Page 164 of Kissing the Villain

“Follow through with the sailing trip with Sonny. She wants to see what it’s like to date someone other than me.”

My brother blew out a deep breath. “Are you sure?”

I bobbed my head in confirmation. “She’s starting to remember the past. And when she knows what happened the last few months before Aiden disappeared, she will return to me.”

“We need to completeLegarebefore the Albanians come for her again.”

I swallowed hard as I thought about the ritual that would bind us and make Alex the Queen of the Devil’s Knights. The last time, she acted like a true queen. I’d never seen Alex so liberated. Finding her sexuality with other men seemed to pull her out of her shell. She had found her place among the Knights, and I made a horrible mistake. Not telling her the truth about Aiden fucked all of us in the end.

“It’s only a matter of time,” I assured my brother. “Our queen is in there somewhere.”

He stared at me, painfully still, and sucked in a deep breath. We had the same blue eyes and the same dark hair. Except I kept mine short and spiked in the front, whereas Marcello’s was usually messy on purpose. Some people thought we were twins, the spitting image of our father with our mother’s eyes. I wasmuscular but lean, while Marcello had a bulky frame from years of training soldiers.

My brother never cared much about keeping women around long-term. None of us did. Alex was the exception to my rule. To all of our rules. I’d never even let women kiss me before I fucked them. And I sure as hell didn’t let them touch my scars as Alex did. She’d worked her voodoo magic on my mind and heart. And she had gotten to my brother, too.

I brushed Alex’s cheek with my fingers. She curled into a ball on her side, facing us. What looked like a smile stretched the corners of her mouth.Beautiful.

“You want me to wake her?” I waggled my eyebrows with a teasing smirk. “See if she wants you to finish what you two started outside Damian’s room?”

He bit his bottom lip, then glanced at Alex, lying on the altar like an offering from the gods.

Yeah, he fucking wanted her.

All of my brothers did.

The Devil’s Knights had been drooling over Alex for years. Knowing she would one day be ours, I tried to keep her from other men. I did my best to ensure I saved our sick brand of torture for her.

“Is she fair game now?” Sonny asked, still wearing his ceremonial robe.

“Fuck off, Cormac,” I shot back, my usual response to any question Sonny asked me.

He held up his hands and shrugged, nonchalant as if we were discussing the stock price instead of Alex’s pretty pussy. “Just wondering since she’s going to be our queen.”

“Legareis one night,” I reminded him, spinning around so my back was to Alex, guarding her against the hungry wolves ready to pounce. “Let me make something clear. Alex is mine. Now and forever. Mine.”

“Why does Marcello get to touch her beforeLegare?”

I narrowed my eyes at Sonny. “You jealous?”

“Fuck, yeah,” he countered as he approached the altar. “After last year, I want another taste of her.”

“Until she remembers, no one is touching her.”

“She does,” Sonny insisted. “Alex had a flashback to the day we met with Carl. She knows what she did with Marcello and me.”

“No,” Marcello added. “Only what she did with you.”

Sonny rolled his shoulders. “Either way, she knows something. It’s a start.”

“I have an idea,” I announced. “We give her until my birthday. And then we play Capture the Queen.”

All of their eyes glazed over as sly grins pulled at their mouths. I knew they would like the idea. Alex would, too, if she got her memories back before my birthday party.

“Are we good?” I asked Sonny.

“Yeah.” He stared down at Alex. “We’re good.”

I glanced over at Bastian, Damian, Cole, and Drake. They nodded in agreement.

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