Play with fire by Sam Tinnesz and Yacht Money

I've always liked to play with fire.

Toby isn't coming. Sooner or later, my captor will realize that. And when he does... well, he won't just let me go.

Maybe Thea would save me. Regret selling me out and tell someone. But would that just get more people hurt? 

"What makes you think Toby's close by?" I stay serene, not letting him see the thoughts running through my mind. "How is he even supposed to know that you took me? Or where to come?"

I'm a dead girl walking. Except I'm not walking because I'm tied to a fucking chair.

"I left clues," Sheffield answers, inspecting one of his cuff links. "A little game for your father to play. I understand Hawthornes are prone to such things."

"Who do you think you are, fucking blues clues." I mock.

He doesn't reply. "How did you send clues to him if you don't where he is?"

Nobody is coming. I'm going to die alone in a fiery pit of hell. And all because I left to get Jameson some sunscreen so he wouldn't burn. How ironic.

I hear footsteps. They're too heavy to be the maids, she was short.

Please be Oren. I pray.

"Ah." Sheffield Grayson inclines his head. He walks toward me, assessing me, then reaches a hand out to my face and puts two fingers under my chin. He angles it backwards. "It's important that you know, Paris: This isn't personal."

I jerk back, but its useless. I'm still bound. I'm not going anywhere. And the footsteps are getting closer.

"What if you're wrong?" I say, rushing the words. "What if the person who found your clues wasn't Toby? What are you going to do if that's Jameson? Xander? Grayson?"

Hearing his sons name. His own name. Causes Sheffield Grayson to falter. Only for a moment. He closes his eyes again for a moment, then opens them.

"These were my nephew's things." Sheffield gestures to the items in the storage unit. His voice tightens. "I never could bear to part with them."

The footsteps are almost here. Sheffield Grayson turns toward the entrance to the front of the storage unit. He removed a gun from his suit jacket. "James bond?" I mutter jokingly. 

A figure appears in the door. My eyebrows raise, my lips part. 

"Toby Hawthorne." I laugh slightly. What kind of movie is this?

"Let her go," He warns my captor.

Sheffield Grayson smiles, he holds his gun steady. "Ironic, isn't it? My son carries the last name Hawthorne, and your daughter doesn't. And now..." He walks slowly out of the storage unit toward Toby. "I'm the one holding the match."

I don't see a match, but he has a gun. This place and me had been soaked in accelerant. If he fires that gun..

"Get in there," Sheffield orders.

Toby does as he's told. "Paris isn't my daughter." His voice stays steady.

"He said he has a DNA test," I tell the stranger, trying to get us more time. Toby makes eye contact with me. In his eyes I see my own. It only takes a two second glance for me to understand what he's silently saying. He'll distract Sheffield whilst I break myself free.

I test the security of the bindings that hold me to the chair. They are just as tight as they were a minute ago, but a surge of adrenaline hits me. This chair is an antique. With enough pressure, I can break the chair's arms.

"I told you." Toby turns his attention to the man with the gun. "Paris is not my daughter. I don't know what kind of DNA test you think you got, but when Hannah got pregnant, I hadn't seen her for years."

I try to grit the restraints to the back of the chair, feeling them fading away slowly.

"You came for the girl." Sheffield Grayson sounds different now. Harder. "You're here." He lowers his voice. "You're here, and my nephew is not." Clearly an accusation and the man with the gun was judge, jury, and executioner.

"He hated you," Toby shoots back.

"He was going to be great," Sheffield says intently. "I was going to make him great."

Toby doesn't bat an eye. "The fire was Colin's idea, you know. I kept saying that I wanted to burn everything down, and he dared me to put my money where my mouth was."

"You're a liar."

I jerk my arms upward. Again. And again. I throw the weight of my body into it, and the right arm on the chair cracks. The noise it made is loud enough that I expect Sheffield Grayson to whip his gaze towards me, but he is 100 percent focused on Toby.

"Colin dared me to do it," Toby repeats. "But it wasn't his fault I took the dare. I was angry. And high. And the house on Hawthorne Island meant something to my father. I was going to make sure that everyone was clear of it. We were supposed to watch it burn from a distance."

The second arm on the chair breaks, and Toby raises his voice. "We didn't count on the lightning."

Sheffield Grayson stalks toward him. "My nephew is dead. He burned, because of you."

"I am what I am," Toby says. "If you want to kill me, I won't fight it. But let Paris go."

Sheffield Grayson's eyes.. Grayson's eyes, shift toward me. "I am truly sorry," he tells me. "But I can't leave any witnesses behind. Unlike some people, I don't fancy the idea of disappearing for decades. My family deserves better than that."

"What about that maid? Or the man you had plant the bomb?" I ask, stalling for time. Then it occurs to me, "What about Thea?"

"You don't need to worry about that." Sheffield aims the gun at Toby. He is still calm, still in control.

He's going to kill us both.

I launch myself forward. Getting free from the restraints. Instantly, a gun is fired. The sound of it is deafening.

I expect an explosion. Another gun wound to add to my collection. I expect to burn. Instead, I watch as Sheffield Grayson crumples to the ground. An instant later, our saviour steps forward.

The edges of my mouth crook up. Grayson stands with a gun. Jameson and Xander on either side of him, then Avery and Max.

Grayson's hands shake aggressively with fear and he freezes. "I just.." He breathes heavily. His voice sounding terrified. 

"He was going to.." He can't decide what to say. Toby steps forward and takes the gun from his hand calmly. Grayson lets him. His hands shaking.

"I killed my own Father.." He quakes. I'm still in shock. But all I know is Grayson just killed a man to save my life.

He is as pale as a ghost. I step over his Father's body, leaving the gasoline room finally. 

"And you saved me." I remind him. He looks nauseous but the reminder he saved me seems to help.

"How did you find me?" I ask the group. "Thea told us. She felt terrible but it was you or Rebecca." Max explains. 

"Are you okay, Pear? Why did he even want you?" Avery asks, springing forward for a hug, instead I step back and gesture to my shiny gasoline covered skin. 

"I'm fine. He had it in his head I was Toby's daughter and tried to use me as bait." I explain. 

They all look around each other. "What?" I laugh. Toby steps out of the room now.

"Paris.." Jameson steps forward taking lead. "Yeah," I smirk, confused as to why everyone is looking at me like this. 

"Remember that night you were wearing Emily's braid and dress? And we told you that you were practically identical. Remember that letter Tobias Hawthorne left you, signing your name as Paris Riley Grambs Laughlin?" He speaks cautiously as if he's holding a match and he's about to throw it at my very much flammable body. 

"Yeah, Just coincidences." I shrug. "Paris. A while ago we got a DNA test done for you because we thought maybe there was a chance it wasn't a coincidence and.. we found out that Toby is your Father." Avery explains. 

I freeze, "What?" My voice comes out hoarse. "You went behind my back and got a DNA test, and then to make things worse you lied to me about all this time?" I feel betrayed.

How could Toby be my Dad?

I look to him, "Is it true?" I ask him. 

He sighs. "When I was on that island with your Mother recovering, she helped me a lot. And she had recently had Avery. After a month, we fell in love. And she fell pregnant with you. We went our separate ways and she told Ricky you were his." 

Avery and I had Birthdays 10 months and 11 days apart. It made sense now. My mind goes back to the night I got shot, Jameson telling me the resemblance was chilling.

"No. You look just like her." He said again coming closer. "I don't.." I was unsure what he meant. "I've never noticed until now. If you had red hair you would be identical."

It all makes sense. Toby Hawthorne is my Father, which means Rebecca and Emily.. are my half Aunts? What the fuck is going on.

My eyes bounce around trying to find somewhere to look without burdening my mind with even more questions. 

"So you're my Father." I speak mostly to myself, trying to avoid looking at him. 

"Riley-" He steps towards me.

I step back, "What did you call me?" I ask with pain in my eyes, finally making contact with his.

"Nobody calls me that. That's Mom's name for me." I have to yell so my voice doesn't get lost in hoarseness. 

"I'm sorry, Paris. I remember I told your Mother she should name you Riley. I thought-"

I stop him, tears overflowing in my eyes but not daring to slip out. "What's that?" I pause, my voice coming out unfamiliar, looking at the chain around his neck. 

He pulls the chain out from under his shirt. It's the same as mine, I pull mine out.

He smiles to himself, "She kept it.. After all this time she kept it." 

I squint in confusion, "What do you mean 'she kept it'?" I ask. 

"I gave your Mother that over 17 years ago, the night when you were.." he trails off. I screw my face up with disgust, the night I was conceived. Him and my Mother had sex and he gave her this necklace.

"She wore it every day, on my sixteenth birthday she gave it to me. She told me 'You look just like him.' At the time I thought she meant Ricky.. but she must've meant you." I speak as fast as the thoughts come to my mind. 

He laughs. "And she named you Paris Riley. We were always planning to travel together, we decided on Paris. She told me she wanted to see the Eiffel Tower. I suggested she should name you Riley but she refused, told me 'Riley Rooney' was cruel. But she did. Paris Riley.." He trails off, a huge smile on his face. 

I laugh. I've always wondered where Paris came from. Now i know. 

The tears falling down my cheeks were once betrayed and untrusting but in a short few minutes they've became ecstatic tears of pure joy. I have a Father- well I've always had a Father but not one that matters until now.

Behind him I see the maid coming back to us. I step back cautiously, expecting her to throw a match at me or something and finish what Grayson's Father started. "Mellie?" Avery's voice says confused.

"It wasn't supposed to be like this." Mellie shakes her head. "And we didn't sell you out. This was never about the money."

My mind goes dizzy.

"Who's we?" Toby vocalises my thoughts.

"My brother and I." Mellie says, her voice a little shaky.

"Who's your brother?" My mind races. "Paul Kennedy.." She reveals. Goosebumps cover my skin.

"Kennedy.." I repeat. He was behind it all. He must've been. Every time something happens to me he's mysteriously missing.

"He got some photos of you and leaked some-"

"But it wasn't supposed to be like this," Mellie reinstates. "We were just trying to flush Toby out of hiding. We just wanted to talk. When Mr. Grayson offered his assistance-"

"You kidnapped me for him." I smile sarcastically. That's a completely normal sentence.

"No!" She speaks instantly.

"I mean... kind of." She pauses. "How do you 'kind of' kidnap someone?" I raise a brow.

"After Grayson and Jameson went to see him in Arizona, Sheffield Grayson sent a man to follow them to True North. To watch them." 

The man in the woods who took photos of Jamie and I.

"Kennedy caught the guy," Mellie continues. "He tackled him, and then... they talked."

"That's why he wasn't around."

Mellie doesn't take time to respond, "We didn't know who the man was working for," she says instead. "Not at first. But we all wanted the same thing."

"So Kennedy leaked those pictures," I say, my heart beat quickening. "And then a few days later, someone blew up Avery's plane."

"That wasn't us! Kennedy and I never wanted to hurt you. We never wanted to hurt anyone!" Mellie's eyes drift toward Toby's. "We just needed to talk."

"Why?" I demand, but Mellie doesn't answer me. Now that she'd looked over at Toby, she couldn't stop staring at him.

"Do I know you?" he asks her, his brow furrowing.

Mellie looks down. "You knew my mother."

"This is my mom." Mellie pulls out her phone and shows Toby a picture. "I don't expect you to remember her. Pretty sure she was just another wild night for you that summer."

The summer he 'died'. I watch Toby examine the photo.

"You're right. I don't remember your mother."

"I was five," Mellie tells him. "Kennedy was eleven. Our parents were in a bad place, and suddenly, Mom was pregnant. She didn't know your name. She didn't know the kind of money you came from."

"But you figured it out?" I say.

How long had they been planning this?

"You said your mother was pregnant," Toby says quietly. "Did she have the child?"

My stomach twists. His child. My sister?

"My sister," Mellie replies. "Her name is Evelyn. She goes by Eve."

"A palindrome." Toby has a momentary flash of emotion through his eyes.

"She chose it herself," Mellie replies quietly, "when she was three years old, for that reason. She's nineteen now." 

I have a sister. 

My family line is multiplying by the second. 

"What do you want from me?" Toby asks.

"I want Eve taken care of," Mellie says fiercely. "She's a Hawthorne."

"And a Laughlin," I say quietly. 

"Bring her to Hawthorne House." Avery speaks up, "There's plenty of room."

"No." Toby says sharply.

"Look at her," she demands, shoving a photo of Eve in his face. "She's your daughter, and you have no idea what her life has been like."

Toby steps forward to look. I do too. The breath is caught in my throat. 

Eve is identical to not only Emily Laughlin but me. Strawberry-blonde hair, like sunlight through amber. Pale blue eyes, too big for her face. Heart-shaped lips, a scattering of freckles. Again, the only difference to me being the hair.

I subconsciously glance to Jameson and Grayson. Toby looks at me. Then back at the photo. Then back at me.

"My daughter isn't coming to Hawthorne House," Toby tells Mellie. "If you bring me to her, I will see that she's taken care of. Discreetly."

"What's that supposed to mean?" I ask.

"Do you promise?" Mellie stares at Toby like nobody else is here.

"I promise." Toby's eyes travel to mine. My face softens. "You're leaving?" I don't mean for it to come out that desperate. 

He sighs. "Yes. But I want you to come with me." 

Jameson and Grayson clench their jaws, Avery and Max turn to shock and confusion.

(a/n. 50k reads!! Thank you all so so much. This is so surreal. It's seriously unbelievable to me. Only three more chapters until part three. I aim to have part 2 fully published by the end of the week so expect a lot of updates this week. One again, thank you so much for 50,000!!!)