Page 264 of Kissing the Villain

“I want it now.”

“Good things come to those who wait, Mr. Salvatore.”

“I want to meet all the Knights.”

“You’ve met them.”

She shook her head. “No, I want to meet all of them—every Knight in the country. I want to know everything there is toknow about the Knights. I was thinking about your mom earlier. I sat in front of her self-portrait and conversed with her.”

“Crazy and beautiful,” I joked. “I guess I can’t get one without the other.”

She chuckled. “Don’t tell me you’ve never talked to her after she died.”

“Yeah, but it’s different. She was my mother. I knew her.”

“I have always felt like I know her. Her art speaks to me. The way a song would be for others. I don’t need to hear her words to understand her feelings.”

“What did you say to her?”

“I looked at the pieces she created while she was dating your dad and after she married him. And now that I know what she went through to be with him, I can see she embraced being the Queen of the Knights. And I will, too. I told her she’d always given me the strength to be with you. I also told her I would take good care of you.”

My eyes stung from her confession. “She would have loved you.”

She pressed her lips to mine. “I love you, Luca. I want to be your wife and your Queen.”

My cell phone rang. She pulled back with a groan as I reached into my pocket.

I raised the phone to my ear. “Yes?”

“Grab your brothers and meet me in my office,” my dad said, hanging up without another word.

I shoved the phone into my jacket pocket. “Duty calls,” I told her.

“Will you be gone long?”

“I don’t know, baby. I’m just going downstairs to talk to my dad and brothers. Dom is outside the room. I’ll send him in after I leave. He won’t let anything happen to you.”

“You don’t have to fear for my safety inside this house. We have more protection than the president.”

I slid my hand beneath her chin and tilted her head until our eyes met. “No matter where you go, a target will always be on your back. People will want to hurt you just to hurt me. But I will keep you safe.”

I satin the chair across from my father with a glass of scotch in my hand. He puffed on a cigar, the plume of smoke filling his office. Marcello sat on my left while Bastian and Damian took their usual places on my right side.

My dad flicked the ash into the tray on the coffee table. “The auction ended last week.”

“So,” I shot back. “That’s the end.”

“Rumors are going around that the Salvatores make deals they can’t keep.”

“I don’t care who won the auction,” I snapped. “We never made a deal with Kurti to sell Alex. I’m not handing over my wife for some sicko to torture.”

“There are strict rules about auctions,” my father intoned. “You know the rules, Luca.”

“I don’t give a fuck about the rules. Alex is mine!”

“I’m not disputing that, son. I am just reminding you that the worst has yet to come. I spoke with our business associates. They will overlook this mistake since Alex was never for sale. But the man who won the auction expects Alexandrea to be delivered to him this week.”

“We should have won.” I blew out a deep breath, attempting to steady my nerves. “Or, at the very least, one of our associates.”

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