The Six: Genesis | A Reverse Harem Novel

Eighty-Three

Author's Note: Thank you for your patience. I'm feeling much better. If you like this chapter (and others), please don't forget to vote, comment and share. Y'all have a great day.

"I thought I'd find you here."

I tense when Ryker speaks. He stands near the door, frame blocking the morning light spilling into the quiet mausoleum. He'd been so quiet, I hadn't heard his footsteps.

"Why are you here?"

He sighs and crosses his arms. "Because I've spent weeks searching for my daughter and when I received a clue about where she'd gone, I went there, too."

"You shouldn't have," I say, refusing to look at him. "You should've stayed away. That's what I want."

"That's what you want, kid? You want me to stay away from you permanently?"

Finally, I look at him and lie. "Yes."

"That's unfortunate because I have no intention of leaving my daughter in this cold world without my aid. You're angry—and from what I've heard—you have every right to be, but the only way to fix this is to come home."

"Home?" I chuckle. "That place hasn't been my home for a while and it won't ever be again."

"You're just as stubborn as your father," he shakes his head as he leans against the doorjamb. The metal hinges creaked slightly from disuse. "Come on, kid. If you don't want to go back to the house, fine. Let's talk about why."

"Oh, now you want to fucking talk about it?" I sneer, breaking my gaze from us. "You didn't think we needed to fucking talk about it before you hired a man who has the expertise to murder me and make it look like an accident? Or what about the man who clearly is related to an underworld kingpin?"

"I don't curse at you, Blue. Don't curse at me," he barks. "I expect the same respect I give."

I'm laughing again. "Which is none. You gave me no respect when you hid those facts from me and they respect me less, as none offered a single word about them."

"Blue—"

"I could have died, Ryker. Do you understand? Charlie lied about his connections! His father several teams to abduct me and kill the others!"

As I speak, Ryker grows still as a statue. He's listening to every word I speak, but it's too late. I've seen more than enough to justify leaving all of this behind.

For the last week, I've been at sea.

When I dove off the coast from the Hendrix fortress, I swore to never return to them. But it took well over an hour for me to convince myself to leave... to swim away from the chaos. Jasper and Bane tried to escape while Charlie, Chris and Michael culled through their mercenaries, but were unsuccessful.

Amongst the dark water, I bobbed in the foamed-tipped waves, watching as fire erupted and tore through the building. They couldn't see me, but I could see them. As though they were ants, they scurried to and fro, hoping to get more ammunition or find a hiding place.

Yet, I'd forgotten Charlie, Chris and Michael could see me.

The third came to the surface, drawing his eyes across the horizon line for enemies, and found me. I'll never forget the look of surprise he wore when we locked eyes or the one of longing. When he stepped toward the sea, I vaulted backward.

He stopped, then. He was heartbroken. Sadly, all I had left was the burning resentment leftover from Charlie's betrayal.

How could I have been so stupid? How could I have believed him? How could I have hoped it was all a misunderstanding?