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He wants me so much that he dragged me into a dingy bedroom and made me come on his fingers just to prove that I’m his and he’s mine. That he doesn’t want anything Victoria has to offer. That he was accepting her help only because I asked.
He dragged me into that room to make sure I knew he loved me.
And it was exactly what I needed.
It’s not exactly hearts and roses, but I’ve never gone for that shit anyway.
The silence stretches out for another long moment. Then Victoria’s gaze darts to Dominic. “You okay with this?”
He shrugs, looking exhausted. “Yeah. I don’t fucking want it.”
She narrows her eyes a little disdainfully, as if surprised he’d give up so quickly. I am too, honestly.
A flicker of concern passes through me. Maybe he hit his head harder than we thought. I feel a lot better after sleeping for a while, but it doesn’t seem to have helped Dominic any. He still looks pretty awful.
Victoria’s lips press together, forming a hard line. Then she shakes her head. “No. Luca can declare you the winner for the sake of appearances, but once he hands over power—if we actually get him to do it—then we split control of the city. Fifty-fifty.”
Marcus chuckles darkly. “Not a fucking chance. We’ll split it six ways.” He glances at Dominic. “Unless you were serious about not wanting it?”
Dominic’s eyebrows rise a little, a look of interest passing over his face. He straightens, looking more alert. “No. I’m interested.”
“So you three and her”—Victoria gestures toward me—“get two-thirds control?”
“Yes.” Marcus doesn’t even hesitate. He adjusts his grip on his gun slightly. “That’s my final offer.”
I find myself holding my breath as I wait for her response. I could easily see her insisting on half, or even trying to push for more than that. But how badly does she want it?
Marcus is offering her a chance at peace, a chance at power, a chance to protect the man she loves—all without spilling another drop of blood.
Please fucking take it.
As if she’s somehow heard my internal plea, Victoria finally nods and raises her hand, holding it up and away from her gun.
“All right. Six ways.”
The flood of relief almost makes me dizzy, but I keep my face as impassive as the men do. Marcus nods, lowering his weapon, although he doesn’t make any move to set it down or put it away.
“That means we need to set up a meeting with Luca,” Victoria says smoothly, brushing past the fact that we’ve all narrowly avoided a shootout. “In person. He won’t do this any other way.”
“We need some kind of neutral territory then. Somewhere he won’t just march in and fucking shoot us.” Theo grimaces. “All the neutral ground I know of in Halston is only neutral because Luca declared it so. It’d be safe to meet someone else there maybe, but not him.”
“I know where.” Victoria’s has a bitter edge. “The one place he won’t do violence.”
“Where?” I ask.
She meets my gaze, her expression hard. “His wife’s grave.”
I almost choke on my next breath. That wasn’t what I was expecting her to say at all. I imagined she’d suggest some building downtown or someplace, in one of the few places left in Halston that’s controlled by someone other than Luca.
“His wife’s… grave?”
“He considers it sacrosanct.” She shrugs. “Even more than his home. He won’t attack us there, I’m sure of it. Not unless we shoot first.”
“How do you know this?” Marcus sounds suspicious, and I can’t help but notice that his finger is still resting on the trigger of his gun.
The bitterness in her voice deepens. “Jaden told me. Luca made him come along for a negotiation once, and that was the location that was chosen. Luca loved his wife more than anything. Everyone in Halston knows it. Luca was pissed that the buyer picked that as a meeting place specifically because he doesn’t want to tarnish her memory with blood.”
“No, he just wants to see blood spilled everywhere else,” I mutter.
