Page 159 of Kissing the Villain

“It wouldn’t have mattered. Our father would have forced the marriage, anyway. The fact you’re gorgeous only sweetened the deal for Luca.”

“Have you thought about taking Luca’s place?”

Marcello stopped in front of the gate, waiting for them to open inward so we could drive onto his property. “As the head of the family? No, never.”

“I mean with me.”

He licked his lips. “Yes.”

57

LUCA

I saton the throne at the front of the ritual room in The Devil’s Knights’ temple. A few local Knights gathered before me with Aiden Wellington at the group’s center. Dirty and exhausted, he could barely keep his eyes open as he shoved his long, blond curls off his forehead. The scar from the accident dipped beneath his hair and spanned the length of the right side of his face.

He no longer reminded me of his twin sister. He had changed so much in the past year that I wondered if Alex would recognize him. Only a few more weeks until Aiden would become one of us. I was a bastard for keeping them apart, but we had rules all Knights had to follow.

I couldn’t speak to my family for nine months when I joined the Knights. It was the hardest year of my life. I endured challenging tasks with the men in this room, bonding experiences that indebted us to the Knights and brought us closer.

Aiden wasn’t the pussy I once thought, and we needed his help with the Albanians.

“Your sister is in danger,” I told Aiden. “She was almost kidnapped a few weeks ago.”

We hadn’t spoken to him since before the attack at my estate. As part of his Initiation, Aiden had spent one month with a different group of Knights throughout the country. He was at their beck and call, performing whatever duties they required. Technically, I didn’t lie to Alex since her brother wasn’t in Devil’s Creek until recently. He’d just finished his tour across the country, one step closer to joining our ranks.

Aiden scratched the stubble along his jaw. “Is Alex okay?”

“Physically, yes.”

Aiden stepped closer to the dais. “And mentally?”

“She’s fine,” I assured him. “Alex was too worried about Marcello to process what happened to her.”

He lifted a confused eyebrow at me. “Why would she be worried about Marcello?”

I explained the attack at my house and Marcello’s near-death experience.

Aiden shot a look at Marcello. “How is she handling our separation?”

“Not well,” Marcello admitted. “She misses you. Wakes up screaming your name in the middle of the night.”

Aiden scrubbed a hand across his face and sighed. “Three more weeks,” he groaned. “Can I see her then?”

I nodded. “We’re at war. The Albanians have made several attempts to grab Alex. So far, they have been unsuccessful, but they are ramping up their efforts and finding new friends among our allies.”

He rubbed his tired eyes. “How can I help?”

“You have one more task to complete.” I leaned forward, resting my elbows on my thighs. “Callum and Finn will explain on your way to New York. Try not to get yourself killed.”

He lowered his head, keeping his opinions to himself. Before I’d saved his life, he always had a smart-ass comment orrebuttal. But he understood our organization had orders he was expected to follow.

After Aiden left the room with Callum and Finn, the Knights stared at me, awaiting my next instruction. My eyes swept over the group before falling on Marcello.

“Go get Alex,” I told him. “It’s time for her to remember. We need our queen.”

Marcello gave me a weary look. “How far are you going to take this?”

With our enemies getting closer, we had to pull our queen out of her head and bring her back to reality. Alex remembered what we did with the Knights last year in the temple, but I was sick of waiting. I’d been patient for too long.

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