Chapter 7: Moving In

Clover's P.O.V ************************************ ~ A few days later ~ ************************************ I stared up at the big building as I stood on the sidewalk. Declan has already arranged my things to be brought here. Apparently I have a bedroom all set up. One I will be checking thoroughly for cameras. The building is enormous. I know that I'll be living on the top floor in a penthouse. Four men are up there right now waiting for me to show up. Men I know nothing about. I suppose that's not exactly true. I know very little about each of them. Mostly, I only know what I see online or what I hear going around the gossip circles Clara loves so much. Truce Murillo. My stepbrother. Six feet, five inches tall. Muscular according to recent photos I've seen. Reddish-brown hair, dark brown eyes, and a freckle under his left eye that women literally swoon over. He's part of a hockey team, barely ever visits home, and he's apparently an eligible bachelor. And of course, heir to a huge electronics company. Kyren Mathers. Six feet, six inches tall. Slightly less muscular, but still has an 8-pack. Curly light brown hair, deep blue eyes, and adorable dimples. He's a manwh.ore, but apparently very nice and charming. Same hockey team as Truce. He is heir to a chain of luxury hotels across the entire world. Rune Andrade. Six feet, seven inches tall. Apparently they all drank the same potion for height. He's definitely the biggest and broadest of the four of them. His wavy black hair and piercing gray eyes make him look mysterious. Same hockey team. Brother to the meanest girl I've ever met. Heir to the Andrade Casino chain. A chain of casinos all over the country with some popping up in Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and the UK. And then there's Lark Rios. Six feet, five inches tall. Same build as Kyren. Blonde hair and green eyes with a splattering of freckles, girls go crazy over. He's the nice one, the all-American boy. And the heir to a chain of fancy restaurants all over the world. Of course, I'd read all of this online over the last few days. I didn't know jacksh.it about any of them other than what they looked like. I'd seen them all a handful of times over the years at galas I was forced to attend. None of them ever paid attention to me, and I did the same with them. And now here I am, about to live with them. Strangers. The only information I really have is that they're all part of the Blackwood Blades hockey team. I know absolutely nothing about what kind of people they are. That scares the hell out of me. Because I know the families they come from. I don't know if all families are as bad as Declan and Clara, but not many of them are kind to begin with. Considering I know Rune's sister, and the type of people she surrounds herself with... I don't have high hopes for any of these four. At least I won't be beaten daily. At least I'll have some sort of freedom. At least I can live in peace for a little while. I just have to take it day by day until I can figure out how to disappear forever. With a sigh, I made my way inside the building. I walked to the elevator and used my thumbprint to get to the top floor. I was honestly a little surprised I didn't have trouble. From what I overheard, Truce wasn't thrilled that I was coming. I'd expected to have problems, but maybe he'd let it go and accepted that I was moving in. The elevator doors opened to a beautiful foyer. The floors were white marble and pristine. The place smelled faintly of lemon. And it was very quiet. I slowly made my way inside, clutching my purse to my side. I looked around, but honestly, the place lacked personality. It looked like something out of a magazine. Beautiful, elegant, and utterly impersonal. Something I'm very used to, but still a little surprised by. It didn't sound like anyone was home, which didn't surprise me all that much. I was sure these four didn't want me here as much as I didn't want to be here. With any luck, they'll ignore me the whole time and I can just go about my life. What did surprise me though, were all of my things sitting out in the middle of the clean living room. It was all still in boxes with labels on them. All stacked nice and neat. I stopped a few feet away and stared in confusion. "Movers tried to put it all in your room." I jumped slightly, my hand flying to my chest. I turned around to see Truce leaning against the wall with his arms crossed. His face was completely blank, but his jaw was set hard. My god, he's bigger than the last time I saw him. Still has those emotionless dark eyes though. They always sent shivers through me, always made me feel captivated. "Uh..." I trailed off like a mor.on. Jesus, these guys might be a.ssholes, but they're seriously ridiculously attractive. It's truly unfair. Hot guys should be required to be kind. Which shouldn't matter at all anyway, because this is my freaking stepbrother. "I told them that you would handle it when you got here," Truce said. "Not risking Dad setting up cameras around my place. Even if it's just in your room." My shoulders slumped slightly, thankful that I didn't have to check for cameras myself. "We already went through every box too," he added. "You went through my things?" I asked, offended. "Wanted to make sure there weren't any cameras or drugs or some sh.it." Drugs? Why the hell would I have drugs? "Uhm, okay, I guess," I mumbled as I looked back at my things. At least they left it all nice and neat. "Your room is the last door at the end of the hall," Truce told me. "Used to be a room we used for storage. We took out what we could, but everything else stays. This is still my place and I won't be changing everything just because you decided to come here." "Okay." "And none of us are helping you either, so don't ask," he added. "The rest of the guys are at practice already. I'm heading there now. You're on your own here." "Got it." Truce stared at me for a moment, but with that blank expression, I couldn't tell you what he was thinking. Then he suddenly took a few steps closer until there was only a foot of space between us. I didn't back away or show any intimidation. I just looked up at him calmly, waiting for whatever was coming next. I think that threw Truce off a little bit, but it's hard to tell with that blank face. "I'm not sure what exactly your plan is for being here, Clover," he said in a low, harsh tone. "But you better stay out of our way. I don't care about what your mom wants or Kyren's parents. You try anything with any of us, and I'll throw you out in the worst way possible. Do you understand me?" For a moment, I didn't say anything. And then... "You look like your dad when you're acting threatening." It just slipped out. I mean, it was true, but I didn't mean to say it. I think I was just shocked by how much he reminded me of Declan at that moment. They look nothing alike. Truce must look like his mother. But they have the same stance, same tone, same mean facial expressions. And apparently the same hatred of me. "Well," Truce huffed out a dry laugh. "I ain't gonna treat you the way he does. Whatever princess treatment you're used to... you're not getting it here. Got it?" Princess treatment? Does he not know how cruel his father is? Or maybe he thinks that Declan would never hurt me for some reason? Maybe Declan really does care about his son. Maybe Truce never had to be hit or punished by the family whip. Maybe Declan protected his son, and I got the sh.it end of everything because I'm not his. And ya know what? That made me kind of happy. Because I refuse to be a cruel person like them. I will never want anyone to go through what I did. I'm glad that Truce never had to. "Alright," I replied with a small smile. "Got it." Once again, I think I threw Truce off. I think he expected me to cry or whine or throw some sort of fit. I'm not sure. Hard to tell with that face. But he stared at me for a long moment like he couldn't figure me out. He probably thinks I'm here to play games. He can think whatever he wants. I'm here to escape. Eventually. At the perfect time. I couldn't give a sh.it less about Truce Murillo or his friends.