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A shudder ripped through me as I looked across the room. Grandfather was close to eighty years old. Yet he looked as if he were in his late fifties.
Dark hair that didn't have an ounce of gray. His skin was still taut, his cheekbones high, and he had a pronounced jawline. He was in great shape, with a solid frame beneath his black suit.
My grandfather looked closer to Arlo Salvatore's age, who was very good-looking. They drank scotch by the bar, speaking between sips, but Fitzy's eyes held mine.
Cole tapped my back, urging me to move farther into the room. My legs felt stuck in quicksand, its force pulling me down. Horrible memories of my grandfather resurfaced every time we were together.
He was there the night armed men invaded my parents’ home. They took my father out of the house in handcuffs. My mom lay in a pool of blood. I cried and begged the men to bring my father back. I prayed my mom would wake up from her nap.
He killed my mom.
His own daughter.
Cole hooked his arm through mine and led me over to the couch. We sat across from Bastian, Alex, and Damian.
Damian had his eyes on his drink, which he barely touched. Something was off about him. Bastian kept glancing over at him as if checking on his mental well-being. They had a strange dynamic, a bond they didn't seem to share with the other Salvatores.
Marcello bent over the back of the couch and handed Alex a bottle of water. She took it from him, and he kissed her cheek. I couldn’t understand how four men could share one woman until I saw how much they loved her.
Fitzy sat in the armchair at the center of us, tipping a glass of amber liquid to his mouth. “Viktor is on the move. And since he’s trying to get in my way, I’m expediting the wedding to draw him out of hiding. He won’t stay away from his daughter’s wedding.”
Now it all made sense. This wedding was never about Rhys. Grandfather only wanted to marry me to that lunatic to find my father. And he was right. This was the perfect way to do it.
“With that said,” my grandfather continued, “I expect all of you to be on high alert at the event. Be prepared to take Viktor out by any means necessary. He’s been a thorn in my side for too long.”
I gulped down the nerves clawing at my insides. The thought of seeing my biological father again made me sick to my stomach.
Grandfather crossed his legs at his ankles and sat back in the oversized chair that made him look regal, like a king. With his finger pointed at me, he said, “And you better be on your best behavior, silly girl. You’re so much like your mother. It didn’t take much convincing for you to hop into bed with Rhys Vanderbilt. And you will not fuck with my plans. Do you understand me?”
I nodded.
Everyone was tense, especially Damian and Bastian, who seemed the most affected by my grandfather. It was easy to understand why he bothered them so much. They lived with him briefly after their parents’ tragic deaths. Fitzy had tortured both of them for the month they lived in this house. He locked them in his basement without food and water and treated them like animals.
Alex sat between them and stared across the room at Luca as if she were waiting for him to take charge. Because he always knew what to do, no matter the situation. He was the leader of The Devil’s Knights.
“Have you given any thought to how vulnerable this makes Grace?” Bastian interjected. “We’ve been hiding her for years to keep her away from Viktor Romanov. If you plan to drag her in front of the media, it will put her back on the radar of The Lucaya Group.”
An evil grin tugged at Fitzy’s mouth. “I’m counting on it.”
“But why now?” Luca cut in with the million-dollar question.
“Why not?” Fitzy rested his expensive, shiny dress shoe on his knee and scanned the room with a hunter’s look in his eyes. “It’s time for Viktor to show his face. And until now, he hasn’t been properly motivated to do so.”
“Are you going to kill him?” I asked, my voice sounding small. “He’s my father. From what I remember, he wasn’t always bad.”
“You didn’t know any better,” Fitzy fired back. “But I can assure you the man you hold dear in your heart is a cold-blooded killer. He killed your mother right in front of you. He murdered Bastian and Damian’s parents. And he will kill you if I don’t dispose of him.”
I gasped. “He killed their parents?”
I couldn’t even bring myself to look at them.
How could I?
Bastian had been so nice to me. Damian, not so much, but I got the sense that he wasn’t a big talker. At least now I understood why Damian glared at me the entire time we were forced to live at the safe house.
“Viktor is also a problem for The Knights,” Luca chimed.
Mark turned to look at me. “We kept you from Viktor because he’s a dangerous man. Even if he got you back, he wouldn’t have put you above his interests. He’s the leader of a terrorist organization, Grace. Colonel Hale and other men and women who served in the armed forces have fought for the same thing. To keep men like Viktor from hurting others.”
