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A sudden calm washed over me as I relaxed in his arms, consumed by the high this man provided me. For years, I thought he was just like Luca. But Marcello Salvatore was full of surprises. Sure, he had darkness inside him. We all did. Beneath his chiseled exterior was a lot more than a man capable of violence and cruelty.
“Marcello, I need to know something.”
His body tensed against mine, as if he was anticipatingthisquestion.
“Is my brother okay?”
I felt him slowly slipping away from me, not just physically, but emotionally. What we had shared a moment ago almost seemed like a distant memory as his hands fell from my body, leaving me desperate for his touch.
“Why do you ask?”
“I haven’t heard from Aiden since we left Brooklyn. Something is wrong.”
His fingers dug into my hip, and he spun me around. “I’m sure he’s fine.”
“Can you check your spy cams? I saw the one for my apartment.”
He nodded. “I’ll look into it.” His words said one thing, but I could see it in his eyes that he was hiding something from me. “Are you ready to head back? You need to try on your dress for the Franco Foundation gala this weekend.”
Isat on the throne at the front of the ritual room in The Devil’s Knights temple. The local Knights gathered before me with Aiden Wellington at the center of the group. Dirty and exhausted, he could barely keep his eyes open as he shoved his long, blond curls off his forehead.
His sister came with us willingly. That was part of the deal. Once Alex was ours, Aiden belonged to the Knights.
This was his future.
He’d just begun his initiation into The Devil’s Knights and wouldn’t be the same man Alex knew at the end of the six months. Aiden Wellington no longer existed. I was a bastard for keeping them apart, but we had rules all Knights had to follow.
Like me, most of the Knights joined us after they turned eighteen, right before the start of their freshman year of college. A six month process similar to pledging a fraternity. Except you could only speak to the men within our organization.
We couldn’t admit new members outside of the initiation phase, which was a pain in the ass. Because we needed to rebuild our ranks after losing men in various battles over the past few months. The Lucaya Group and the Russians had infiltrated some of our cells across the country. And without crowning Alex our queen, we couldn’t replace the men we’d lost.
Aiden was the only exception.
I’d endured challenging tasks with the men in this room, bonding experiences that not only indebted us to the Knights but also brought us closer. Marcello followed in my footsteps two years later. He went through the arduous process with his best friend, Sonny Cormac. Luckily for me, I was initiated with Damian and Bastian. We weren’t brothers by blood, but they were as much a Salvatore as me. Forged by bloodshed and violence, we were now weapons capable of disposing of our enemies.
Aiden wasn’t the pussy I once thought. He also had a particular skill set his sister didn’t know about. A hidden talent I’d discovered when he sought a local gang called The Serpents. Of course, he didn’t know that we controlled The Serpents. They worked for us. Even their name came from the serpent on the Salvatore crest.
“Your sister is in danger,” I told Aiden. “She’s going to be listed at the nextIl Circoauction.”
As part of his initiation, Aiden would spend one month with a different group of Knights throughout the country. He was at their beck and call, performing whatever duties they required. Aiden was only here until the end of the month, long enough for him to watch Alex’s gallery opening from a distance.
Aiden scratched at the stubble on his jaw, his eyes downcast. “Where is Alex right now? Is she okay?”
I nodded. “Physically, yes.”
Aiden stepped closer to the dais. “And mentally? You know she can’t survive six months without me.”
“She’s fine,” I assured him. “Your sister is much stronger than you think.”
“Alex has a mental illness,Salvatore. She may seem okay now, but what will happen to her once she doesn’t hear from me? You can’t keep my initiation from her. It will kill her.” His nostrils flared. “And if anything happens to my sister, I’m coming for you.”
Marcello had the same concerns. He knew firsthand that people with severe PTSD could just flip the switch. Years of pain and suffering at her mother’s hands had royally fucked up Alex.
With all the shit I’d endured from my father, I had my own issues.
No feelings.
Black heart.
