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So the fact that Alina has somehow managed to draw flickers of emotion from my cold, nonexistent heart scares the fucking shit out of me.
And that makes her the most dangerous person I have ever met.
15
ALINA
“It has been four days now,” Maksim says, and thumps his fist on our kitchen table in emphasis. “I’m telling you, he’s not coming back.”
“I still think it’s a trap,” Anton mutters.
“How can it be a trap? It has literally been confirmed by Federico Morelli himself. Rico has dropped out of Blackwater.”
Konstantin grins at his twin and adds, “Which means that there are now only two of them.”
At the head of the table, Mikhail nods slowly while plans swirl in his eyes. “And four of us.”
Five, I think. But I don’t say it.
Instead, I stand up from the table and start gathering up our empty plates. They clink as I put them into a pile before stacking all of our used silverware in the middle of the topmost plate.
Outside the window, red and purple streaks line the heavens as the sun disappears beyond the horizon. It paints our pale kitchen walls with the same hue, adding a splash of color to the otherwise predominantly white room. I glance out at the darkening sky while I start rinsing the plates.
It has been four days since Rico unexpectedly dropped out of school. Kaden has been tormenting me as usual, as if nothing has changed, but my brothers and cousins have been in an uproar about it. At first, they thought that it was some kind of ruse. But like Maksim said, Rico’s position as the heir to the Morelli empire has been announced by the patriarch Federico Morelli himself, so it must be true. And we all saw his things being boxed up and moved out of the Hunters’ house the other day.
Maksim drums his hands excitedly on the edge of the table while giving Mikhail a pleading look. “Please, please, please, let’s attack them.”
My heart jerks in my chest, and I glance up from where I’m loading the plates into the dishwasher to instead study Mikhail’s face. He taps his fingers on the tabletop while a considering look blows across his features.
“Come on, it’s the perfect opportunity to both get revenge and get the upper hand,” Maksim pushes.
“He’s right,” Konstantin adds with a nod. “We need to get revenge for what that asshole did to Anton last week.”
The bruises on Anton’s cheek have already faded, but he still looks embarrassed whenever someone brings up Kaden’s surprise visit to our house. As if he’s mortified that he let Kaden get the best of him like that in his own home.
Anger flickers in Mikhail’s blue eyes at the reminder. “Yes, we do indeed.”
“Plus, we still need to get that video he has of you,” Maksim continues. “If all four of us launch a surprise attack on the two of them now, we’ll win for sure.” A vicious smile curls his lips. “And then we can make them fucking crawl.”
My heart patters in my chest as I close the dishwasher and walk back to the table to grab the empty pots.
“Yes.” Mikhail keeps drumming his fingers on the pale tabletop while a matching grin spreads across his face as he nods at Maksim. “Remember how furious Kaden got when you almost broke Jace’s arm? If we corner Jace, we can make Kaden delete the video… and we can get some leverage of our own.”
The twins nod excitedly while replying in unison, “Exactly.”
To Mikhail’s right, Anton tilts his head to the side and then nods too as if conceding the point.
Worry snakes through my chest. Coming to a halt next to my chair, I abandon my efforts to clear the table and instead meet Mikhail’s gaze.
“I think this is a bad idea,” I say, keeping my voice soft.
“How can this possibly be a bad idea?” Konstantin blurts out before Mikhail can say anything. “We outnumber them two to one.”
“He’s right, Alina,” Mikhail says. “If we launch a surprise attack now, we will win. And then we will leverage Jace and Kaden against each other, and make both of them crawl and lick our fucking boots. And once I have a video of the two of them groveling at our feet, the war is won.”
“I think you’re underestimating them.”
All four of them chuckle and snort derisively.
