar and grabbed a bottle of bourbon. I poured two shots, drank them, then leaned over the bar and sobbed, waiting for the alcohol to kick in. This was not going to be my life, lying to everyone and feeling miserable about it. Feeling the edge lifting slightly as a buzzing set in, I took the bourbon and a shot glass, and made my way back up to my room, promising myself I would only ever do this once, just to calm down. I had to figure this out, but first needed to be calm.

Once I was in my room with the door closed, I pushed the curtain above the window seat aside, poured a shot of bourbon and placed it on the attached side table. Pulling my knees into my chest, I allowed myself to sob, feeling sorry for Lori and my brothers, but mostly feeling sorry for myself. I had to play the part, do whatever I had to do to keep Lori safe. I had to maintain contact with her.

The minute she didn't answer a call or respond to a text, I was immediately going after my father. He didn't believe me, but I wouldn't hesitate to drag him by his hair and slap him with my engagement-ringed finger, like the guard at The Auction House had done to me.

I poured another shot of bourbon and drank it. There was a slim chance that Freddy would come to dinner, even if l asked Roman and he said yes.

Freddy and Edward were wrapped around my father's finger. Since Freddy was being groomed to take over the business, he attended to all our father's wishes at all times. If my father said jump, Freddy would just ask him how high.

Freddy was never far from our father, so Freddy would only come to dinner if he said it was OK, and if our father approved then he would also be in attendance. My oldest brother really was the epitome of his birth name, Court Macalester Jr. But he was also the only hope of convincing our father to consider anything.

Edward, on the other hand, just didn't want to be cut out of the will or lose his chance for a place in our father's company. It was made clear by our father that Edward should defer to Freddy for anything. Father didn't see why his second-oldest son should need anything directly from him when he had Freddy to delegate tasks.

I could speak with Edward more easily, but I didn't dare call him now, because it was clear that he would be monitored closely by Freddy, and ultimately our father, in regards to his contact with me.

My little brother, Martin, was a completely different story. My heart ached thinking about him. He was the youngest male heir to the family business before he died.

Martin was the free spirit and the beloved baby of the family. Father expected so much out of Freddy and Edward, but Martin was just on the periphery of our father's attention. Martin was always off traveling with friends or doing things that had nothing to do with running the family business someday.

He could be extremely elusive, but our father never seemed to notice. It didn't matter now, since Martin was dead, but knew he would have been my biggest supporter and protector.

I had to get the idea out of my head that Freddy and Edward were ever going to understand what had happened. They had no reason to believe that our father would sell one of us to make money, but I had been his first victim. If I told them anything about my situation or The Auction House, I risked my life, Roman's life, and their lives, too.

Heaving a shaky sigh, I curled up on the soft cushion of the window seat and let the tears flow. The alcohol didn't change my situation, but it relaxed my body, even though my mind was still in tatters. I thought about going home, but maybe it was best to keep my distance from my siblings until the time was right.

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