I picked up the pace until I caught up to Valeria. “Why help us when it would be to your benefit to have us out of the way?” The sharp question stopped Valeria in her tracks. When she turned to face me, her expression was unreadable in the moonlight.
“Straight to the point,” she murmured, the jewels at her throat glittering. “I can see why they’re all in love with you.”
“They’re not…”
“Answer the question, Valeria,” Gabriel warned.
Her gaze flicked between us, her lips tightening.
“My father believed power belonged to a chosen few. But he also believed power should not be abused at the expense of the vulnerable and that his arrangement with Giovanni kept the Dynasty stable,” she continued. “Which it did, until he discovered Giovanni’s plan to turn us all into slaves.”
Nico went rigid beside me. “And?”
“He made an ill-advised gamble, approaching Blackwood,” she explained, her voice trembling just slightly. “Rocco thought he could control such a monster. I could have told him he was wrong. But of course, he never asked me, since I’m only a female.” Her smile was filled with bitterness.
“What couldwepossibly know about business and strategy?”
“What indeed,” I said, a cold weight settling in my stomach. Hadn’t Giovanni said the same about me? Hadn’t hekilled my father—and me—to remove that possibility from the equation?
“Blackwood has no code of honor.” Her eyes darkened. “He is not loyal to anyone but himself. And his dark magic…is dangerous.”
“What’s in this for you?” Gabriel asked, so pale, I pressed my hand over his to apply more pressure, but he pushed me gently away. “Forgive me, but the Dementes don’t have an altruistic bone in their bodies.”
“My father will be executed,” she added, quieter now. “Branded a traitor to the Dynasty. I will be hunted, and eluding Giovanni is one thing, but Blackwood is quite another. And for all his faults…” she pursed her lips. “Rocco is still my father.”
“And you still care,” I whispered, watching her face shift into emotions I recognized all too well. Grief and anger, regret and sympathy.
“Yes. Not that I would expect you to understand.” The honesty in her voice made my heart ache and irritated me at the same time. I hadnothingin common with Valeria.
“So, you’ve had a change of heart, and you brought us here… why?” I pressed.
“Not exactly a change of heart.” Her lips curved faintly. “A shift in priorities. I am helping you because our interests align.”
“Of course, they do. How convenient for you,” Nico grumbled.
“Yes,” she agreed. “It is, isn’t it?”
She took a single step closer. “Blackwood must be convinced the Basin is not what he believes it to be. Your uncle must be removed. And the Dynasty must be stabilized. For now, this place,” she swept her hands across theisland, rings sparkling, “is your safe haven. Out of reach of your enemies.”
“And in return?” I asked.
Her gaze didn’t waver.
“You free my father from La Sala before his execution. Then our three families work together to undo your uncle’s madness and Rocco’s mistake.”
“No,” Gabriel said immediately. “I’m not a fool. Any offer from a Demente is a trap. Your father dug his own grave.”
Valeria lifted her chin.
“That was my father’s version of the Demente organization,” she continued, pulling a small silver knife from her bodice. “Mine will be very different. We will stand with you. Every soldier. Every resource. Everything Giovanni believes he can rely on—we will turn them into weapons against him.”
She swiped the blade across her palm, then held her hand out to Gabriel. “I swear this, as a promise of our alliance.”
I looked at that outstretched hand, that false offer of friendship, something hot and sharp twisting in my chest.
Jealousy.
Because every time she flicked her fingers, I remembered them wrapped around Dante’s arm, toying with his waistband, like all she wanted to do was…
