My phone rang at 11:15 pm, forty-five minutes before I was supposed to meet Damien.
Tori's name flashed on the screen, she never called this late, she was usually asleep by ten, obsessive about getting rest before her early morning practice sessions.
"Tori? What's wrong?"
"Sophia." Her voice was shaking. "I need you to come home, right now."
My blood went cold. "Are you okay? Is it mom or dad?"
"Just come, please." She was crying. "I found something. I don't know what to do."
"I'm on my way."
I grabbed my keys and ran.
The Ashford family brownstone home looked the same as always from the outside, elegant, completely free from stain and dirt.
That's the kind of home that screamed old money and good breeding.
When Tori opened the door, her face was pale and her eyes red-rimmed.
"Where are mom and dad?"
"Out on some emergency meetings with lawyers." She grabbed my hand, pulling me toward the stairs. "Come on, I found them in dad's safe."
"Found what?"
She didn't answer, just led me to our father's study, the safe was open, its contents scattered across the desk. I recognized some of the documents, property deeds, insurance papers and mom's jewelry certificates.
But Tori held up a stack of letters that made my stomach drop.
The first one was written on plain white paper, no letterhead. The handwriting was messy and aggressive.
"Mr. Ashford,"
"This is your second warning. The interest compounds daily, you now owe $850,000. Payment is due by the end of this week, or we'll be forced to take alternative collection methods."
" You know what that means."
"There are six more," Tori whispered. "Each one worse than the last."
I rifled through them, my hands shaking as the amounts escalated, $850,000, then $920,000, then over a million. The threats got more specific:
mentions of "assets we can liquidate,"references to "family members who might be more cooperative."
The last letter was dated three days ago.
"Julian,"
"Time's up, we'll be in touch soon about your daughter, the young one with the music scholarship. Pretty girl, it would be a shame if something happened to those hands."
"You have one week."
I couldn't breathe. "Tori, how did you find these?"
"I was looking for mom's pearl necklace, she said I could borrow it for my recital next month." Her voice cracked. "The safe was already open, like dad left in a hurry and forgot to close it."
"Does he know you saw these?"
"I don't think so. Sophia, what does this mean? And who are these people?"
I pulled her into a hug, feeling her shake against me. "It means dad borrowed money from the wrong people."
"Loan sharks?"
I nodded against her hair. "It looks like it."
"But why? We have money, the business…"
"The business is failing, Tori, It has been for a while."
She pulled back, staring at me. "You knew?"
"Not about this, not about how bad it really was." I looked at the letters again, my mind racing, just a week. These people had given dad one week before they came after Tori.
My little sister, who'd never hurt anyone, whose only crime was being talented and loved,this is forbidden.
"We need to tell the police," Tori said.
"No." The word came out sharper than I intended. "We can't."
"Why not?"
"Because people like this don't make empty threats, if we involve the police, they'll retaliate." I grabbed her shoulders. "Listen to me, I need you to act normal, go to your classes, come home and don't talk to anyone you don't know. Don't go anywhere alone."
"You're scaring me."
"Good, you should be scared." I pulled out my phone, checking the time. 11:34. I had twenty-six minutes to get to Damien's office. "You need you to promise me you'll be careful. Can you do that?"
"What are you going to do?"
"Fix this."
"How?"
I thought about the contract in my bag, about Damien's cold gray eyes and his devil's bargain. About Phoenix's advice to find leverage and use it.
"I'm going to make a deal with someone who can protect us."
Tori's eyes widened. "Who?"
"Someone dangerous, but not as dangerous as the people who wrote these letters." I took photos of each letter with my phone, then carefully put them back in the safe. "Lock this after I leave, don't tell mom and dad you saw anything."
"Sophia…"
"Trust me, please."
She nodded slowly, tears streaming down her face. "I'm scared."
"Me too." I hugged her one more time, breathing in her vanilla shampoo, memorizing the feel of her in my arms. "But I'm going to fix this, I promise."
I left her standing in dad's study and ran to my car.
At a red light, I texted Damien: "I'm signing, but the terms just changed, my sister's life is in danger, I simply need protection, right now.*
His response came before the light turned green: "I'm aware. Get here first, we have work to do."
I stared at the message, my hands gripping the steering wheel.
He knew. Damien knew about the loan sharks, about the threats against Tori, and he hadn't told me.
Which meant he'd been waiting for me to find out on my own. Testing me, watching to see what I'd do when I had no choice left.
I thought about turning around to start finding another way.
But Tori's terrified face flashed through my mind, and I pressed the accelerator.
Twenty-two minutes later, I walked into Damien Cross's building with my signed contract and a new understanding.
I wasn't just marrying him to save my family's reputation, I was also marrying him to keep my sister alive.
And he'd known that all along.
End of Chapter Nine.