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After the door slams, Bram comes to my aid, putting his arm protectively around my waist, reminding me I’m not alone.
What kind of people have I surrounded myself with for all these years? I knew they were killers, but I thought they cared about me. They gave me a purpose and a reason to live, even though they’ve left me to die like a mark.
Or are they right? Am I the problem? Have the Dukes fucked me up so much that my judgement is now clouded? Right now, they are the only ones who seem to care about what happens to me.
Bram is here, Seb wants to see me again, and Freddie dismissed Callen from the Dukes because of what he thinks he did to me. I may not be part of the Killers Club, but maybe I’ve found another reason to fight…
CHAPTER41
FREDDIE
Adrenaline rushes through my veins, and I finally dare to exhale when Seb ends the call.
Callen lets out a low whistle. “She has big, hairy bollocks on her.”
“So, what do we do?” Seb looks to me for guidance. He tries to mask it; Seb is more sensitive than he lets on. Hurt is written over his face, and the sting of betrayal dulls his green eyes. His upbringing has made it hard to trust people, and he finally thought he’d met a woman interested in more than a royal title. Unfortunately for him, it was his other title she was interested in.
“We can use a meeting to our advantage,” I say, glancing at the photograph in the middle of our board. Her face. The face of the woman who lied to me from the moment she told me her name.
Ivy.
Callen’s right—the name suits her. Ivy climbs up buildings, choking and suffocating the bricks until they crumble. She encroached on my heart, strangling it and draining my energy. I’ve wasted years pining over a woman who never existed.
Her voice, curves, and gorgeous wide eyes are imprinted on my soul. However, like the ivy that covers buildings in pretty green leaves, she sunk her claws into all of us and rocked our foundations.
When I saw the woman of my dreams again, I thought my prayers had been answered, and I’d been reunited with an angel. Only she was toxic. Poison. She made her way into my bloodstream, holding my heart hostage, and almost destroyed the Dukes in the process. We need to cut her out… forever.
“It’ll be a trap,” I announce, stating what everyone is already thinking.
“This gives us an opportunity,” Callen agrees.
I nod. The bittersweet reunion I imagined with her running into my arms is a fairytale. All the tenderness I once felt towards her is replaced by a blistering fury to unleash destruction.
“She’s texted a location,” Seb says, holding up his phone. “The Royal Duchess Hotel.”
My heart stops. It’s as if she wants to taunt me. I stayed at the Royal Duchess the night she went missing five years ago. I spent hours lying awake in that hotel, waiting for a call that never came. Another cruel trick and a way to manipulate me further, but I won’t fall for it again.
“We can’t blow this,” I reply bluntly, pushing my emotions aside. “This might be our last chance to find Bram.”
Callen clears his throat. I know he’s about to remind us that Bram could already be dead, but we have to find out what happened to him.
“Don’t,” I warn Callen.
Bram is one of us, part of our family, and I’m not giving up on him yet. Besides, I suspected the Killers Club would have delivered his body to us if Bram was dead.
“Are we really doing this?” Seb looks at his phone in disgust, pushing through his pain.
He’s had his heart broken, too. Welcome to the fucking club. Ivy Penrose has cut open our chests and torn out our hearts, but I won’t give her a chance to stop them from beating.
“Yes. Remember, she doesn’t know that we know who she is,” I point out. “It could be a trap or another way for her to get information. She might not know Spencer fired us, and she still wants him dead.”
Seb nods sharply. “Let’s find a way to bring Bram home.”
CHAPTER42
BRAM
“Fucking idiot. Think, Ive, think!” She mentally lashes herself. “Why did I think she would follow through with our deal?”
