Page 125 of Kissing the Villain

His interest was the only one he served, and if that meant sacrificing Alex to win the long game, he would do it. He handed Aiden to me on a silver platter because he refused to acceptthis legacy. There was nothing Carl wouldn’t do to preserve the future of his family. Aiden was another obstacle in his way.

“Alex isn’t speaking to you,” Sonny said to me. “Do you plan on fixing that before we lose our status with The Founders Society?”

I stamped out my cigar in the tray, blowing a cloud of smoke in his face. “You don’t know what you’re talking about, Cormac.”

“Marcello tells me everything, which means the Knights know Alex asked you for space.”

I waved my hand dismissively. “She’s mad. Alex will get over it.”

My words said one thing, but they lacked certainty. She hadn’t asked me for space even when I was at my worst. We should have been growing closer, not apart. I was royally fucking up with her, and I had no one but myself to blame.

“Without a queen, we can’t admit new Knights,” Drake said, annoyed. “This bullshit affects us too.”

“I have it under control,” I lied.

“Do you know what Carl wants to talk to us about?” Callum Cormac asked me.

I shook my head. “About the future of the Knights.”

“That can’t be good,” Bastian groaned.

“Nope. And he wants Alex at the meeting.”

“The wedding,” Drake guessed. “That’s what he wants to talk about.”

“I assume so,” I confirmed. “But something tells me Wellington is plotting against me.”

Sonny laughed. “That’s your paranoia.”

I was turning thirty at the end of the month. My father had to transfer the Grand Master of The Devil’s Knights' power to me by midnight on my birthday. If I hadn’t fucked up with Alex and Aiden last year, I would have already become their leader. TheCharter dictated that the next Grand Master couldn’t assume the role without the new queen by his side.

I rose from the armchair and straightened my lapels, eyes sweeping the group. “Wellington refuses to give his approval to marry Alex. He’s got something up his sleeve.”

Drake’s phone dinged. He shot up from the couch and held out his cell phone. “Kurti is on the move again.”

The Knights jumped to their feet, looking to me for instructions.

“Marcello will stay with Alex,” I told them. “She’s safe here.”

“Add a few more guards outside her balcony and on her floor,” Bastian suggested. “Just in case this is a trap.”

“Text Marcello,” I told him. “But tell him to be discreet. He’s too forthcoming with Alex.”

He shoved a hand through his dark hair, sweeping it off his forehead, and removed his cell phone from his pocket to text Marcello.

With a smirk, I grabbed my guns from the table and shoved them into the holster strapped to my chest. “Let’s go hunt monsters.”

The Knights grinned in satisfaction.

49

ALEX

We tookthe elevator to the third floor, where Luca occupied most of the west wing. I pushed Marcello in a wheelchair despite his protests. He tried to walk up the stairs and ripped his stitches, so I forced him into the damn chair.

We entered Luca’s office, which had a long mahogany desk between a wall of windows and a patio overlooking the bay. Drake, Damian, Bastian, and Cole Marshall gathered around Luca on the couches in the sitting area. Sonny and his brothers, Finn and Callum, leaned into each other, their whispers ceasing when I entered the room with Marcello.

Luca sat in a chair by the fireplace with his shoe propped on his knee. My mouth watered as I saw my handsome Devil dressed in a navy suit with gold cufflinks and a gold tie. I hadn’t seen him much in the last week, mostly in passing. And I couldn’t deny that he instantly affected my body. As usual, his eyes stripped me bare.

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