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The man who called us here is dangerous, and I shouldn’t press our luck, no matter how angry I am.
“Is that all, sir?” Theo asks, and I wonder if he can somehow sense the violent emotions churning in my chest. Maybe I’m not hiding them as well as I thought.
Luca turns another sharp-eyed look on him, and I get the feeling even asking the question has put Theo on thin ice. It’s a sign of disrespect, asking to be dismissed before the king has made it clear he’s finished with you.
But Luca’s features smooth out again as he nods, that easy, confident smile spreading across his strong features once again. “Yes. That’s all. As long as you’re clear on what the consequences will be if you cross me again.”
“Yes, sir.”
The older man’s smile broadens. “Good.”
He steps forward, catching my hand and bringing it to his lips. All three of the men around me react, and I have a feeling this is a test of some kind, that Luca wants to see what their reaction will be.
They each shift a little closer to me as he presses a kiss to my knuckles, but none of them make any move to fight him or pull me away, thank god. I get the sense he already knows that something exists between us all, and that he’s trying to gauge exactly what it is. The less we reveal to him, the better.
His lips are warm against my knuckles, and although my skin doesn’t prickle painfully the way it did when Jordan touched me, I have to work hard to keep from yanking my hand away.
Luca’s gaze shifts up to mine as he lifts his head. “It was a pleasure meeting you, Ayla. I hope our paths will cross again.”
“Me too,” I say, managing to keep my voice fairly even.
He smiles again, and my gaze flicks down to where he’s holding my hand. His palm is turned up, and as I glance at our joined hands, I notice the dark ink of a tattoo just barely visible beneath the edge of his sleeve.
It’s a snake’s head.
The body disappears under his sleeve, presumably wrapping around his forearm as if it’s clinging to his limb.
My heart jolts in my chest, and I yank my gaze away quickly, returning his smile with an automatic curve of my lips. “Thank you, sir. For understanding.”
He nods. “Of course. I’m sorry to hear about what happened to you.”
Then he releases my hand and returns to his desk, lifting his chin at the men in a gesture of dismissal.
I keep my footsteps even as I follow the three men out of Luca’s office. The two bodyguards who escorted us in lead us back out, and with every step I take, my heart beats faster and faster.
I can barely breathe anymore by the time we step outside the house into the chilly breeze, and Marcus shoots a glance at me as we walk down the front steps toward the car.
“What’s the matter, angel? You look like you saw a ghost. You’re pale as fuck.”
I shake my head and keep walking, waiting until we’re farther from the house before the words finally burst out of me in a low whisper.
“It’s not right. Something about this is all wrong.”
“What do you mean?” Theo rests his hand on the hood of his car, looking at me with concern.
My gaze shoots back to the house, and the image of the snake’s head flashes in my mind again. My blood seems to turn to ice, chilling my whole body as the confusion roiling in my mind turns to certainty.
“This whole thing is fucked up,” I murmur. “I knew that from the beginning. But I didn’t realize how fucked up.”
“What are you talking about?” Ryland’s hazel eyes darken at the tone of my voice.
I draw in a deep breath, gathering my scattered thoughts as the truth pounds against my head like a hammer. “He’s not planning to let go of his power. I don’t know if he ever was. He set this whole thing up, picked the most powerful families in Halston and pitted you against each other… gave you permission to kill each other. And while you’ve all been distracted, fighting over a prize that doesn’t even exist, the Viper has been rising in power.”
Marcus makes a noise in his throat, and I know he’s followed my train of thought and arrived at the same place I have.
I clench my hand into a fist, shifting my gaze between all three of my men.
“Luca is the Viper. He’s been playing you all this whole time.”
