Page 15 of Crown of Lies

“Now why would I do that?” I shake my head. “It’s like you don’t even know me. I’m not the one who makes irrational choices, wife.”

She curls her lips at me, her eyes flashing. “I wouldn’t call my current predicament rational, husband.”

I can’t help it. I smirk, just a little.

“I sent Emmett on his way,” I continue. “But he wasn’t all that eager to leave without seeing you, and I doubt it will take long before your people start to get suspicious. As far as they all know, you and I are on the same side—but that lie won’t hold forever, and you know what will happen if they find out the truth. Do you really want to spark a war between our crews? You’ve been a part of this world your whole life. I’m sure you know what kinds of casualties can amass when two gangs go to war.”

A flicker of pain and worry flares behind her eyes, and I know I’ve hit the exact target I was aiming for: her duty to her people.

Whatever complicated, fucked-up feelings I may have about Quinn on a personal level, I can’t deny the fact that she’s a good leader. She cares about each member of her gang, and she does her best to do right by them. I could see how badly it gutted her when we found those Carnage and Enigma members, murdered and cut up by Silas in that alley. I recognized the guilt and responsibility she felt in that moment, because I felt it too.

In that way, we’re more alike than I’d care to admit.

“It doesn’t have to come to war,” I tell Quinn, taking a small step closer to her. “We can both protect our people from that fallout.”

She tilts her head back a little, her teal hair glinting in the dim basement light as her brow furrows. “How?”

I hesitate, feeling like the true war is playing out inside my chest as I grapple with what I’m about to say.

But I don’t see another way forward. And I owe it to Killian and Atlas, toallof my people, to try to fix the mistakes I made that got us here.

So I let out a slow breath and hold her gaze as I say, “A truce.”

5

QUINN

A joltof surprise ripples through me as I register what Nico just said. What he’s offering.

A truce.

“What the fuck are you talking about?” I murmur, disbelief clear in my voice.

His lips press into a line, as if it was hard enough to say the words once and he has no desire to repeat them. But he’s going to have to. I need to hear it again.

“A truce,” he repeats, his tone stiff. “We’ll forget about what’s happened between us up to this point. If you cooperate with us and help us figure out what Silas was talking about, we’ll tell you what we know too. We can pool our resources and share our knowledge to try to figure out why The Saint wants you. Why he thinks you’re worth something.” He pauses, the muscles in his jaw rippling, then adds, “And whatever money you end up being worth, we’ll split it with you.”

I blink, my jaw falling open.

He’s got to think I’m fucking stupid.

Or desperate.

But what I really am is confused. It’s only been a couple of days, and even though all three men have taken turnsinterrogating me, they haven’t actually gone hard enough to break me. They haven’t broken bones or skin, or done any of the things that I would’ve had my people do if we were trying to extract information from an enemy.

The worst thing was that goddamn white noise emitter, and even then, it was more annoying than torturous. Killian wasn’t leaving me alone with it long enough, or turning it on loud enough, to have the psychological effects it was supposed to.

So either the Princes think I’m weak—or they’re pulling their punches for some reason.

But that doesn’t make any sense.

I saw the rage in Nico’s eyes after I torched the clubhouse. He was furious. I knew going into it that it was the kind of thing we’d never come back from, although I didn’t give a shit in the moment.

So why is he offering me an olive branch now?

Even though I don’t understand it, part of me is tempted. I could last for a while down here, taking everything the Princes dish out to me, but that doesn’t mean I want to. Eventually, Emmett would come back around, likely with backup. And then what? My people launch into a full-scale war with the Princes and their crew? Once it’s all out in the open that I’m the reason behind the clubhouse burning down, it’ll be game over, and without a leader…

My people would suffer.

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