Page 79 of Beneath the Thorned Crown

I flex my fingers, the pain from the fight dull compared to the rage still burning through me.

"You disappeared." My voice is rough, raw. "You fucking disappeared when Jayden was being tortured to death."

His expression hardens. "I was handling shit you don’t know about."

"Then tell me."

Charles exhales sharply, wiping blood from his lip. "I was in the city. At the house."

I frown. "Why?"

He wipes his face with the back of his hand, then looks at me. Really looks at me.

"You know the DeLuca ring?"

My stomach tightens.

Of course I fucking know. The DeLuca ring—an heirloom, a symbol of our alliance. The one that was stolen.

By Demitri.

The realization hits like a bullet, sharp and hard.

Charles nods, seeing the shift in my expression. "Yeah. That. The DeLucas got wind of it, and I had to keep things from boiling over. I was making sure they didn’t assume you were trying to break the alliance."

I narrow my eyes. "You should have told me." My voice is low, edged with exhaustion and anger.

Charles exhales sharply, running a hand through his already disheveled hair. Before he can answer, something else clicks in my mind. My jaw clenches, frustration bubbling beneath my skin.

"The ring was returned," I snap. "Or did you forget?" My tone is sharper than I intend.

By Isabella.

Even the thought of her name sends a fresh ache through my chest, like a dull knife pressing deeper into a wound I refuse to acknowledge.

She returned the ring herself. She made sure that problem was dealt with. And yet, it still wasn’t enough. It never is with the DeLucas.

Charles sighs, his shoulders tense. "Yeah, Dom. I know. But you also know them." He looks at me pointedly. "It doesn’t take much to set them off. That ring was stolen in the first place—that’s enough for them to start questioning shit. Even if it’s back in your possession, they’re watching."

I rub a hand over my face, feeling the grime and dried blood clinging to my skin. "So, you were making sure they didn’t assume I was trying to get out of the alliance."

Charles nods. "And that’s not all I was there for."

"What do you mean?"

Charles steps closer, lowering his voice.

"I hired a PI. Someone I trust. I needed someone outside our circle to do the digging. And it didn’t take much for the guy to find the bastard who's been going behind our backs this whole time."

My pulse spikes.

Every muscle in my body coils tight, my mind already racing, already preparing.

"Who?" My voice is deadly quiet, razor-sharp.

Charles watches me carefully, his next words laced with finality.

"He hasn’t been careful, Dom. It wasn’t even hard for the PI to catch him. He got cocky."

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