Page 244 of Kissing the Villain

“Me too.” I patted his shoulder. “In due time, Battle. They will come to us. Trust me. The highest bid on Alex was thirty million dollars.”

“There will be an uproar when the club members discover they can’t outbid him.”

“That’s not our problem.”

Sonny, Finn, and Callum waited for us at the jungle’s edge. Marcello was there with a handful of his men. My brother was dressed in black camouflage, and his face was painted, so he was unrecognizable. So you couldn’t tell him apart from the rest of Alpha Command.

But I would know those sad eyes anywhere. Alex called Marcello her Lonely Boy and often sketched him. I’d found dozens of drawings of my brother among her ideas for future Devil paintings. Her feelings for both of us bled into every inch of her work.

“Took you long enough,” Marcello said and then walked into the jungle.

With his help, we got Alex off the island and left in one piece. So I held my tongue and followed my brother into the darkness. The Knights trailed behind me, swatting at the overgrowth. We moved toward the water, where they hid the seaplane.

We boarded the small plane with just enough room to fit the Knights. Marcello’s men were staying behind to deal with security. They’d already killed half of the men surrounding the building and had to maintain the charade long enough for us to leave this palatial hellhole.

Marcello sat beside me with his hand on my knee, reassuringly squeezing it. He was better at communicating his feelings. There was a chance none of us would make it off the island alive, and yet we defied the odds. It was too easy. We both knew the worst part had yet to come.

Twenty minutes later,we landed in the water beside the DeLucas’ boat. Two men leaned overboard and threw ropes for us to grab. This was probably a stupid idea, but I couldn’t waitanother second to see Alex. I had insisted the pilot let me off the damn plane. Of course, Marcello wasn’t letting me go alone. He was just as desperate to hold Alex in his arms.

I grabbed one rope, and Marcello took the other. Slowly and steadily, we climbed up the side of the boat like Spider-Man scaling a building. More athletic and conditioned for battle, Marcello was already on board, lending a helping hand when I reached the yacht’s deck.

“You’re out of shape,” Marcello joked as he slapped me on the back, draining the air from my lungs. “You should come running with me when we return to Devil’s Creek.”

I rolled my eyes at him. “I work out seven days a week. I’m good.”

“Follow us,” a dark-haired man said to us. “Damon is waiting for you.”

I glanced over the side of the boat and waved to the Knights. They were heading home after they landed in Key West. Then, I followed the men into the cabin and down a long hallway. My cousin Damon owned the boat and had decorated the interior like one of his casinos.

He had inherited The Portofino Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City after a rival family murdered his father last year. It was one of many legitimate businesses our family used to launder drug money.

We entered the last room on the right. Damon DeLuca sat behind a long mahogany desk with his younger brothers, Angelo and Gio, in chairs across from him. They dressed in expensive black suits, their dark hair gelled into place. They rose from their chairs as we entered the room.

Damon moved out from behind the desk. “Cousin,” he said as he gave me a one-arm hug. “I wish we saw each other under better circumstances.”

“Thanks for helping us out.” I hugged him back. “How is Alex?”

He tipped his head toward the couch at the room’s far end. “She passed out the second her head hit the pillow.”

I sighed in relief when I saw Alex sleeping on a plush couch, her head propped up on pillows. Someone had covered her broken, bruised body with a blanket.

“She’s a fighter,” Damon said with his hand on my back. “I can see why you chose her as our Queen.”

My cousin was powerful, a ruler in his own right, but he knew his place within The Devil’s Knights. I was about to become the Grand Master, and once Alex accepted my marriage proposal, she would be Queen. No one could handle me or this world like Alex.

“She’s always had that fight in her,” I muttered as I approached the couch with Damon at my side. “Did she say anything before she fell asleep?”

“She tried to punch me.” He laughed. “Thought I was another man trying to kidnap her. I explained that we’re cousins.”

I dropped to my knees beside the couch, studying her beautiful face. She had bruises on her neck and arms, her face free of markings. All the slices into her once beautiful skin made my heart ache.

“She needs water,” I told Damon.

Hands in his pockets, he bobbed his head. “I made Alex drink a bottle before she crashed.”

“She could use more. And something to eat. I’m going to wake her and make sure she’s okay. See if she needs a doctor.”

Damon snapped his fingers at his brothers. “Tell the chef to prepare one of everything for our guests. Get the girls in here with drinks for everyone. And a few bottles of water.”

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