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Every bit of information kept tucked away for when I would need it.
“Be strong and relentless,” my mom had always said. “Look fragile, but never act it. Be a viper disguised as a lamb, and you’ll never lose their loyalty.”
If only she were around to see me now.
Mom had trained me from a young age . . . not just how to be the princess of the mob, but how to rule it. Because I hadn’t just grown up in this life, I’d been groomed to stay in it.
Kieran and I had been inseparable for as long as I could remember, and everyone had known we would remain that way. To them, it couldn’t have been a more perfect match.
Before his death, Kieran’s dad, Georgie, had been Mickey’s advisor long before Kieran became the hired assassin, and earned a revered reputation all on his own. And it had never been a secret that Kieran would be Aric’s advisor when he finally took over.
When Aric died, Mickey had forced Kieran to take his place as Underboss.
With his title and mine, we were supposed to be the unstoppable couple.
Except I’d always hated this life and had wanted to get far from it. Something only Kieran had known.
Late at night over the years, he’d slid soundlessly into my bed and pulled me close, his lips at my ear as he built our future with words and dreams, promising a life away from this place—far from the mob.
But those promises to run kept getting delayed until they were broken, and I watched as I slowly lost Kieran to the same world that had stolen my brothers from me.
Ever since, all I’d wanted was to take this world and watch as it was destroyed.
So I’d ignored every piece of advice my mom had given me, and I waited for my chance.
Blank stare. Lips closed.
The air in the room grew heavy seconds before my dad laughed, low and threatening. “Well, if my day wasn’t just made because you walked in. Wasn’t sure if you’d make it. Wasn’t sure if some people wanted you to.”
I didn’t need my dad’s words. I didn’t need to look. I’d already known he’d walked into the room.
He was silent as the night, but I knew the man who had just slipped into that room.
I’d spent most of my life trying to match my heartbeat to his, trying to memorize the way the room felt when he was in it, all so I would know when he was near.
He settled himself against the wall opposite me, and I fought back the surprise and heartache that threatened my bored expression at seeing him there.
At seeing him at all . . .
But his light green eyes never once met me, and they were so, so cold as he stared down at the man sitting just two feet in front of him.
Kieran folded his arms across his chest, the picture of ease. But the heaviness in the room and the look on his destructively handsome face gave away everything he was feeling, everything he was thinking, as he glowered at Bailey.
He dipped his chin, his tone lethal when he ground out, “Continue.”
I allowed myself a quick glance at Beck to see him fight back a smile just before my dad burst out laughing.
“Someone had your days numbered,” Mickey taunted. “Pray Nightshade doesn’t find you . . .” He let the haunting threat trail off, not attempting to hide his enjoyment watching the man squirm.
I forced myself to stare at the wall, but I could hear the nervousness in Bailey’s voice when he stuttered, “Didn’t mean nothin’ by it, Kieran.”
Mickey feigned a sigh. “Like I said . . . gonna have a hell of a time replacing you. Let’s finish this so we can enjoy the show that’s sure to follow.”
I stood still as I studied the man tied to the chair, watching his every move.
Every twitch.
Every hitched breath.
