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“Tell me, Ridley.”
I shook my head.
His green eyes tracked over my face, reminding me I was dealing with a smart man, one who’d been raised by an equally smart—and ruthless—centuries-old vampire.
“You don’t have to say anything. I can guess. We do have a traitor.” He cursed. “They’ve been feeding you intel about me and my brothers. That’s how you knew I’d be in the airport that day.”
“I can tell you one thing. You didn’t find any media mention of Rafe because he’s undercover in Montreal. Your father sent him there to work on Zoe Tremblay. He told Rafe he believed the Tremblays were behind your kidnapping.”
“So you’re saying Father was suspicious of the Tremblays from the start?”
“Or he pretended to be.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
I angled my upper body forward, willing him to believe me. He seemed to view his father through rose-colored glasses, which was insane. In the cold-blooded world of syndicate sharks, Karoly Kral was a big-ass, razor-toothed Great White.
“Think about it. If your father was trying to kill you and your brothers and wanted to throw suspicion on someone else, Victorine Tremblay would be the perfect choice.”
“True. But you can turn that argument around and say that if anyone wants us dead, it’s Victorine. She only signed that truce because she was forced to.” He shook his head. “No. The vampires in Moreau’s lair tried to tell me the same thing, and I’ll tell you what I told them. We’re my father’s heirs, his only spawn. He forced the vampire world to accept us. Why the fuck would he be trying to kill us now?”
“I don’t know. Maybe he’s well aware that Victorine’s behind this and he’s decided to take advantage of it. Maybe he’s tired of fighting your battles.”
“What the fuck’s that supposed to mean?”
“I know he had to fight to get you accepted by the Kral vampires. And I know some of them still aren’t happy about it. Maybe they’ve convinced him that dhampir heirs aren’t worthy of him.”
Zaq’s mouth tightened. “Maybe you’d be right if it was just me. But not Gabriel—he’s the crown prince. And Rafe’s the face of the syndicate, the man Father uses to charm the humans. He’s not going to toss them aside, not heirs of his own blood.”
“Are you willing to risk it?”
He stiffened. “How do you know so damn much about me and my family, anyway? The fact that Father had to fight for us to be accepted isn’t general knowledge.”
“Does it matter how I know?” Actually, I’d heard it from Twilight, and I wasn’t sure where she’d learned it.
“Yes, damn you. I don’t like knowing you were picking through my life without my knowing it.”
“Don’t tell me your father doesn’t keep files on his enemies.”
He ignored that. “What else did you discover?”
I compressed my lips.
He huffed an unpleasant laugh. “That bad, huh?”
I cleared my throat. “If by bad you mean, did I find out anything a good detective couldn’t find out, then no.”
He hooded his eyes. “You don’t know me, Ridley. You might think you do, but you don’t.”
His words hung in the air like a threat.
I licked my lips and his gaze went to my mouth. That sexy edge was still there, and God help me, I liked him a little dangerous.
He took me by the shoulder, gave me a little shake. “You’re wrong about my father. He loves us. Maybe not like a human loves, but in his own way he loves us. And even if he didn’t, he has no other heirs of his blood.”
I remained silent. Frankly, I believed Karoly Kral was perfectly capable of eliminating his own sons if he had a compelling reason.
Or maybe it was just Zaq. Maybe Karoly had seen a chance to rid himself of the son who caused him the most trouble, and he’d taken it.
