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After clearing his throat, Eric brushes his hands down his beige dress shirt and straightens his spine.
“Well,” he sniffs. “I did try to do this the civilized way.”
Suspicion blooms inside me as he pulls out his phone. But all he does is to send a short text. Then he puts it back into his pocket and meets my gaze again.
“I really did try, Alina,” he says, and the genuine regret in his tone sends a flare of panic up my spine. “But I guess this is how it has to be.”
“What are you—”
The double doors burst open.
Kaden and I shoot to our feet as men in combat clothes swarm into the dining room. The other guests scream and scramble away.
“Everyone out!” one of the men bellows. “By order of the Hunter family.”
I jerk back in shock and glance towards Kaden.
He has already stripped out of his suit jacket and is now only wearing the white dress shirt underneath with the knife holsters that crisscross his chest.
“These are not my family’s people,” he says, low enough for only me to hear, as he yanks out two knives and presses them into my hands. “Remember what I showed you. If anyone gets close, go straight for the kill and don’t hesitate.”
I nod, taking the knives. Dread and panic roll through my stomach as I turn my gaze back to the rest of the room.
The other guests, as well as the staff, have already fled. Only Eric and the horde of men are left. My former fiancé has backed away and taken up position two steps in front of the small army we’re now facing.
“What the hell is this, Eric?” I demand, trying to hide the fear thrashing inside me with rage. “This seems like a bit of an overreaction just because you got dumped.”
“As usual, you fail to see the bigger picture,” he replies in a patronizing tone before his gaze hardens. “This isn’t just about our engagement. It’s about yours. You cannot form an alliance with the Hunters.”
“Keep him talking,” Kaden murmurs under his breath.
The men dressed in black before us spread out, moving between the messy tables as if to flank us. Kaden shifts beside me, his calculating gaze sweeping over the room as if he is waiting for them to get into a specific position.
“My family, and the rest of the families in our elite circle of society,” Eric continues, his voice now taking on a haughty note, “have been able to keep your families in check by playing you against each other. Which is why we can’t allow you to form an alliance.”
“Why not?” I ask, doing as Kaden said and trying to keep him talking.
“Because it would make you too powerful, of course.” He shakes his head, and genuine regret once more floods his features. “But as soon as your family learns that you were killed in an attack ordered by the Hunter family, which all of the guests heard clear as day before they fled, it will start a blood feud.”
My heart jerks in my chest. Killed? They’re here to kill me?
“Which means that there will be no alliance and no all-powerful assassin family coalition to threaten us,” he finishes. “So that, dear Alina, is why I tried to be civilized and persuade you to—”
Kaden hurls his throwing knives.
40
KADEN
Metal glints in the light of a thousand candles as four throwing knives shoot through the air. The men advancing on us try to jerk back when they realize what’s happening, but they’re too late. The blades bury themselves in four throats. Choked gurgling noises erupt throughout the grand dining room. Then the four men collapse to the shining hardwood floor and all hell breaks loose.
I yank out a pair of fighting knives instead as the rest of the men rush forward.
I knew that I would only get one surprise attack, so I had to make the most of it, which is why I waited until they were in a position where I could hit four people at the same time. It still doesn’t exactly even the odds, but four dead within seconds should at least make some of the others wary of getting too close.
Throwing out my arm, I shove Alina back several steps behind me as the first pair of attackers reach us.
Cold fury burns through me like ice.
