Page 13 of Cinder
“Like taking over your father’s empire,” Viktor adds.
I can tell by the look on Luca’s face that Viktor’s words landed exactly where he intended them to. Right in the middle of Luca’s pride.
Luca bristles. He knows Viktor meant it as an insult, but with ten million dollars at stake, he isn’t going to take the bait.
He clears his throat and squares his shoulders. “Yes, taking the business my father built to the next level has taken up a lot of my time.”
Viktor smiles, but it’s empty. He doesn’t believe him. Or he doesn’t care. I get the feeling he doesn’t think much of my brother.
“I have someone inside the clubhouse who will get me access to the berries.” He plays with a giant gold ring on his pinky finger. “Then I have a man in a white coat who will do the rest for me.”
“If you have a man on the inside, why don’t they get the recipe for you?” I ask.
“Only the president and the club alchemist know the recipe. My insider isn’t privy to such information. The only way for us to get it is to find that recipe, and my insider has no reason to access the library. It would arouse suspicion, and Idon’t want to risk them getting caught. It takes time and effort to prime an insider.”
I don’t bother to ask how he managed to get a man inside the Knights of St. Boniface clubhouse. Because I suspect Viktor Olicheckoff always gets what he wants through any means he sees fit. He is not a man who asks. He is a man who takes.
Which is exactly what will happen on our wedding night.
Repulsion tightens in my stomach as a vision of this man forcing me onto the bed and climbing on top of me makes bile rise in my throat. My pulse races in my throat; my heart pounds against my rib cage.
Luca’s voice pulls me back to the present. “You, on the other hand…finding you in the library won’t raise suspicions. After all, you do love your books.” His lips curl into a snarl. “Just like your slut mother.”
I keep my expression neutral, so he doesn’t see the anger roaring inside me.
I won’t give him the satisfaction.
But our eyes remain locked for a moment longer.
One day I will kill you.
Luca rips his gaze from me to return his attention to Viktor. “It all seems like a lot of risk. Why don’t we simply take it by force?”
“You talk as if someone hasn’t tried that before.” Viktor’s arctic eyes don’t blink as he stares at my brother with disdain. He doesn’t like being second guessed, and it’s obvious Lucahas offended him. “And since you clearly think I haven’t taken this into consideration, let me explain some things to you. In 1941, two desperados kidnapped the Knights’ alchemist and tortured him until he told them the recipe. They died before they could try it because the Knights found them, tortured them and made them eat their own tongues before they threw them off the cliffs that fringe St. Boniface.”
I audibly swallow.
“In 1967, the wife of the then club president was held for ransom by a rival club. When she was killed, the president brought hell down on the rival club until it was decimated and burned to the ground. He then hung the bodies of the perpetrators from Deadman’s Bridge as a warning to anyone else who wanted to try.”
Oh God.
“In 1975 and 1996, two crime syndicates started a war with the club and each time the club fought back with great power and a relentlessness neither could have predicted, until nothing was left of either family.”
These men are nothing like what I thought they were.
“The last attempt was fifteen years ago. Another rival club. Another attempt. Another trail of bodies. Do you need any further reasons, or have I made my point?”
Luca looks more affected by Viktor’s fierce glare than the gruesome details he just heard.
Viktor slides his gaze to me and I’m sure he’s expecting to see fear on my face.
But I’m my father’s daughter.
It takes a lot more than stories around a campfire to rattle my cage.
Although, I’m surprised. I always thought the Knights of St. Boniface were modern-day Robin Hoods. But Viktor makes them out to be monsters.
“Of course, your idea is sound, Pakhan. You can trust Ella to help you,” Luca says, bringing his gaze to me. “She knows what is at stake if she doesn’t.”
