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“I didn’t either,” Dominic growls. “I had to hear that shit from Luca D’Addario. Because someone dug up shit that doesn’t concern them and tried to use it against me.” His hands curl into fists. “That’s fucking low, you motherfuckers.”
“It’s the first I’m hearing about it,” Theo throws in, crossing his arms. “But even if we had sent those documents to Luca, how is it any more low than kidnapping Ayla? Someone who wasn’t even part of the game? Trying to use her as bait, threatening her life? I don’t care what scale you’re measuring it on, kidnapping is worse than whatever happened to you.”
Dominic’s jaw clenches. His gaze flicks to me again, and this time I see a hint of guilt in his eyes.
“That was Carson’s idea. He said you three were getting too powerful, that as long as you were working together, no one would be able to stop you—unless we took all three of you out at once.”
“Carson?
?s idea, huh?” Marcus tilts his head like a predator, his gaze locked on the man in front of him. “Convenient that it was all his idea, and he’s dead now. That doesn’t get you off the fucking hook, Dom. You still went along with it. You were still complicit.”
Dominic’s nostrils flare. The wild look is still in his eyes, making him seem like a trapped animal. “Yeah. Fine. I am. Just like we all are. I’m just trying to get through this, to fucking survive. You think I’m proud of the shit I’ve done? Are you?”
He catches Marcus’s gaze as he speaks, and I have a sudden vivid memory of the photograph Carson shoved into my face when he and Dom had me tied up.
Devin Brooks.
Shadows partially obscured his dark hair and face, but it was hard to miss the bullet hole or the pool of blood surrounding his body.
I doubt Marcus is proud of that. But I know he wouldn’t take it back either. Kill or be killed. That’s what Luca and his sick fucking game have forced the players into.
“You should be happy,” I say suddenly, breaking the silence that’s fallen over the room. “If what you say is true and you get ejected from the game because you’re not a true heir or whatever, you should be glad. Yeah, maybe you won’t have a shot at the prize, but at least you’ll live.”
Dominic turns to look at me, and alongside the wildness in his eyes, I see something else even worse.
Hopelessness.
It turns my stomach a little, and I force myself not to feel any pity for this slimy asshole. He fucking abducted me, and I can never forget that.
“You think that’s how it works?” He laughs humorlessly. “You think it’s that easy? That I wouldn’t jump at the chance to get out of this shit—wash my hands of it and walk away? If I get disqualified, I’m dead. Your fucking boyfriends would probably be first in line to kill me.”
Ryland makes a low sound in his throat that sounds a hell of a lot like agreement, but Dominic doesn’t acknowledge it. His gaze is still burning into mine, his expression hard.
“Now that the game has started, the only way to survive it is to win it,” he says quietly. “There’s no other fucking option.”
Silence falls again for a long moment. Ryland still has his gun drawn, aimed at Dominic’s head, but his posture relaxes slightly. No one else is armed, not even Dom, and I doubt the asshole will try anything. He still thinks this game of Luca’s is real, so he’s still abiding by the rules laid out at the beginning. And that means he can’t kill any of us until the next seventy-two-hour free-for-all starts.
Well, I guess technically he could kill me. But even though I don’t think much of this cocksucker, I’m pretty sure he’s smart enough to realize that my boyfriends wouldn’t let him get away with it if he tried.
Boyfriends.
Is that what they are?
Dominic threw the word out like an insult, but none of the men even batted an eye when they heard him say it. He and Carson obviously realized that I was important to all three men, since they made the decision to use me as bait to lure the trio in.
But boyfriends somehow sounds too common, too small for what these men are to me.
They’re my shadows come to light.
My protectors.
My lovers.
My obsessions.
“Sorry you had to find out you were adopted like this,” Theo finally says, not sounding sorry at all. “But we had nothing to fucking do with it. I hadn’t even heard about it until now, so we aren’t the ones petitioning Luca to kick you out of the game either. You can believe us or not, but I think it’s time for you to get the fuck out of my house. And next time you drop by unannounced like this, expect to be greeted with a fucking bullet between your eyes.”
Dominic glares at all three of the men, his chest puffed up and his jaw tight. Then he seems to slowly deflate a little. The bravado and righteous anger fades, and he wrenches the front door open before disappearing through it.
