chapter 4

Kylie Pov

I swear to God, the second I walked into that damn reception hall, it felt like the walls were closing in on me. Like physically shrinking around me. I had my arm linked with my dad's, and all I could think was how much I wanted to bolt. But there I was, playing the good daughter, head held high, while my insides twisted into one huge knot of panic.

I tried to focus on the people milling around, but it was like trying to see through the fog. Everyone's voices blended into this dull, mind-numbing hum, and my heart—Jesus, my heart was thudding so hard, I thought it might explode. I felt like I was on the edge of something like I knew something awful was about to go down, but I couldn’t confront it yet. I couldn’t stop it. I was just stuck, waiting for the hammer to drop.

My mind kept drifting back to Aiden. The pit in my stomach grew with every step we took. "I miss you, big brother," I whispered in my head. "If you were here, none of this would be happening. You always had the answers. Why didn’t you call a cab that night? Why didn’t you call me?"

But he didn’t, and now he was gone. Gone because I wasn’t there to stop it. My throat tightened, but I bit it back. This wasn’t the place to break down.

My dad, though, was oblivious to it all. Walking next to me like he had the world in his hands. If only he knew just how close everything was to falling apart. I could see it, even if he couldn’t. The business, the alliances, the shady deals—it was all crumbling. And here I was, walking into this mess, pretending like I had it together when all I wanted to do was disappear. 

I glanced up at him, his pale, sickly face a reminder of how weak he was now. I hated it. I hated seeing him like that. It used to be so different—him, the invincible one, the man everyone feared. Now? Now, I was the one holding everything up. The one who had to stay had to fight because if I didn’t, the whole empire would collapse. And as much as I despised it, I couldn’t let that happen. Not yet.

We stepped into the main reception hall, and that knot in my stomach turned into full-on nausea. The place was packed, sure. But there were too many unfamiliar faces. I spotted some of our guys, Hayes men, yeah, but mixed in with them were people I didn’t recognize. 

And then I saw him. Seamus Connolly, that smug son of a bitch. My heart sank like a stone. Of course, the Connollys were here. It was like a bad joke. The past, the bloodshed, the shit we were supposed to be moving away from—it was all right here, staring me in the face.

“Kylie.” My dad’s voice snapped me out of my thoughts, and I realized he’d stopped. He was talking to Seamus. I swallowed hard and tried to keep my expression neutral, but inside, I was spiraling. Everything about this felt wrong. 

Seamus’s cold, gray eyes landed on me, and I felt my skin crawl. He smiled—if you could even call it that—and then he spoke the words that flipped my whole world upside down.

“She’s as exquisite as you promised, Don. Robert will be as pleased as I am.”

My stomach dropped. No. No fucking way. I couldn’t have heard that right. I stared at him, my mind racing, trying to make sense of what he just said. Robert? Robert Connolly? What the hell was going on?

I glanced at my father, but he wouldn’t meet my eyes. That’s when it hit me. Oh, God. He’d promised me to Robert. I was being sold off again, like some piece of property. Like I hadn’t already done this once before with Kahlo. Like I hadn’t already lived through one nightmare of an arranged marriage.

I felt the panic rising in my chest, my heart pounding so hard it hurt. I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t think. I had to get out of there.

“I...I need to use the ladies' room,” I stammered, not even waiting for an answer before I turned and practically sprinted out of the hall. I didn’t care if I looked like a freak. I just needed to breathe; I needed to figure out what the hell I was going to do.

Outside, the cold night air slapped me in the face, but it wasn’t enough to calm me down. I stumbled into the alley, leaning against the wall, gasping for breath like I’d just run a marathon. Fuck. Fuck.

This couldn’t be happening. Not again. Not another arranged marriage, not after what happened with Kahlo. My skin crawled just thinking about him. That cold, cruel bastard who didn’t give a damn about me just saw me as a way to strengthen his empire. Was Robert any better? I had no clue. But knowing the Connollys, it probably wasn’t going to be much of an upgrade.

I pressed my hands to my face, trying to steady myself, but all I could think about was Aiden. He’d always been the one with the plan. The one who would’ve found a way out of this mess. But now it was just me. And I had no fucking idea what to do.

Jump the back fence and meet me in the park. We’ll be at the airport before they even know we’re gone.

Aiden’s voice echoed in my head. I could practically hear him saying it, that cocky grin on his face like he always knew the right move. We used to talk about it all the time—running away, ditching the family, starting over somewhere new, somewhere far from all this bullshit. But we never did it. And now it was too late. He was gone, and I was trapped, just like always.

I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to shut out the memories, the guilt, and the overwhelming sense of failure that was crushing me. I’d wanted to change things. I’d wanted to be different, to make the Morgan name mean something more than just violence and power plays. But here I was, right back where I started, sinking deeper into the same fucked-up legacy.

I had no way out. No escape. 

For a moment, I thought about running. Really running this time. Disappearing into the night, hopping a plane to God knows where, starting over somewhere new, where no one knew my name or my family or the blood that stained our hands.

But that wasn’t me. I couldn’t leave. I couldn’t abandon my father, not now. As much as I hated it, I was in this for the long haul. And I was going to have to face whatever came next—Robert Connolly included.

With a deep breath, I pushed off the wall, forcing myself to straighten up. I could feel the weight of it all pressing down on me, but I couldn’t let it break me. Not yet.

I turned and headed back inside, back into the lion’s den.