Reaping Consequences

Chapter One

Cadence

Walking in with my head held high, I don't bother with the formalities. I'm here for one reason and one reason only. I need to pay off a debt. It isn't just any debt; it's one that I won't be able to pay off with money. As I walk through the huge foyer of this fancy place he calls home, I try not to freak the fuck out, because on the inside I am.

I don't know how I got here. I've officially hit rock bottom, and I don't know how to go up from here.

One of his men stop in front of me, and I'm forced to stop as well. I look up at the door that we've stopped in front of and take a deep breath. The only way I'll be able to get through this is if I shut down my mind. Not letting him know what he's doing to me.

He'll break me if I'm not careful.

As the door opens, I roll my shoulders back and take the next few steps into the room. As I get a few feet in, the door closes behind me with a soft click. My body tenses at the noise and I now know that this is it. I am going to have to pay this debt back in a way that I can barely fathom.

"Cadence." His voice hits me like a whip, and I flinch. There is nothing that I could have done to prepare myself for the way my named sounded on his tongue.

My eyes take him in, and I have to hold back the snide remark that is ready to leave my lips. He knew the position I was in. He knows that I wasn't going to be able to pay off this debt, so he made a plan on how I would repay him.

"Mathias." My voice is angry, and I have every right to be. He did this shit on purpose. He knew I would do anything to make sure my stepbrother was protected.

Part of me still isn't even sure why I care enough to help that asshole. He's done nothing but ruins everything in my life since we met three years ago. Aldrick is a dick plain and simple. He ran with the wrong crowds, and he didn't care that he was getting into bad shit.

When the money troubles started, he lied to me and told me they weren't that bad, that he could handle it and repay everything. I was stupid enough to believe it. What can I say, I have a soft spot for him – I love him.

It isn't that family love either. I am hopelessly in love with Aldrick, and he doesn't even know it. I internally roll my eyes at that. I'm an idiot. Look where loving him from afar has gotten me.

"You know, if I had a stepsister as hot as you, I wouldn't be as stupid as that fucker. I'd spend most of my time in your room fucking the shit out of you. He's a moron." He laughs to himself, and I try not to grit my teeth.

If he's trying to piss me off, it's working.

"You don't know anything about our relationship." I sneer. I couldn't help it. The way Mathias looks at you makes you feel like you have to prove something. I don't know if it's the way he holds himself, like he's better than everyone in this place or that he has more money that every person in this town combined. Something about him screams confident and powerful.

"I know more than you think, Cadence." His grin sends chills up my spine, but I refuse to let him know he's won. No way in hell I'll give in without a fight.

I tilt my chin up in defiance, and a sickening grin spreads over his lips. "I love that you are willing to fight me on this." He starts to make his way towards me, and I freeze. Every muscle in my body goes completely rigid, and I can feel my heart start to race as he closes the distance between us. "There isn't one thing you can do to get out of this now. You signed the contract."

I swallow around the lump in my throat, and I have to take a few deep breaths to calm my racing heart. He's right. I did sign a contract promising him that I would 'behave' for him, that I would be a 'good girl.' It's a load of bullshit. He knows I only signed that stupid contract because he was going to kill Aldrick and I couldn't let that happen.