It's around nine o'clock the next morning when I get the phone call from Dad. It's completely unexpected, I was sure that the family were completely fine with me out of the house, but I can't just leave it ringing. Dad, at least, deserves some sort of reassurance.

I reach for my phone on my bedside table, my hand briefly brushing upon the cold metal of the watch that Colby gave to me. With all the revelations of finding out that Chelsea has a baby, I almost forgot about how I went to the mall with a gun strapped to my thigh to steal thousands worth of watches only last night.

I answer the phone and put it on speaker, dropping it onto the pillow beside my head.

The line is quiet for a second.

"Aurora?"

It's so strange to hear his voice say my name. It hasn't even been that long since I saw him, but almost immediately I feel a wave of nausea as the home-sickness hits me.

I breathe out a soft sigh. "Hey, Dad."

It's quiet again, so quite I take a glimpse at the screen to make sure it hasn't been disconnected. Then I swear I hear the quietest sob spring from the other side, causing my heart to crack. I've never known Dad to cry- he's been my rock for as long as I've been alive, as best he could with his busy work life.

"Aurora," he says again, even quieter than last time. "Are you... please tell me you're safe."

"I guess as safe as I can be after being kicked out," I say, lifting the duvet up and over my body as my skin rises with goosebumps.

"Where are you?" he asks desperately. "Are you in a bed?"

"I am," I say, purposefully not answering his first question. "Probably better than the bed I had at home."

"And you have food and shelter?"

"Yeah," I say, nodding even though he can't see me. "Plenty of it."

"Please tell me where you are," he says. "I've been trying to find you non-stop these past few days."

"You have?" I chuckle humourlessly.

"Don't sound surprised," he says. "Every moment I've managed to spend away from your mother I've spent seeing if there's any way to find you. But it's so weird, it's like you've vanished off the face of the Earth. And I can't help but feel like it's all my fault." The volume in his voice lowers as he reaches the end, as if he's speaking to himself.

"It's Mum's fault," I state bluntly. "And you know it. It's not your fault and I don't blame you."

He sighs, probably in relief. "I wish I could've done more, or prevented the whole thing in the first place. But... your mother... this is her idea of hell, what you've put her through. I have been trying to change her mind but... she's made it clear there's no going back."

"Do you believe her?" I ask. "Do you believe what she was saying, that I called those stupid pageant judges and told them Mum had been rigging the results?"

There's a pause. "No, I don't. I know you've never liked those things, and you and Connie have never gotten along in the way we'd hoped you would, but I don't think you'd do something like that. Not to mention you're incredibly smart. If you were going to do something like that, you wouldn't have been caught."

You're incredible smart. You wouldn't have been caught. I can't help but smirk. That will come in handy.

There's silence again. It's funny. I feel like we should be talking through everything, trying to see if there's any way of convincing Mum to let me back home or if we could get Connie back into the beauty pageants. But I don't think I want any of that any more, and Dad isn't throwing out suggestions.

"I've noticed some of your stuff is missing," he says eventually. "Your phone, laptop, a ton of your clothes."

"Yeah... I sneaked in the other night to grab it all," I tell him. Fortunately, he doesn't seem to notice the lie.

"Where are you?" he asks again.

I squeeze my eyes shut. I don't want to upset him, but I know this information just can't be shared. "I can't tell you," I say, annoyed at the waver in my voice that betrays my confident tone. "But I can tell you that I'm completely safe and I'm living comfortably with kind people who have done nothing but help me out. You don't need to worry about me."

There's suddenly a quiet knock at the door. I sit up in bed, picking up my phone. "Dad, I've got to go."

"Do you promise you'll call?" he asks quickly. "I don't know when I'll be able to answer since your mother isn't letting me or either of the twins contact you, but I'll try."

I rush out my answer as there's another two knocks. "Yeah, I guess. Bye Dad."

"Bye Aurora."

I throw my phone back onto the bed as soon as the call is disconnected, pulling my hair up into a ponytail as I rush to open the door. I see Danielle standing there in all her elegant glory as soon as I open it, briefly stunned by her long, shiny waves of hair and her silver sequenced dress, the material incredibly revealing yet beautifully sophisticated. As good as I thought I had looked last night, I don't think I could ever compare to Danielle, especially when standing here with my hair in a rough ponytail and still wearing my oversized, white t-shirt.

"Good morning," she says, thankfully her voice showing no trace of judgement.

I return the greeting while slightly distracted by Blake, who walks across the corridor with his shiny new watch on his wrist, making sure to give me a smirk full of sarcasm before going down the stairs. I'm seriously not liking that smirk. It makes me feel like he's laughing at me.

"Sleep well?" Danielle asks. I'm quick to turn my attention back to her.

I nod my head. "Yeah, mostly."

Danielle quirks up a perfectly shaped eyebrow. "Chelsea tells me you met Posie last night. I'm sorry we didn't tell you about it sooner, but Chelsea's very private about a lot of things. Don't take it personally."

"I don't," I say truthfully. "I'm sure it isn't an easy story for her to stomach. Plus, I've barely been here a few days."

Danielle nods, her right hand playing with the silver rings on her left, one particularly large one sitting on her ring finger.

"Anyway, I've come to tell you that Zavier and I would like to do some initial assessments with you." She must notice my eyes widening as she quickly adds, "it's nothing dangerous, probably less dangerous than the small raid you went on last night. It's just so we can test your strength and what kind of skills you have and what we might need to work on. Every person has something to offer the thieves, we just need to figure out what you can do."

I grimace. "I doubt there'll be much I'm very good at."

"There's always something," she smiles reassuringly. "If you go and get dressed- just some workout clothes will do- I'll wait here and take you to the basement."

I quickly get ready, wishing I had time to wash my hair but not wanting to leave Danielle waiting. I change into a black pair of leggings and a dark red sports bra with a pair of trainers, give an attempt at making my ponytail look at least a little neater, before meeting Danielle back out in the corridor, who I see is now talking with Chelsea. The conversation ends abruptly, Chelsea giving me the smallest flicker of a smile before stalking off, leaving me with Danielle.

We fall into step, Danielle surprising me as she gracefully runs down the stairs without breaking an ankle in her stiletto heels, and we soon approach a door on the first floor of the house. On the wall beside it is a digital screen, where Danielle places her hand for it to scan, before she taps in a six-digit code. She does it too fast for me to figure out what it could be.

"It won't be long until you'll have access into here," she tells me, clicking open the door after being granted access. "It's just a precaution, like an oversized panic room where the most valuable items are stored."

"Why would we need a panic room?" I ask, realising how dumb the question is as soon as it's out of my mouth. One look from Danielle tells me I'm better off not knowing the answer to that.

We walk down marble steps, the path illuminated by beams of florescent lights lined along the ceiling. We then walk through another corridor, Danielle scans her hand again, before she opens what must be the final door and I get my first proper look at the basement.

My first thought is that the place is enormous. We've entered a huge room that reminds me of a clean, modern warehouse, with large entrances to other sections on every wall, where there's a ton of training equipment lying around. There are rows of treadmills, hundred of weights and coloured dumbbells to choose from, a bunch of other machinery for all sorts of work-outs, and a large boxing ring in the centre, where I notice Jayden and Blake wrestling together. They're both topless and laughing breathlessly, Jayden's dark skin gleaming in the lights and Blake's tattoos continuing from his arms to across his chest. Danielle rolls her eyes fondly at their behaviour, before she leads me to an area where we find Enoch completely surrounded by technology, computer screens pointed in every angle as he types furiously at a keyboard.

"Here already, Enoch?" Danielle asks, placing a hand on his shoulder. His typing stops as he smiles up at her, before his eyes land on me, his smile widening.

He turns his head back to his screen. "Already planning on beating the crap out of her?"

Danielle shakes her head, glossy hair spilling down her bare back. She's putting more trust into that dress than I've ever put in myself. "Don't listen to him," she says to me. "Enoch, can you get the shooting range up and running for me?"

"Sure, ma'am," he says, eyebrows raising. "But guns already? You didn't let me handle them until I was at least three weeks in."

I notice Danielle squeeze her hand on his shoulder. "This is different. I'm pretty sure Aurora can be trusted with guns and won't almost blow my deputy's head into chunks while marvelling at the technology of one."

Enoch pouts bashfully before typing in a few passwords, the sound of machinery being turned on sounding out from another part of the basement.

"Need anything else doing, Lady Vasquez?" he asks, neatly replacing his strong, Swedish accent for an uppity, British one. "Might I add that you look mighty spiffing on this fine morning."

"Why thank you, Mr Larsson," Danielle laughs, playing along with him. "But that'll be all, thank you."

Danielle then leads me into yet another section, where we're greeted by Zavier waiting patiently, dressed smartly in a white shirt with three of the top buttons undone and black trousers. I've quickly come to learn that these people dress nicely for whatever occasion, but I guess who wouldn't if they had all the money and designer clothes their heart desires?

After saying hello, Zavier hands me a water bottle, sharing a knowing look with Danielle. "Drink up, Aurora," he smiles. "You're going to need it."