Page 91 of Wild Fury (Fallen Royals 6)

My camera.

“Lucille,” someone says.

A shriek escapes before I can control myself.

Wilder DeSantis, my sister’s fiancé, rises from Ruby’s desk chair. He pushes his hands in his pockets, parting his suit jacket. It’s a not-so-subtle reveal of the holstered gun at his hip. I take a quick step backward, glancing around the rest of the room.

It’s empty.

“How did you get in here?” I cross my arms over my chest, suddenly self-conscious.

I should’ve put on a bra, but… well, I expected to be able to go to bed. He doesn’t move from the center of the room, and I inch to my closet and find a zip-up sweatshirt. I pull my damp hair out from under the collar, all the while watching him like he’s a poisonous snake.

“Your RA said I could wait for you,” he eventually says. He gestures to my bed. “She had your camera.”

“That’s…” Illegal? Against the rules? He’s a grown adult, and I’m barely eighteen. Not to mention, he’s practically a stranger.

My parents did everything they could to keep me away from the DeSantis family—like Jameson, Wilder’s father, would decide that one marriage wasn’t enough. There’s no way I was getting married to anyone my parents picked out for me. And I mentioned that frequently.

Few people knew me well enough that I’d trust them to arrange me into a marriage contract.

A contract is all it is, Mom told me. She tried to be reassuring sometimes, but it fell flat. It didn’t help that the light in Amelie’s eyes had been slowly draining away over the past two and a half years. She learned she’d be shackled to a stranger at sixteen, and nothing she’s done has stopped it.

“The man you killed,” he begins.

I flinch. “I didn’t—”

“Please.” He shoots me a baleful glance. “Don’t lie. I’m still working out how it happened, but that’s not why I’m here.”

My back hits the wall. I hadn’t even realized I was stumbling away from him until I can’t go any farther. “Then why?”

“Because I wanted you to know firsthand who you pissed off.” He lifts his chin. “Of all the men, you chose a party crasher.”

I narrow my eyes. “You’re telling me he wasn’t even invited to your engagement party?”

“Probably there to sniff out family secrets.” He glances around the room. Wilder is a whole new level of scary—the kind I wouldn’t want to touch with a ten-foot pole. “Security. Maybe a thief who saw an opportunity.”

Maybe… but that doesn’t feel like the complete truth.

“A phone call would’ve done.” I gesture to his weapon. “And what’s the point of showing me that?”

His expression doesn’t waver. “It doesn’t change the fact that you killed someone on our estate.”

“Allegedly,” I mutter. “It’s a wild guess.”

Wilder glowers. “It’s not a wild guess. I have witnesses who place you going down the back path with a man they didn’t recognize.”

“Witnesses. What is this, a trial?”

“Yes.” He strides forward, stopping just a foot away. Within reach, if he wanted. “Consider me your judge, jury, and executioner. You’re not suspected by the detectives running the case, but you could easily become the focus of investigation.”

Chills race up my spine. “That sounds…”

That’s a threat.

Wilder nods slowly. “Your family falls under the DeSantis protection, and your parents have agreed with our decision. We’re sending you away until we can guide the investigation toward another suspect.”

My heart drops. Not Theo. I had told them he picked me up—and if that gets back to Wilder or his father, Theo could be next. And if they do pin it on him, what recourse do I have?

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