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“You’re aware of The Devil’s Knights,” Pops said to me. “But I haven’t told you much about them.”
“Yeah, I know. It’s a secret society.”
“It’s more than a secret society.” He set his glass on the table and turned in his chair. “The Knights are a brotherhood. There’s a hierarchy in our world. We start as Knights before we can ascend to The Founders Society. You will become the Queen of The Devil’s Knights. Which means you need to marry a Salvatore.”
“Yes, I know. But I’m not ready to get married,” I said, resolute about my decision. “I also don’t understand why a group of men need a queen. It doesn’t make any sense. They are more than capable of taking care of themselves.”
“Because it was the only way to ensure your safety,” my grandfather said in a firm tone. “I didn’t trust Arlo’s boys not to hurt you. I also knew that if the Knights had to protect you, it would keep the target off your back.”
My eyebrows lifted as I looked at him. “What target?”
“You’re a Wellington.” He scratched the corner of his jaw and sighed. “We are a very powerful family, Alexandrea. I have shielded you from the harshness of our world for years with the help of the Salvatores and the Knights. But with power comes a lot of enemies. We owe them, so I agreed to let one of Arlo’s sons marry you, with the caveat you would become the first and only queen of The Devil’s Knights.”
“You came up with the idea to make me their queen?” My eyes narrowed at him. “I wish you would have asked me first. What if I don’t want to be their queen?”
“Must you always be so difficult?” Pops fired back.
I flashed a fake smile at him. “I learned from the best.”
“Alex,” Pops groaned. “This isn’t about you or the Salvatores or how you feel about me and this arrangement. The Knights need a queen.”
Arlo leaned forward with his elbow rested on the arm of a leather chair. He studied me with his usual impenetrable gaze that sent a chill down my arms. I thought he would speak, but instead, he just sat there and waited for my grandfather to finish.
Pops grabbed my shoulder. “Alex, there’s something we need to discuss with you.” I pressed my lips together, and he continued, “There’s a lot of hostility between you and Luca. And there’s clearly something going on between you and the other boys.”
I wanted to say they’re not boys anymore. They had grown into ruthless, sexy men who I let do sinful things to my body.
“You have until the end of the summer to choose who you will marry,” he said in an unaffected tone.
My gaze shifted between Marcello and Luca. “What if I can’t choose?”
All business, my grandfather remained expressionless. “Then I will choose for you.”
“I already know who you would pick,” I shot back.
“Fuck this,” Luca snapped, his nostrils flared, tapping his serpent ring on the arm of his chair. “You promised Alex to me a long time ago, Wellington. No more games.”
My grandfather glowered at Luca as he pointed his finger at him. “Boy, you better learn to respect your elders.”
“Luca needs to change,” I told my grandfather. “Until he does, I won’t even consider his proposal.”
Leaning back in his chair, Luca folded his arms over his chest. “Not happening.”
“Then I guess you’ll make this decision easy for me.”
He snarled at me, eyes filled with anger. “I should have let them take you.”
“I hate you!” I shot up from my chair, my top lip quivering as I glared at him. “Next time, let them take me. Anywhere is better than here with you.” I gritted my teeth, fire rolling off my skin. “I’m so done with you.”
His top lip quivered. “You’re done when I say.”
“Marcello is nice to me,” I said to torture him, to slice open his wounds and pour salt into them. My eyes moved to Marcello. “We never fight. He does things without me having to ask him. If he asked me to marry him, I would say yes.”
Marcello smiled for a second but turned his head to hide it once Luca snapped his head at him. When Marcello looked at me, my heart leaped out of my chest. So many happy emotions raced over me at once.
“Drea,” Luca said through clenched teeth. “Don’t do this.”
The air drained from my lungs as our eyes met. “I can’t fight like this for the rest of my life. My childhood was too hard to spend the next thirty years arguing with you.”
