It's a bit ostentatious, the tear drop diamond that now rests on my ring finger. The amount of money this sign to the world that I officially belong to someone cost is probably equivalent to a small fortune. I can't help but fiddle with it nervously as Tristan begins unpacking his things in my room; our room.

The fact of the matter is, ring or not, engagement or not, marriage or not, I still very much belong to two other men. If ownership were the key factor then one man in particular would claim that title. The minute he finds out what's transpiring between Tristan and I... I can't even begin to fathom the global meltdown that will take place after, if it hasn't already happened.

A ringing noise pulls me out of my thought process of Torey tearing down entire buildings. The sound is coming from one of Tristan's bags. I look to it and then to Tristan who immediately tenses. Now that's curious. He hesitantly goes back to packing, studiously ignoring the ringing from the bag. It stops and then not even a minute later does it pick up again.

"Are you not going to answer that?"

"I'm busy unpacking." The man didn't even have much to unpack to begin with and was nearly done. You'd think he could make time for one phone call especially considering they're calling incessantly.

"It seems like whoever is calling isn't going to stop until you pick up." He ignores me as he moves onto the closet, hanging his suits up next to my dresses one after another, like he hadn't heard me. The ringing picks up again so I meander over to the bag where the sound is coming from. When I begin to unzip it a large hand clamps down over mine. It doesn't necessarily hurt but it is extremely firm.

"Leave it alone, Daniela." Warning laces his tone.

"I find it odd that if any other phone rings you would pick it up in record time but for some reason you are blatantly ignoring this one. It seems rather suspicious to me." A muscle tenses in his neck. "Answer it." He doesn't loosen his hold on me. "Answer it or I will tell my father." He grits his jaw as the phone begins its' melody yet again, letting go of my hand. "Answer it," I reiterate.

Tristan unzips the bag and fishes out the device. He looks it and then swipes the screen with tense features. With a long sigh he answers, "hello?" His eyes widen monumentally which has him walking away from me to the other side of the room. I can't hear what he's saying so I slowly sneak up closer. "Sir, I realize the predicament but he will not let me get near her. I didn't even know she was here." Tristan begins pacing, pinching the bridge of his nose in frustration. "I understand but my main priority is Daniela. If I start digging arou—" His brow furrows and mouth drops slightly in mortification before yelling, "Braxton, you did what?! Why— I know, sir." There's more pacing, more frustrated breathing. "I was made aware of the allegation but I know you, sir. I cannot—" He spears a hand through his hair and the way he is standing, the black suit on his body, it all reminds me so much of Torey it makes my heart hurt. "Mr. Warner I—" A sharp whooshing noise sets through my ears that has me not being able to comprehend the rest of Tristan's words.

Mr. Warner... As in Luke Warner?

"Warner? Is that Luke?" I watch Tristan freeze. "Tristan, is that Luke Warner?" Is he working with Torey's family? Hope spreads all throughout my abdomen at the thought. "Tristan!?" I nearly scream and it has him turning around lightning fast, signaling for me to be quiet with a finger to his lips. "Can... I..." He shakes his head at me.

"Yes, she's with me. Sir, I don't know if—" He closes his eyes, running a frustrated hand down his face before walking over to me and handing me the phone. "Make it quick. We do not have much time." I nod to him as I snatch the phone from him. I place it to my ear not knowing what to say.

"Dani?" I nearly cry at the sound of his familiar voice. "Are you there?"

"Yes, I'm here. I'm here."

"It's good to hear the sound of your voice." It's honestly so good to hear the sound of his as well. He sounds so calm and collected, grounded as Luke usually is. "How's Wolfie?"

"He's doing well, getting so big." It's quiet for a moment so I add, "he's running now and speaking more and more daily. He's even learning some Albanian."

"That's..." he clears his throat, "that's really good to hear. Can you please tell him that I miss him? That his family does?"

"Of course." I would have to whisper it but I would.

"You've heard that Torey is still alive."

"Yes, I have."

"Brooks is here in Vegas. He and Torey are getting along rather... well." I quirk a brow at his tone wondering exactly what that meant. "Neither of them know about your engagement to Tristan yet."

"ENGAGEMENT?!?!" A voice as familiar as my own roars in the background.

"Torey, calm down." Luke's voice cool and collected but now sounded off in the distance, like he is holding the phone away from him.

"CALM DOWN?! CALM DOWN?" There's a wrestling around and lots of muffled voices in the distance that I can't make out what they're saying. Then there's almost a sinister silence before all I hear is heavy breathing. "Dani?" The sound of his voice has me choking on a sob. "Dani, baby, is that you?"

"Tor— Torey?" There's a noise that has me pulling the device away from my ear. He's video calling. I quickly swipe to accept and when I see those bright blues, that handsome face alive and well I can't help but smile.

"Dani," his features fall slightly which has me confused. Is he not happy to see me? "Listen, I am so so sorry. I am..." He swallows and looks away from the camera, seemingly overwhelmed. Then his features quickly morph into anger. "Put him on the phone. Put that asshole on the phone right now." My eyes flicker to Tristan who holds out his hand.

"I don't know if that's—"

"Just give me the phone, Dani." Tristan motions for me to hand it to him. He brings it up to his face, looking at it with mild irritation. "Torey, you're looking rather well." When Torey starts going off on him he transitions the call back to phone and holds it up to his ear. After a while he says, "it's pretense, Torey. That's all that it is." He lets out a heavy sigh and I'm sure that's because Torey is continuing to give him an earful. After a while he just sighs and says, "talk to your father. He'll tell you everything, other than that, I am done with this conversation. Tell them tomorrow nine your time." Then he hangs up.

I hadn't even gotten a goodbye. I hadn't even gotten to finish my conversation. As per usual, Torey had to dominate the conversation. I bite the inside of my cheek feeling frustrated because I have so many questions.

Tristan shoves the phone back into the bag and then sticks it at the top of our closet. After a long moment I finally ask, "how long have you been working with Luke?"

"I was hired to keep tabs on Torey but I was already in the lifestyle before getting involved in it, as was my brother."

"Brother?"

"He works for their family as personal security."

"If you were hired to keep tabs on Torey then why are you still working for my father? Torey's been gone for a while."

"This lifestyle isn't one that you just casually walk away from, Daniela. Once you're involved with a syndicate like this, watch people do the most illegal things... Well, that's not something you just easily get out of." He shrugs out of his suit jacket and puts it on the chaise lounge that's in the corner of my room before sitting on it. "I did not think I would end up here though." He gestures to the bedroom around us. "I never expected to be put in this position."

I walk over and sit next to him with, "and what position is that?"

"One where there's no winning. It's just lose-lose for me."

"How so?"

"They've got Malyssa. That's who raided the compound the other night." I let out an audible gasp. "Yeah, they've got her and haven't told me that they have her. Luke expects me to help somehow but at the same time I'm supposed to be only caring about you, our upcoming wedding. Speaking of that, now Torey knows that we're engaged and had some very choice words for the things that he will do to me the next time he sees me. Don't even get me started on what he said he'd do if I laid hands on you in a sexual manner."

"I can only imagine." I grimace at the thought of what I know Torey is capable of. "But, from the sound of it, Luke knows what's going on. Maybe he will be able to explain it to him." He gives me an 'are-you-serious' face. "I know that Torey can be a bit intense sometimes but that doesn't mean he can't see reason."

"I'm sure my brother has informed him of everything. I've been in regular contact with him. It's how I knew that Torey was alive." A lot of things start clicking into place. Tristan was fond of me, of Wolf, and I had always wondered why his temperament was so different from the rest of my father's men. It's because he wasn't one of them. I feel a smile tug at my lips at the thought. "What's that look all about?"

"I think there's a part of me that knew something was different about you, why I let my guard down sometimes without even realizing it." He gives me a small smile before giving my hand a quick squeeze. "I suppose marrying you won't be entirely terrible."

He snorts out a laugh with, "ah, just what I've always wanted to hear from my future bride. So, about that..." He looks over to the king size bed, the only one in the room.

"It's just sleeping arrangements."

"Right."

"We've got to sell it, remember?"

Tristan gives me a nod of the head before looking down at my lap, to where the giant diamond lies. He caresses the large gem lightly before standing up and going back to unpacking his things.

This whole situation is a mess and I have no idea how we're all going to get out of it. At least all in one piece, that is.

A/N:
Happy Monday!

Torey and Brooks now know about the engagement. How do you think they're handling that news?