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She shifts a little beneath Marcus, her lips pulling back. “With you in what? What are you planning to do?”
“We’re going to find solid proof that Luca is the Viper. That he’s been double-crossing every family he conscripted into this fucking ‘game’ and who knows how many other people in Halston as he built up his empire under an assumed name. Then we’re going to bring him down.”
Victoria stares up at me for a long moment. Even though I’ve seen the sharper, messier, more real version of her, that doesn’t discount her intelligence. She’s cunning as a damn fox, and I can practically see her doing mental calculations in her head, working out the smartest move. The move that will benefit her the most.
Luckily for us, I have a pretty good idea I know which move that is.
And I’m right.
Breaking the silence that hangs in the air, Victoria huffs out a breath and gives a grudging nod.
“All right. I’m in too.”
Chapter 16
“Like fucking hell you are.”
Marcus has been still as a statue on top of Victoria ever since I stopped him from shooting her, so when he leans down suddenly and shoves his forearm under her chin, pressing his gun against her temple, the movement makes me jump.
She lets out a tiny noise of surprise too, but to her credit, she keeps her face impassive as Marcus gets in her face.
“Before we accept your ‘help’ for anything, let’s get a few goddamn things straight. This engagement? It’s over.”
Victoria sneers, her eyes flashing. Her voice is raspy when she speaks, and I wonder how close Marcus is to cutting her air off entirely. “Of course it is. It was a tactic, you asshole. I was playing the fucking game, but apparently that doesn’t matter anymore. And you’re welcome for saving your life, by the way.”
“Fuck you,” he growls.
She looks like she’s about to tell him to go fuck himself, but before she can, I lean down and grab his shoulder.
“Marcus. Can I talk to you for a minute?”
His muscles are like steel under my touch. I know this man would give me anything I want, but I’m not sure that’s enough to override his murderous rage in this moment. I tighten my grip on him a little, tugging gently, and he finally relents, releasing the pressure on Victoria’s throat.
He stands in a smooth motion, his gun still pointed at her face. His gaze darts between Ryland and Theo before he jerks his chin at the woman on the floor. ?
?Watch her. Shoot her if she moves.” Then he cuts a glance at Dominic. “Him too.”
With those words, he steps away from Victoria, taking my hand and pulling me down the hall.
I try not to notice the dead bodies we pass, or the way the coppery scent of blood seems to hang in the air, hitting the back of my throat with every inhale. We really need to get the fuck out of here fast—which means we need to settle this and decide what to do with Victoria even faster.
Dragging me into a small bedroom farther down from where we kept Dominic, Marcus slams the door shut behind us.
He presses me up against it, his hands on my shoulders and his large body pinning me to the wood. He didn’t turn the light on, so the only illumination in the room is the blue-gray hue of early dawn creeping through the window. For a second, I lock gazes with him, his eyes flashing in the dim light.
Then he crushes his lips to mine in a bruising kiss.
My hand flies to his hair, grabbing onto the thick brown strands and holding on as he kisses the breath out of me, driving all thoughts from my head just like he drives the air from my lungs.
I don’t know what he’s trying to do—what point he’s trying to make.
But I don’t fight the connection that flares between us. It’s like a pilot light, constantly burning, waiting only for the smallest spark to ignite a roaring flame.
I grind against him, kissing him back so hard I taste blood. Mine or his, I don’t know and don’t care. It mingles with the scent of blood in my nostrils, and it feels almost like we’re kissing to stave off death.
There’s so fucking much of it around us, reminders of our own mortality, of the precariousness of our situation.
Shoving those thoughts away, I rake my nails down the back of Marcus’s neck, drawing a heavy groan from him. He finally breaks our kiss, his forehead resting on mine as he drags up the skirt of my dress, bunching it around my waist as he slips his hand into my panties.
