Page 105 of The Worst Pucking Deal

I look up as Remus makes his presence known. Before I can say anything, Sy growls, “Yes.”

“What’s up?” I ask, looking straight at Remus.

He looks good. It’s hard to describe it, but it’s almost like he’s aged backward. The lines under his eyes have vanished entirely, giving him an almost boy-ish look.

“I came to give you this.”

He holds out a scroll of paper that I’m quick to take from him. “Oh!” I exclaim. It’s my freedom—literally. He’s severing our familial ties, irrevocably setting me free. “Thank you.” My voice is hoarse as I choke back a sob.

“I’m sorry for playing you, Luce,” Remus says, his tone sincere. “But I didn’t know any other way. Taking over from my dad has been harder than I thought.”

Pressing my lips together, I swallow back the words on my tongue. I categorically refuse to say it’s okay because it’s unquestionably not. Do I understand it? Sure. I’m not even holding a grudge, I just refuse to tell him it’s fine. Though I should be angry about it, I’m not. Weirdly, I’m relieved that Remus was behind it all rather than Fabian being clever enough to pull it all off by himself.

“You fucking should be,” Sy retorts. “You used my wife to save your empire. What kind of man does that?”

Remus chuckles. “You got a wife out of it. If it wasn’t for me, you’d still be fucking your way through… what do you call them? Puck bunnies?”

Sy clenches his fists, but now it’s my turn to speak before him. “Y-you’re the one who made the sponsors complain?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Remus grins. “But yeah, it sounds like something I’d do, doesn’t it? One could even imagine I’m behind your GM picking Lucia. But of course, that’s just speculation. No one knows who did or didn’t do anything.” Then he turns to Sy. “By the way, that woman wasn’t married.”

My jaw drops. I know exactly what Remus just alluded to, and by the way Sy shoots to his feet, he does as well. “You fucking what?” he roars.

Even though my husband is towering over my cousin, the latter doesn’t back down or even look apologetic. He just shrugs. “It all worked out, didn’t it? You two are together for real, so what does any of it matter?”

I slowly push to my feet, panting like I’ve run a marathon. “Remus,” I say, intending to make it sound like a warning. Sadly, it comes out more like a wheeze, making it very anticlimactic. “We get it. You’re behind everything. You had your reasons, but don’t for one second think we’re going to thank you.”

My cousin dips his head. “I respect that, Luce.” His eyes lock on Sy who still looks like he wants to throttle him. “I’ve already put word out and made things right with your team. The official story is that Fabian was blackmailing Lucia, and that he was so obsessed he kidnapped her.”

He already told us he was going to do this, so I just nod.

“Oh, come on now. I deserve at least a thank you for making Sy the hero who protected his wife.”

In fairness to Remus, he has been very thorough. When the police ransacked Fabian’s home in Minneapolis, they found a room littered with pictures of me. Even some of Sy with his eyes scratched out. The security tapes showing Fabian at the airport show me at his side, and everyone on the plane has testified I flew with Fabian and that I looked scared.

The public loves Sy more than ever now that they know he dropped everything to charter a private jet and set after me as soon as he learned where I was. How did he find out, you might ask. Well, apparently, a brave stewardess recognized me and contacted Sy directly to let him know I was headed to Rome.

While the story isn’t perfect and has plenty of holes, I know no one will ever poke at them. Remus’ reach and power is enough that he could kill the American President without much clean up. So this is just one of those things people will talk about, and come the next juicy gossip, it’ll be forgotten. The only people who truly know what happened are standing here, and I’m satisfied with that.

“I’ll never fucking thank you for using my wife as a pawn, you dick,” Sy growls. His words bring me back to the two men who look like they’re only seconds from throwing down. “But I will thank you for sending Lucia into my life.”

Shock reverberates through me as my husband holds out his hand to my cousin, and I feel like rubbing my eyes when they shake to make sure I’m really seeing it.

“There’s a few things to go over before you leave,” Remus says, turning to me. “As you know, anyone leaving the family in disgrace isn’t allowed to keep their brand—”

“The fuck?” Sy spits, moving so he’s standing protectively in front of me. “If you lay as much as a single finger on her, I’ll—”

Remus waves him off. “Yeah, yeah. You’ll punch me again. Spare me the theatrics. I was going to say that since she’s not leaving in disgrace, she’s allowed to keep the brand.”

I flinch at the reminder of seeing the skin being cut from my dad’s body before he was executed all those years ago. “O-okay,” I stammer, blinking furiously to get rid of the unwelcome memory. Squaring my shoulders, I step around Sy so we’re standing next to each other. “I want to see Fabian’s body.”

This is something I’ve discussed with Sy, and while he’s not happy about it, he understands I need to see for myself. I’m afraid that if I don’t, I’ll always look over my shoulder.

“Fine,” Remus replies. “But this is the one and only time.”

I agree, and together the three of us walk down to the dungeon underneath Remus’ mansion. Seriously, why must everything have ominous shit hidden below surface level? I mean, I get it, and now that I’m officially no longer a part of it, I guess I’ll never have to think about it again.

We enter a dimly lit, cold, dank smelling room. Fabian’s lifeless body lies on top of a wooden bench. His arms are folded over his chest, and one leg crossed over the other. As I look down at him, I’m having trouble remembering why I was so scared of him.

---