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I narrowed my eyes at her, my muscles rigid to stop myself from trembling but a surge of my own rage fueling my confidence. “You knew he wasn’t anyone important to the Devil’s Dozen, didn’t you? You kidnapped some lackey from the lowest level specifically to prove that you could make me beat up a kid who didn’t deserve it. Do you have any idea how sick that is?”
Mom’s hand lashed out, too fast for me to dodge. Her palm connected with my cheek in a flash of pain.
I jerked backward, my face stinging, my hands drawing up into fists.
“I make the rules here, mija,” Mom said, spittle flying with the words. “If you won’t do as I say, I’m happy to bring all of the men you’ve been whoring around with here to offer them similar treatment.”
With every word, my spine grew stiffer. I let my anger color my voice. “I wouldn’t do that if I were you. You know how easily I can blow up all of your plans. Do you really want to push me that far?”
Mom scoffed and motioned to my hands. “You wouldn’t want to blow up your own life either. You’re complicit now—you’ve aided in the kidnapping of one of my rival’s underlings. You’re tangled up in my plans. Do you really think our enemies would spare your lives or your lovers’? Or that you’ll get very far after you’ve flushed your inheritance down the drain?”
“I thinkyourenemies will see that I’ve gone my own way, especially because I’m giving up that inheritance,” I shot back. “And whatever they think, I’d rather take my chances with them than live under your roof if you’re going to act like a total psychopath.”
“I’m warning you, Luciana—”
“No, I’m warning you. When I say no, I mean no. And if I catch the slightest hint that you’ve sent anyone to mess with my men, all the evidence I’ve gathered is going to end up in the laps of the last people you’d want it to. And believe me, I’ve got even more than I did before.”
Mom fell silent, her eyes blazing. We eyed each other for what felt like an eternity.
Finally, she broke the standoff. “I don’t think you want to ruin your family that badly.”
I raised my chin. “Feel free to call my bluff. I’m leaving town tomorrow for a week, like I already told you. If you can stick to your end of the deal, I’ll stick to mine, and we’ll see where we’re at when I get back.”
I swiveled away from the interrogation room and marched down the hall to the stairs. Mom didn’t follow. My breaths shook as they spilled from my lungs. I couldn’t believe I’d said all of that to her.
But I’d had to. There were some lines I wasn’t going to cross.
More nausea unfurled through my stomach at the thought of the boy I was leaving behind. I wanted to barge in there and unlock his chains—but Mom had the key. And if Mom knew saving his life mattered that much to me, she’d gut him on the spot just to spite me.
His only chance of survival was if I didn’t make a single gesture toward ensuring it.
I sent up a silent prayer as I hurried upstairs to my room. There, I grabbed my laptop and logged into the cloud server where I’d stashed all the evidence.
I’d set up the automated email with Beckett’s help, CCing all of the Devil’s Dozen members he had email addresses for. Every day, I scheduled it to send the following day if I didn’t pop in to bump the time forward again.
If I ever disappeared for more than twenty-four hours, Mom would be totally exposed.
And I intended that exposure to be as total as I could manage. I dragged the latest files that Beckett and the Blood Hunter had sent me over to the folder that was linked in the email and then sat back on my bed with a ragged sigh.
Ididn’twant to have to burn down my entire family legacy, whether I wanted to claim that legacy or not. But if Mom pushed me any farther, she was going to find out that I hadn’t been kidding around.
And after what I’d just seen, I couldn’t deny that some part of me almost hoped that she forced my hand.
TWENTY-SEVEN
Quentin
As I gazedaround the massive Portland arena under the brilliant overhead lights, I couldn’t restrain a smile. Nowthiswas what I’d been missing back in Austin. This was where skaters of our caliber ought to be performing.
Of course, I wouldn’t be skating on that rink today. The gunshot wound had been healing well, but my shoulder still ached if I stretched the muscle there much. I hadn’t been able to properly practice my routines since the injury.
Oh well. My chances of earning top marks after all my time off from singles would have been slim anyway.
This sophisticated setting would make a perfect backdrop for Jasper and Lou’s routines, though. They were due up for their first chance to wow the judges, their short program performance, in just a half hour.
Seeing the glow that came into Lou’s face when she glanced around her at the packed stands, it was hard for me to regret how the last couple of months had played out.
At least, shehadbeen glowing a minute ago. When I glanced over at her now, tipping her head toward Rafael to make some comment to him, a shadow had darkened her expression. She clasped her hands together in her lap, her fingers twisting with tension. Not even the vibrant colors of the skating costume Jasper had sewn for her, which I had to admit was incredible, could disguise her uneasiness.
