Page 72 of King of Rage

Cassian gave a brief nod.

“You got into a fight with Silas a while ago,” Elias continued, his gaze fixed on him. “Then you encountered him again recently, didn’t you?”

“Yes, but it’s over,” Cassian answered. He leaned back slightly, his expression calm. “I paid him, and our deal was finalized. There was a misunderstanding in the beginning, but it was cleared up. We are not in a conflict anymore.”

Lucius’s expression grew even more tense at the mention of Silas’s name. He set his glass down on the table, his fingers tightening around it for a moment before he looked directly at Xavier.

“How the fuck is Silas Black involved in all this?” he demanded, his voice low and dangerous. “That man is dangerous. He sells guns, has ties to the underworld, and now he’s somehow involved in Stella’s life too?”

His jaw clenched as his eyes hardened.

“He has his men following Shane? Then Stella could be in trouble. What the fuck is going on?”

Xavier shook his head, remaining calm despite the tension in Lucius’s voice. “It doesn’t look like he’s trying to harm Shane. If anything, it looks like his men are protecting him from something. I’m not sure what yet, but they’re not there to hurt him. They’re protecting him.”

Lucius stared at Xavier, his brows drawing together as he tried to make sense of what he was hearing. Nothing about the situation added up, and the more Xavier revealed, the more uneasy he became.

“As for his marriage to Stella… It’s nothing but a forgery.” Xavier leaned back in his chair, studying Lucius’s reaction before continuing. “Whoever forged those documents did one hell of a job. They made them look so legitimate that even someone with considerable power would have struggled to discover the truth. It took me a hell of a lot of time, digging, and some seriously powerful connections to uncover what was really going on.”

Lucius stared at him.

For a moment, he simply sat there, unable to process what he had just heard. Then the meaning slowly settled in, and something inside him shifted.

Stella had never married Shane.

The woman he had spent an entire year believing had chosen another man had never been his wife. All this time, the marriage he had forced himself to accept as a fact had been nothing more than a lie.

A powerful wave of relief swept through him, so sudden and intense that his chest tightened. The anger that had been weighing on him for years seemed to loosen its grip, replaced by a warmth he hadn't allowed himself to feel in a very long time. His lips parted as he drew in a slow breath, and despite his efforts to control it, a faint smile appeared.

He lowered his gaze, his fingers curling against his thigh as he tried to contain the happiness rising inside him.

Stella had never belonged to Shane.

She had never stood beside another man and promised him forever.

Lucius had believed he had lost her to someone else. He had carried that bitterness with him, convinced that no matter how much he still loved her, she had already chosen another life.

But now he knew that wasn't true.

The realization filled him with a deep, almost overwhelming happiness. It was more than relief. It was the sudden return of a hope he had buried so completely that he had forgotten what it felt like to have one.

“Fuck,” he murmured.

Yet there was no anger in his voice this time. Only disbelief and a happiness he could barely contain.

Maverick glanced at Cassian before looking back at Lucius.

“Silas has already crossed paths with Cassian once.” A faint smirk touched his mouth. “Before Cassian and Juliet got married, Juliet forged some deal papers just to piss him off. Silas saw them, assumed Cassian was making a move against him, and the two of them nearly tore the place apart.”

Cassian's expression tightened.

Maverick gave him an unapologetic look before continuing. “Cassian walked away with a broken shoulder.”

He leaned back, shaking his head.

“Silas Black isn't the kind of man you fuck with unless you're prepared for the consequences. And now he's mixed up with Shane?” His gaze sharpened. “Whatever the hell is going on, it's bigger than it looks.”

Xavier nodded slowly. “That's what I'm trying to figure out. Give me some time. I'll find out what Silas is doing with Shane, why his men are following him, and what the hell they're after.”