Page 26 of In the Shadows

“They’ll respect it, or you’ll do what you have to do to earn that respect.” I shrug, but we both know it won’t be that easy. The families have always struggled during times of transition, and we usually stay out of it unless absolutely necessary, but that won’t be the case when it comes to the De Marcos. If anyone dares to challenge her leadership, there’s no way I’ll be able to stop Bishop and Kovu from protecting her. We’re walking into new territory ourselves, and every step we take could detonate like a land mine beneath our feet.

“Who the hell do you think I am?” she snaps.

“The leader of the De Marco family, the only rightful heir, and the only person in your family with enough balls to do what needs to be done to keep everything moving.”

“You don’t even know me,” she whispers, her eyes dropping to look at the carpet beneath her bare feet. She shouldn’t be out of bed, and if I were a better man, I already would have ordered her back there. But I’m not ready to be away from her yet. I could of course visit with her the way the others do, but I have to be the one to keep my wits about me, and that means not allowing myself to get too close to her, no matter how much I want to.

The four of us look at one another, but none of us move toward her, even though it’s clear we all want to. If she’s going to do this, if she’s going to lead her family, she needs to grow confidence in herself as much as we need to show how sure we are of her and her abilities, and to be honest, she’s not altogether wrong. We don’t know her well. We know of her, and we’ve had our men watch her from afar from time to time to make sure her father was intending on doing the right thing. But do we know Camilla De Marco? Do we know all the things that make her, her? No. Not yet.

To my surprise, it’s Kaos that steps forward, but he doesn’t reach for her. “Princess, now isn’t the time for a pity party. Does it suck your dad sold you before you were even born? Absolutely. But does it mean he didn’t have all the faith in the world in you? No. He wouldn’t have trained you. He wouldn’t have taken you out to see the dirty sides of the business if he didn’t think you were going to be the one to take his place. I can assure you, you’re one of the only women in this city that has seen the dark stuff. The others play their parts, but you, you were born to lead just like all the men in this city.”

Her eyes widen in surprise. Probably because the number of nice things he’s said to her since she got here have been few and far between. She worries her bottom lip between her teeth, and I ache to do the same. To bite and nip at the sensitive pillow until the taste of copper hits my tongue and little gasps claw from her throat. The thought has my cock aching in my slacks, but I ignore it. I can’t have her the way I need her, not until she’s fully healed, and even then, the revelation that she’s a virgin complicates things. And not only because the four of us will all want to be the first one to slide into her tight cunt. No, it gets complicated because our tastes are darker than the average man’s, much darker, and that’s something she may not be prepared for given how inexperienced she is.

“We may not know your favorite color or the movie you watch when you’re sad, but we know the important shit. We know how capable you are, even if everyone always underestimates you.” Bishop smiles.

“And hey, haven’t you ever heard that back in the day, the CIA would send women as spies because no one believed they were capable and would let their guards down as a result?” Kovu smirks, and I roll my eyes. The asshole went on a trip to Washington last year to get some intel and took a detour to the spy museum. It’s all we heard about for a month, and he still pulls random facts out of his ass every now and then.

“Okay, say I do as you’re suggesting, and I stroll right back into my childhood home and take over the business and the territory. What am I meant to do about Davenport? He’s going to come for me, and you’re not meant to interfere in those types of matters.” Her cheeks turn the most delicious shade of pink as she realizes the meaning of the words that have just fallen from between her pretty pink lips. “I mean, if you wanted to interfere, you couldn’t. Not saying that you would want to or that you’d care if Davenport did somehow get to me.” She groans and drops her head back to look up at the ceiling. “I think it’s time I went back to bed, or to die of embarrassment.” She mutters the last few words as she turns on her heel and steps back toward the bedroom door.

Kovu wraps his arms around her waist and tugs her back into him. His smirk tells me everything I need to know about his feelings toward the girl, but I already knew. I’ve known since that first night when I watched him fuss over her like a wounded animal, something that goes against his brutal nature. “There’s nothing we won’t do to protect you, Little Lamb,” he murmurs against the top of her head. “Head back to bed. I’ll be in shortly.”

She nods once before disappearing through the door without looking back. As soon as she’s out of sight, I turn on my heel and head toward the living areas. We need to talk where she can’t hear us, and while I’m sure she’ll come to know the layout of our buildings, I’m going to take advantage of the fact she doesn’t know left from right at the moment.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

BISHOP

Something a lot like dread seeps into my veins the farther I get from Camilla’s room. It’s been happening more and more since she came into our lives, but it’s never felt quite so potent. Perhaps it’s because my father and Kaos still seem to be on the fence about her being here. Or maybe it’s the idea of throwing her to the wolves for our own gain that just isn’t sitting well with me.

That’s the part we left out. We’ve always wanted an inside man, so to speak. A leader who’s in our pocket, and therefore who will be able to thwart any attempt to overthrow our authority. We’ve toyed with the idea over the years, tried to work out how we can ensure loyalty, but it’s never been worth the risk. Until now.

If Camilla is more to us than just one of the people we rule over, then she won’t betray us. In theory, at least. We learned the hard way that anyone can betray you, and if you let them, they can tear your family apart.

We reach the living room and take our normal places around the room. I slide into the armchair under the window, my father takes his place across from me, while Kaos and Kovu flop into the three-seater. We used to spend a lot of time in here together, but the last couple of years we’ve stopped spending as much time together. All we do is work, and when we’re not working, we’re locking ourselves in our rooms and wallowing in our own self-pity.

“We should have talked before you did that.” Kaos breaks the silence. Honestly, he’s not as angry as I expected him to be, but then again, maybe he’s just realized he was lying to himself.

Crew’s hands fist on the armrests of his seat, his jaw set so tightly it tics under the pressure. “The moment Bishop brought her in from the alley, our hands were tied.”

“No, they weren’t. We could have dropped her off at a hospital, or better yet, we could have handed her over to Davenport,” he argues.

Anger flares to life in my chest, and it takes everything I have to remain seated. We’re not going to get anywhere by continuously being at each other’s throats, especially since we’ve set off a chain reaction that could bring us down. “He would have killed her,” I force through gritted teeth.

“And it wouldn’t have been our problem.”

“It would have been when Davenport had claim over the De Marco territory,” my father interjects. “I understand you think this is all Camilla’s fault, but she is nothing more than collateral damage in the deal her father made. She didn’t ask for this, and her being alive and independent of Charles is in our best interests, whether you’re willing to admit that or not.”

“So, you want to take advantage of her?” Kovu asks, his eyes mirroring the anger raging through my veins.

“I didn’t say that.”

“Yes, you did,” Kovu growls. “I should have known you would have an angle. You don’t do anything unless it benefits you.”

“That’s right. I do things because they benefit all four of us. I’m not saying Camilla’s being here isn’t partially selfish, but there are other perks.”

“She’s a fucking human being, Crew. An eighteen-year-old girl who was beaten in the alley behind our building and left for dead because she tried to run from the cruel man her father promised her to.”

“I’m not saying what happened to her is fair, but it does have its perks. Of course we could do as Kaos has suggested time and time again and hand her over, but that would be to our own detriment.”

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