Page 284 of Kissing the Villain

Aiden released me from his grip and then looked at Marcello. He stretched out his hand, and the two of them shook hands. “Thanks for taking care of my sister.”

Marcello bobbed his head. “Of course. I made a promise.”

I glanced at Marcello. “Can you give us some time alone?”

Marcello studied my face for a moment as he considered my request. “I’ll be in the hallway. Keep the door open.”

I rolled my eyes. “Okay, drill sergeant.”

Before he could comment, I turned and entered the office with Aiden in tow.

“You should give Marcello a break,” Aiden said as I sat behind my desk. “He’s looking out for you.”

“I know. I’m just so sick of people following me around.”

“It’s for your protection,” he shot back. “Just let him do his job without complaining.”

“How would you feel if you had people watching over you every moment of the day?”

He plopped into the chair across from the desk. “I’d hate it. But I’m not the Queen of The Devil’s Knights. I’ve hated the idea of you and Luca since I met him. But you can do this. You have what it takes to become our queen.”

“How do you feel about the ceremony?”

Disgust scrolled across his face. “I’m not happy about it. But it’s tradition, a way to bind you with the Knights.”

Aiden rested his elbows on his knees and leaned forward. “Do you understand what’s involved? Because I don’t think you do.”

“I have to consummate my marriage to Luca. We’ve had sex in front of the Knights before.”

I left out the part about us doing a trial run before I lost my memories. The Knights had no secrets, but there was no point in rubbing it in his face.

Aiden shook his head and lowered his gaze. “Please, spare me, Lexie. He might be the leader of the Knights, but you are still my twin sister. This whole thing makes my stomach turn.”

“You worry about me too much.”

“Maybe not enough,” he challenged with venom in his tone. “If I hadn’t been so obsessed with The Serpents, we wouldn’t be here now.”

“Luca told me about them. But I want to hear it from your mouth. Why was it so important for you to join them? They’re criminals.”

“Pops,” he muttered. “When I turned eighteen, he took me to the Founders Club.” My eyebrows lifted, and he smirked. “Don’tgive me shit after what you did with Luca at the club. I heard the rumors.”

“They’re not rumors.”

“Yeah, let’s forget about that.” He blew out a deep breath. “Anyway, on my eighteenth birthday, Pops told me I had to join The Devil’s Knights. He said I had to stop pursuing my street art. I wasn’t interested in joining a secret society, especially not one the Salvatores controlled.”

“You didn’t know about the Salvatores’ connection to The Serpents.”

“Nope. I got their attention on my own. But it wasn’t until Marcello pointed me in the right direction that I knew I was too deep. Then Luca made the introductions at The River Styx. I had to commit.”

“Why did you want to join them?”

“Because I wanted to impact the world. I could have gone down the traditional art route like you, but I wanted to do something that mattered.” He bit his bottom lip. “I mean… Not that your art doesn’t matter.”

I held up my hand. “I get it. You wanted to make a social impact.”

He nodded. “I blame our shitty parents. Maybe I wouldn’t have been so desperate for attention if they’d shown us an ounce of their time. They never loved us. Never even acknowledged us.”

“Because Mom sold us to the Salvatores before we were born. She’d washed her hands of us in the womb.”

---