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Leaning back in his chair, he folded his arms over his chest. “Not happening.”
“Then I guess you’ll make this decision easy for me.”
He snarled at me, eyes filled with anger. “I should have let them take you.”
“I hate you,” I shouted as I shot up from my chair. “Next time, let them take me. Anywhere is better than here with you.”
“Good,” he yelled. “Get mad. You fuck better when you’re angry.”
“I swear to God, Luca.” I gritted my teeth, fire rolling off my skin. “I’m so done with you.”
“You’re done when I say.”
“Marcello is nice to me,” I said to torture him, to slice open his wounds and pour salt into them. My eyes moved to Marcello. “We never fight. He does things without me having to ask him. I could see myself marrying him.”
A smile tugged at Marcello’s lips. When he looked at me, my heart leaped out of my chest. So many happy emotions raced over me at once.
“Drea,” Luca said through clenched teeth. “Don’t do this.”
“Luca,” I breathed. The air drained from my lungs as our eyes met. “I can’t fight like this for the rest of my life. My childhood was too hard to spend the next thirty years arguing with you.”
“You want me to change?” Luca ran a hand through his dark hair. “Fine. Whatever you want.”
“Words have no meaning without action.”
As I attempted to leave, Pops grabbed my elbow. “Alex, please, we’re not done. You have people who need you. Men who would fight for you. Kill for you. Even die for you.”
All eyes were on me. A weird feeling stirred inside me, churning up the bile rising at the back of my throat. Needing space from Luca, I crossed the room to sit beside Sonny on the couch, right next to Marcello’s wheelchair.
Luca’s eyes flared with pure hatred. Like he wanted to slit my throat and throw my body in the bay. He thought I’d chosen Marcello, but I didn’t know which one of them I wanted. I understood a long time ago that I had a responsibility to my family, and I would follow through on it.
Unable to sit still, Luca bounced his knee as he glared at me. It was killing him to see me with his brother. He’d always thought being the oldest entitled him to me. But this game was far from over.
With the Knights staring at me, my skin flushed with heat. I’d taken this fight with Luca a little too far.
“What else did you want to talk to me about?” I asked Pops.
“I planned your wedding for the second week in September.”
I cleared my throat, shooting daggers at him. “Excuse me?”
“We don’t have time to waste, Alex,” my grandfather explained. “The Knights can’t admit any new members until they have a queen. It’s in the charter. We need as many allies as we can get.”
“Don’t you make the rules? Just break them.”
“It doesn’t work like that. If I don’t follow the rules, then why should anyone under my authority?”
“So I have one month to choose?”
“We still have the Albanians waiting to steal you from the Knights.” Pops gave me a stern expression. “They will come for you, and when they do, they will have more men and a better plan. Without a Queen, the Knights can’t admit new members, which weakens their ranks.”
“I came here to find Aiden,” I told my grandfather. “I’m not marrying anyone until I know if he’s dead or alive.”
Arlo’s jaw tightened. Luca stared at the wall on the other side of the room. The rest of the Knights nervously shifted in their seats. Pops’ face was expressionless, and I wondered if he knew the truth about Aiden. He didn’t seem at all bothered by Luca’s comment or the fact no one offered any information.
What if they didn’t know what happened to him? What if Aiden was lying in a ditch somewhere? Not knowing killed me. I couldn’t get married without my brother there to walk me down the aisle.
“I didn’t kill him,” Luca offered.
I scanned each of their faces for malice. Some hid it better than others. But I could tell by the look on Drake’s face he knew what happened to Aiden.
I leaned forward, my focus on Drake. “Where is my brother?”
No answer.
He couldn’t even look me straight in the eye.
“Drake, tell me.”
He clenched and unclenched his jaw. “Sorry, I wish I could help you.”
I glanced over at Pops. “I don’t understand why they need me to be their queen, but until they find Aiden, I’m not doing shit.”
“Alex,” Pops protested. “This is a sensitive matter.”
“So is the whereabouts of my twin brother. You act like the Salvatores are your enemies when you have been plotting with them behind my back. And if you lied about your involvement with them, then you also lied about Aiden.”
