Page 19 of Goldflame

But I can’t seem to kill this possessive need that courses through my veins like heroin. The need to keep her all to myself even as I fantasize about making her suffer for Adrian’s death.

My brother is buried and I’m crowned king of this cesspit, yet all I can think about is her. The scent of her skin. The taste of her lips. The way she’d arch beneath me, gasping my name.

Now she stands across the room, surrounded by death once again, and I don’t know if I want to strangle her or pull her into my arms and never let go.

Neither option will bring Adrian back.

“Julian.” Mother’s voice slips into my ear, her fingers curling around my arm as she appears beside me. Her eyes are sunken and dark, a slight tremble in her voice. “Ican’t believe someone would do this. When we’re—” Her voice cracks.

Instinctively, I pull her into a hug and let her cry. As hard as today has been on me, it’s been worse on her, mourning a son while also having to maintain appearances.

“I’m sorry,” I tell her. “It isn’t right. It isn’t fucking right. I’ll find out who did this.”Though I already know.

She pulls back and wipes her smudged mascara with a tissue. “Regardless, they’re looking to you now. You must respond.”

Her words fill me with a cold dread as I force myself to focus on the chaos surrounding Martinelli’s body. Security personnel form a barrier around the corpse while panicked whispers ripple through the crowd.

Mother’s right, but respond how? I have no clue how to handle this shit. All I can do is try to think about how Lucian might respond, the bastard. I can imagine him ordering the guards to remove the body, and then he’d act as if nothing happened, make some sick joke. He was always eager to entertain himself and others and he saw everyone as disposable. He likely wouldn’t care who killed Martinelli, only that a problem was dealt with. As long as it didn’t affect his reputation or businesses, he’d move on.

If Lucian were in charge, Aurelia would already be dead. So am I just weak for not taking care of her?

I know I need to respond, do something to show I’m the leader, but my entire body is frozen and I can’t think straight.

“Have you come to the same conclusion I have?”Mother asks in a hushed tone, her voice barely audible above the rabble. Her grip tightens on my arm, nails digging through the expensive fabric of my suit. “Look at her face. She’s not shocked—she’s satisfied.”

My eyes snap back to Aurelia. Is that satisfaction I see? Or is it horror? The line between the two blurs the longer I stare.

Why am I so unsure of myself? Lucian was never that way. Neither was Adrian. Both of them were always two steps ahead of everyone else and made confident decisions.

“She’s playing with you,” Mother continues, each word a dagger slipping between my ribs. “First your brother, now this—on the very day of your coronation.” Her voice breaks again. “I just can’t believe it. Why can’t we mourn your brother in peace? Why can’t this day be about our family? She makes everything abouther.”

I swallow, not wanting to admit how right my mother’s words sound. After Lucian died, of course I dug into who murdered him and why. I knew it was a revenge kill from Victoria’s family, so I had a few men investigate to figure out who did it. One name was revealed quickly: Theodore Martinelli. Several witnesses saw the blood on his clothes. We even had security footage of his car a few blocks down because the idiot drove his own vehicle to our place.

I was going to take care of him next week, once things settled down. I’ve been looking forward to it,needingit. I’ve been fantasizing about his death in excruciating detail, not because I want vengeance for Lucian, but because I need to makesomeonesuffer. I need torelease some of this rage and pain festering under my skin. And, as the leader, I need to set an example that no one fucks with my family.

Aurelia robbed me of that. Same way she robbed me of years of my sanity as I obsessed about taking her away from my brother.

I don’t know how, but she figured out Theodore killed Lucian and poisoned him today just to twist the knife further in my back.

Do I really mean so little to her? I mean, what thefuckhave I done to deserve this?

“She’s resourceful,” Mother says, her voice hardening. “And she’s sending you a message. Taunting you. Showing you that she has the power to hurt you.” Mother caresses my hair. “How long will you keep letting her? Youmustdeal with her. Now. Show everyone you’re a leader to be feared.”

Feared.Like Lucian?

I never want to be anything like him. But how else do I respond?

“She’s making a mockery of you. Of our family name. Of Adrian’s memory.” Mother’s voice trembles. “The Consortium is watching. Waiting to see if you’re strong enough to lead. If you’ll let this… this outburst stand.”

I glance around. She’s right, every eye in this room keeps glancing my way, waiting, weighing my worth against my father’s legacy, against Adrian’s potential. The Harrows don’t back down. We don’t show weakness. We take control.

We conquer.

Right now, Aurelia is making me look like a fucking fool.

The rage that’s been simmering beneath my skin boils over, flooding my vision with crimson. I wrench myself free of Mother’s grip and push through the crowd, shoving bodies aside as I cut a path straight to Aurelia.

I don’t hear the startled gasps or protests that follow in my wake. I don’t see the hungry eyes tracking my movement, eager for the next act in this bloody theater. All I see is her. All I feel is this white-hot need to make her pay.

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