It’s not like this is the first time someone has tried to buy my family out of what we know. Just because my dad’s gone doesn’t mean this story is going to turn out any differently.
“It’s more than generous,” Stone says, finally getting himself under control. I can’t help that a thrill shoots through me to know that I got under his skin.
I shrug. “I’m not for sale,” I say, smiling.
Each of them give me disgusted looks. “We don’t want you.”
I laugh to myself. Typical reaction. I haul my Lit book back into my lap. “But let me guess, you want what the Wilders have? The legend? The stories? Hate to break it to you, but—” I pull up my book, showing it off. “It’s not written down in nice, neat little journals with asterisks around what to look for.” I smile broadly. “It’s in me, so yes, in essence, if you want what we have, you want me, and that’s never going to fucking happen.”
Stone’s gaze narrows, as if he’s trying to figure out if I’m being serious. Oh, yes. I’m being fucking serious. Why would we ever write down something that important? If something happens to me, the clues go with me. That was done with purpose. The clues were for my family and my family only. We were the only ones who were supposed to have found the treasure, and we’re keeping it that way.
“If that’s the way you want it,” Stone says.
Lucas is the first to leave my dorm. He leaves the door open, just begging for Wyatt and Stone to follow suit. Thankfully, Wyatt leaves shortly after, shaking his head. Stone leaves only a few seconds after that, leaving the door wide open so I have to get up and lock it myself.
Assholes.
Afterward, no matter how much I try to concentrate on my coursework, a gnawing feeling eats at me. My intuition tells me I just awakened a beast. I was afraid this might happen now that I’m alone. The assholes are going to come out thinking I’m weak and susceptible.
Just fucking let them. We’ll see what happens.
5
Turns out I wasn’t wrong.
Within an hour, the guys are back. This time, they don’t knock on the door.
The stomping on the outside balcony alerts me first. I try to peer through the lacy curtains in the front room to see who the hell is making so much noise when my door flies open, catching on the chain lock that I put in place as soon as they left the last time.
From the crack between the frame and the door, a boot lands back on the ground with a hard thud.
My heart flies into my throat. What the fuck? I snicker outwardly though. Ha. They thought they were just going to come right in this time. Nope. Not going to—
A pair of bolt cutters sneaks into the gap, and the chain falls apart with a snip.
Fuck! I back up into the couch, my second-hand laptop falling to the floor. In steps Lance Jacobs. He’s a well-dressed man my father’s age, wearing a polo shirt and khakis in soft colors, almost like he just got off the golf course after playing eighteen holes. The look on his face, though, is thunderous. I’ve never met Lance Jacobs in person, but dollars to doughnuts, this is him. I recognize him from TV. Plus, he and Stone share the same blond hair, along with some of the other darker elements of their personalities.
“Miss Wilder, I presume?” He gazes around the room with distaste before settling his attention back on me.
I swallow. There’s a solid ball of ice in my stomach about the same size that took out the Titanic. I lick my lips, my tongue darting out as I assess the situation. The boys have all entered the room, too. Lucas, looking bored as fuck, as usual. Wyatt, with his dark gaze on me. And Stone? He stands just to the left of his father, but a little back, his gray-blue eyes penetrating like liquid mercury. So fucking dangerous. I can feel it in the air, a tension thick around me, alerting me that we’re not playing a normal game now.
These guys are serious.
All those thoughts I had earlier? The ones swimming to the surface that made my thighs weak? Yeah, they’re definitely gone. These guys aren’t the type to get mixed up with.
“I hear you won’t look at my offer.”
I scowl at him. “You have nothing I want,” I tell him, shoving my fist into the air internally when my voice doesn’t waver.
I shouldn’t get too cocky though.
He tilts his head to the side, clearly telling me I’m about as full of shit as they come. “Don’t think we’re blind to your financial situation. You need us. Not just to find the treasure but to…I don’t know, continue eating. You do want to continue eating, don’t you, Miss Wilder?”
The nerve of him to break my door down and assume I’ll give up my family’s secrets to him of all people. That I can be bought out. I ball my hands to fists, praying I look as threatening as I feel on the inside. “I already told your son, I’m not fucking interested. Breaking down my door like you’re some sort of badass—which is truly funny when I think about how much time you sit behind your desk—isn’t going to win me over either.”
His eyes flare, zeroing in on me. “I think you’re about to become really interested when you realize what we can do to you. Boys.”
Just this one word, and my room erupts. Wyatt and Lucas spread out. Everything they touch gets smashed or ripped or broken under their heel. “Hey,” I call out when Wyatt grabs my laptop off the floor. Stone’s arms surround me, yanking me back to his solid chest. My half-written English paper is on that laptop. Wyatt throws it at Lance who catches it out of the air, nodding at the boy who
