Page 131 of Where the Wicked Reign

“Why wouldn’t I be able to do that?”

He gave me a withering look. “How about, despite the fact that you played it off in front of her like it was nothing to you, itdoesactually bother you greatly that the two of them were together? Given the situation at the time, you had to stand back and basically let it happen, let her fuck another man even after you’d made an obsessive connection with her that night she stabbed you at the restaurant.”

I ground my teeth as his words dug into still open wounds. Wounds that I hated were still actually open and not yet in the scar stage.

“I can’t change what happened.”

“You also can’t hurt Levi when you meet with him. He’s a valuable asset. And he’s even more than that to Caterina. He’s her only friend, and it would break her to pieces if something happened to him.”

“I’m well aware. He’s not in any danger from me.”

“And you can keep it unemotional like that?”

“For the good of the mission, yes.”

“Maybe I should go with you.”

“You can’t. I need you here running interference. Me taking off right now isn’t the best timing. I need you and Julian to cover me, or all of this will go south very quickly.” I ground my teeth again. It was a lot to take having him questioning me and not trusting in me implicitly, not trusting my assurances immediately. It was how things were between us.

Exceptwhen it came to myferalside. Whenever he saw me unleash it, he was unsure and worried for a few hours afterward. Seeing as though that had happened more than usual lately,andthe fact that he was now smitten with Caterina, it was shifting that for him, shiftingourdynamic.

“All right,” he agreed, albeit reluctantly.

“You remember the plan?”

“Of course. I’ll prevent you from being tailed. Julian will throw an over-the-top bachelor party for you that will function as an epic distraction, enabling you to duck out without drawing attention.”

“And if they come looking for me in spite of that?”

“We say you left to pick up wedding rings for you and Caterina personally, wanting to reinforce this commitment to the marriage directive.”

“Almost my exact words. Well done.”

“You know me, always on the ball.”

I read between the lines there. He was telling me that was what he needed from me, what I was so good at. What they all needed from me.

And they’d fucking have it.

Tonight would be another major step forward in our mission to bring the current status quo crashing down.

Those who controlled us, who believed they had the right to rule us, would fall.

They’d suffer for it too.

A reckoning was coming.

I pulledinto the small lot of the nondescript dive bar, bringing my Ferrari to a stop just a few feet from the entrance.

It was Levi’s kind of place, where he felt comfortable with the down-to-earth aspect. He didn’t like pretense. Unfortunately for him, what he was currently wrapped up in required him to do a great deal of that, to play the game.

And this meeting would be no exception to that.

I climbed out of my car, locked it, then headed straight for the bar entrance, wanting to get this dirty dealing done as soon as possible. Julian and Milo could only cover for me for so long. The journey here and back already ate up enough time as it was.

I hauled open the door and stepped into the dimly lit bar, scanning it quickly to ensure Levi was truly here alone. I discounted the two bar flies within immediate view, talking with the bartender, as well as a middle-aged man sitting at a table in the middle of the establishment. Everywhere else was clear.

And there was Levi, sitting in a booth in the corner, shrouded by a whole lot of shadow.

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