To Wed a Renark || book #1 of the Renark series

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Sebastion Renark circled the rim of his drink with the tip of his finger as he coolly regarded the groveling mess sat before him. "Stand up"

The man on the ground stood immediately but could barely hold himself up, the fine cloth of his suit stained with blood. "Sebastion I beg you, keep her safe"

"What have you done David?"

"I killed him Seb, I killed that motherfucker" David Klaus grinds out, his fists balling at his sides.

"I told you no casualties" Sebastion sighed pinching the bridge of his nose, David had opened a wound that took decades to stitch up and the odds were not in his favor this time around.

"You did not tell me he would be there"

"I did not know"

"I-I saw him an-and it al-all just came back to me" David bunches his hair in his fist, "Fuck, the gun was in my hand and he was right fucking there"

"Were you two alone?" Sebastion questioned his eyebrows furrowing, there was something else at play here. The intel he received had not informed him about any surprise guests at the event.

"He came out of nowhere fuck," David looks up suddenly. "They are going to come after her, please Seb we need to keep her safe"

"Any witnesses?"

"No one was there"

Sebastion leaves his drink and gets up, clasping the shoulder of his oldest friend. "We'll figure this out Dave like always."

The two friends embraced for the first time in twenty years, re-igniting a bond that brought them so much power and pain.

.

Arden Klaus stood in the driveway as she waited for the cab to arrive and take her to dinner with her father. She did not have enough time to assemble her outfit as her dad had called out of the blue informing her about his sudden presence in town. She was most happy to oblige and settled for an emerald green midi dress, one she had worn one too many times but it served her well.

Arden only saw her father once a month, he was always traveling for work. She was aware that the line of work he was involved in was not ethical so to say, but she never dared to question him. The lesser she knew better is what he always told her and Arden was way too busy with her master's degree to divert her attention elsewhere. She did constantly worry about her father though, he was the only family she had left.

She had been in the cab for a good fifteen minutes now, the landscape outside looking more desolate. Something wasn't right, the restaurant was only ten minutes away from her place.

"Hey I think you've missed the restaurant, we should turn around," she tells the driver, he ignores her and keeps driving. "turn around now!"

"Stop the car!!" she tries the door, locked. Panic begins to settle in as she reaches for the gun concealed in her purse. She shakily points the weapon at the driver, "Stop the car now or I will not hesitate to use this." Arden's panicked gaze meets the drivers in the rearview mirror, the next thing she felt was the prick of a needle at the back of her hand, the gun falling from her grip and the world going black.

.

Arden's eyes open slowly as the world came back into focus. She was in an office, the interior was cozy with floor length windows looking out at the twinkling city. The view was truly beautiful, it reminded her of the view from the apartment she had recently toured. Wait, where was she?

Then it all came flooding back, her eyes widened in horror as she looked around the foreign room. She tried to get up but didn't move an inch, she looked down to find her hands restrained to the arms of the chair with cable ties, the same done to her feet.