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“I would’ve killed her, you know,” he says quietly. Some of the rage has drained from his voice, and now all that’s left is the plain truth.
“I know.”
“You really trust her?”
I sigh. “No. I don’t trust anyone but the three of you. But she hated Luca even before she found out he lied about this entire thing. And the way she loves Jaden?” I drag my hand down Marcus’s muscled thigh, my fingernails sliding along the expensive fabric of his pants. “It’s the way I love you. The kind of love that can burn down the world. I could hear it in her voice, see it in her eyes. It’s dangerous, but I think it’s what we need on our side.”
Marcus closes his eyes briefly, as if he’s letting himself get lost in my touch for a moment. Then he pulls me to my feet, enveloping me in his arms.
The clean scent of leather fills my nostrils, mixing with blood and something acrid and metallic. But in Marcus’s embrace, even those scents are comforting.
They’re a reminder of the lengths he’ll go to just to keep me safe.
“All right, angel,” he murmurs, his face buried in my hair. “You win.”
Chapter 17
When Marcus and I return to the living room, we find everyone in roughly the same places we left them.
Victoria is still on the floor, although she’s scooted back to lean against the wall on the opposite side of the front door from where Adrian’s body lies. And Dominic is sitting on the torn up couch instead of just leaning against it.
Theo and Ryland both still have weapons drawn, and when we enter the room, their eyes find mine immediately, shifting between me and Marcus.
I give a slight nod to let them know everything’s okay, then turn my attention to Victoria.
“If we agree not to kill you, I need your word that you’re in this until the end. That you’ll help us bring down Luca.”
“What happens then?” she asks, her green eyes glittering as she eyes me coolly. “If we succeed?”
I blink, almost shocked by the question.
Jesus. It didn’t even occur to me until she asked, but I can barely picture that possibility. A version of events where we win. My men and I have been forging ahead on pure determination and a lack of any other options, but it still feels a little like a suicide mission.
&nbs
p; I’m sure that’s not what Victoria needs to hear right now though. And, hell, she’s smart enough that she’s probably already figured that out for herself.
So instead of bringing the conversation down by discussing our odds of failure, I shrug one shoulder. “We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it. But I can personally guarantee you that Jaden will be left alone. So will your family.”
Her gaze slides from me to Marcus, her expression hardening. But she nods. “Deal.”
I glance over at Dominic, who’s slumped on the couch. He looks exhausted, and a fresh line of blood is trickling down the side of his face. “I can make the same guarantee for your family if you want.”
“I don’t.” His words are blunt and hard. “They’re not my family. And they don’t deserve my protection. They bought me and signed me up to die just to try to win more power for themselves. Fuck them.”
Theo makes a low noise that almost sounds like approval.
Keeping my expression carefully neutral, I walk over to the sofa and perch on the edge of the cushion to unwind the tape from around Dom’s wrists. He looks a little surprised but doesn’t say anything, letting me work in silence.
As I remove the last piece and wad it up into a sticky ball, I see Victoria push to her feet out of the corner of my eye. Theo and Ryland both shove their guns in the waistbands of their pants, although their posture is still tense and wary.
Ignoring it, Victoria rests her hands on her hips. “So what’s the plan? I’m assuming you have one?”
“Yeah.” Marcus steps forward. “We’re looking for evidence that links Luca to the Viper’s activities. We pulled files from his computer, and we have a hacker who’s working on decrypting them, but he hasn’t been able to access all of the data. He’s still working on it.”
Victoria smirks. “Well, lucky for you, I know a guy. Better than good. And fast. Whatever your hacker hasn’t been able to unlock, I’m sure mine can crack it.”
I can practically feel Marcus bristling at her words, but we don’t have time to get into a pissing contest over whose hacker is better.
