“Tristan.”
The man turned around to me, the usual devilish smile on his lips.
“I don't think you're here to talk toher,” I said, looking at the girl I immediately identified as Larissa's friend. She had the same smell as Larissa, albeit weaker, which made me a little uneasy. Right now, she was here with one of the Blair daughters.
“She knows,” he muttered sternly and came closer to us.
I didn't know what to say, because he could be right.
The girl looked at us, frightened. There was no question that she had seen too much. Actually, I should have reported the attack by Tristan and the other Order member to Bastien, but Tristan had painfully reminded me of our agreement.
That sick bastard.
“You shouldn't even be here,” I said, unimpressed, and moved closer, indicating to the two girls to leave.
They stood up and disappeared.
“Am I not even allowed to visit my own son anymore?” Tristan turned his gaze away from me and looked at Miles, whose jaw was visibly tensing.
If there was a weak point for Miles, this was it. He was ashamed of his father, and you couldn't blame him. It was his father's fault that Miles had already crashed several times.
I gave David a look that told him to leave with Miles. He understood immediately and pushed Miles toward the bar, even though Miles didn't seem to like it.
Tristan seemed to tense up for a moment as he looked after the two of them. Then he looked back at me.
“You know I'm not like the Order.”
My gaze darkened, and I couldn't help the hostility welling up inside me.
He wasn't one of us anymore, and there weremanyreasons for that.Good reasons.
“Just because you are part of the family, and Bastien shows you so much leniency, doesn't meanIdo.”
He didn't seem pleased by my words. Yet he knew he deserved my disapproval more than anything.
“You all kill people for fun,” I continued through clenched teeth. “You're doing something our clan won't tolerate.”
He laughed and looked at the ground.
I wanted to punch him in the face.
Goddammit, how could he be so arrogant and at the same time so naive to show up here. The Tenebris Order was another league, butno oneshould mess with Nicolaj. Not evenhim.
“Let me tell you something, boy.” He looked at me insistently. “If you think our clan is as nice and clean as it seems, you're wrong. I'm just a small pawn in a very big game.”
I stepped back. That was going too far. He thought he could talk about the clan like that?
Apparently, he hadn't had enough. “Tell me, how many lives have you taken, Adrian?” I clenched my jaw, whereupon he just smiled again and tapped me on the chest. “This is where the problem lies.”
Tristan triggered feelings in me that I'd long kept from the surface.Feelings. Something we weren't allowed to have if we didn't want to weaken the clan.
Self-hatred fought its way through my veins.
This was my last chance to end this conversation before it escalated.
“You should leave now,” I said with an unchanged expression.
Tristan just smiled.