Page 1 of Crown of Lies

1

QUINN

I’ve hadguns shoved in my face more times than I can count.

But never like this.

Never by someone I care about.

Cared.

The correction comes quickly in my mind. Because as far as I’m concerned, I no longer give a single, solitary shit about any of the men in front of me—aside from making sure they suffer for what they’ve done to me.

They lied to me. Theyusedme.

So now the Princes of Carnage get to watch their world burn—and unfortunately for them, their whole world was centered in one place. Whatever comes of Nico’s gun in my face, whatever happens next, I’ll have my head held high the whole way through, knowing I did exactly what needed to be done.

As the clubhouse fire rages in the distance, it halos Nico, Killian, and Atlas in the light of its inferno. It’s downright demonic, the way the blaze frames them, as if it’s revealing the truth about them that I should have known this entire time. They’re devils, and now they’re no longer in disguise. The echo of that blaze burns in Nico’s mismatched eyes as he glares down at me.

Even before, when we were enemies the first time around, he never looked at me like this.

It’s hard to tell whether I relish the fact that the burning hatred in his eyes is trained on me now, or if it’s just another painful confirmation that he never felt a single real thing for me from the moment this sham marriage was agreed upon.

As if some furious thought crosses his mind, Nico’s lip curls suddenly, and he shoves the barrel of the gun beneath my chin. Its cold metal against my bare flesh is a stark contrast to the warm air around us, making me sweat. My shoulders tense, but I don’t cower. I refuse to let any of these three men see even the tiniest spark of fear in my eyes.

“If you’re going to kill me, then do it. It’s not polite to play with your food,” I bite out, my chest tight.

Killian and Atlas come up closer, properly flanking their leader as a dangerous glint flashes through Nico’s eyes.

“Ishouldkill you,” he murmurs, his voice gruff. “Should blow your pretty brains all over the fucking ground and leave your body for the crows, because you sure as shit don’t deserve anything better.” His jaw tightens as he leans closer, his eyes bouncing between mine. “Theonlyreason you’re alive is because you have some shred of value to someone out there, and I intend to collect on that.”

My stomach twists, and bile rises in my throat. That’s right. I’m supposedly valuable to someone else—but not to Nico, and not to the two men beside him either. Not anymore.

A dull ache fills my chest at that thought, making it hard to breathe, but I shove the feeling down. Pain at their betrayal is a sensation that I can’t give in to. Not when I’m outnumbered three to one.

Then again, those have always been my odds when dealing with the Princes.

“I have no idea what Silas was talking about,” I say, keeping my voice level. I look Nico right in the eyes as I speak, glaring at the man I once felt proud to call my husband. “He was probably lying, knowing you’d take the fucking bait?—”

Nico makes a sound low in his throat, his free hand gripping the front of my shirt to jerk me closer to his face. My hands curl into fists, my entire body reacting to his proximity. To the threat he now represents.

I’m pissed at the tears that burn in the corners of my eyes, and I blink once, clearing them quickly before he can take note of them.

“You really think we’re going to believe a damn thing you say anymore?”

It’s not Nico, but Atlas who speaks up. His deep voice breaks the tension between me and my husband, and my eyes snap to him.

He’s always been the most traditionally handsome of all three of the men, with his black hair and those arresting brown eyes that turn lighter as they meet his irises. Once, those eyes looked at me with so much warmth and softness andneedin them that it stole my breath. But now it’s like a shutter has fallen over his soul, blocking out any emotion. I hate it, and the harsh sound of his voice makes the anger churning in my chest roil even faster.

“You fucking lied too!” I blurt, shaking with fury as Nico keeps the gun pressed tightly beneath my chin. “All of you! I was the only one who went into this arrangement telling the fucking truth!”

Atlas opens his mouth to retort, but before he can speak, a sudden, shuddering crash comes from the direction of the clubhouse. We all jerk in surprise, our eyes darting over toward the burning building. Embers and flames shoot up into the skyas another crashing sound fills the air. Something big must have fallen, or caught flame.

Whatever it is, it’s my way out.

The Princes are momentarily distracted, their anger and agony turned on their preciousclubhouse, and that gives me the tiny opening I need.

I jerk backward, ignoring the screaming protest in my arm where I was shot as I break free of Nico’s hold on me, ducking away from the weapon he had pressed under my chin.

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