Page 18 of Dukes of Peril

He fights back, which I expect. Years of training, scuffling with Nick and Remy and the guys at the gym, have taught me just about every maneuver. Maddox lifts his knee, but I lift mine first. He tries to wrench my wrist back, but even though he’s not soft like the other Kings–there’s definitely a lot of muscle and strength hiding under all that darkness–I’m younger, hungrier, and definitely stronger.

When he finally huffs, furious eyes glaring into mine, I give the signal, a quick sharp whistle.

The footsteps ascending to us are quick and loud, just like Baroness’ panicked breaths. “Daddy,” she says, voice frantic and gasping. “Help!”

Maddox’s gaze flicks over my shoulder, but I don’t need to look behind me to know what he’s seeing. Regina Thorne, the Baroness, with her wrists bound and the barrel of a pistol to her head.

Nick’s idea.

Behind me, Ballsack cocks the hammer. “Ready for your signal, boss.”

Maddox’s eyes move back to mine, nostrils flaring wide. “You said you’d come alone!”

“Yeah.” I shrug. “But I lied.”Lavinia’s idea.

“No true Baroness fears her death,” he barks, speaking just as much to Regina as he is to me. His eyes flick back and forth between us, and it’s clear as day, really. He’d let this woman die.

“I bet her Barons do.” I lean in close, trying hard not to see the similarities between him and his son. I bet Maddox ran wild back in his day. I bet he could do it now, just like Remy, catching the eye of women half his age. “Imagine the ways you might lose the loyalty ofyourterritory. For instance, killing their woman over some bullshit contract that you only took because you value your heir more than them.”Remy’s idea.

He presses against the blade, slowly, deliberately, smiling as blood trickles down. “They worship me. She’s just a warm hole.”

“You really don’t know the new guard, do you?” I wave the knife between us. “We all get a little psycho over our girls. Probably something to do with how we were raised by people like you.”

He looks at Regina again, jaw tight, and I know I’ve hit a nerve. He’s as good as lost Remy–his one true son. Does he risk losing the three stand-ins? “Make your fucking terms.”

Bingo.

I back off, glowering down at the knife. “You get Lionel to call off the hit. We’ll keep your secret, and I’ll even offer something you want more than that.”

Maddox straightens his shirt aggressively, not even bothering with the cut on his throat. “And what do you think you have that I want?” he asks, sneering.

Spinning the knife, I offer the hilt to him. “I’ll keep your son safe.”

He doesn’t take it. Helaughs, the sound jagged and grating. “Oh, you’ve done a real bang-up job of that so far, haven’t you?”

Sighing, I make a gesture to Ballsack, watching him pocket the gun. “No, I haven’t. But now I understand where I went wrong.” To Maddox, I cock my head. “Have you?”

Maddox twists the ring on his finger, the lines of the pentagram catching the light. My heart hammers in my chest. What I’m doing, it’s unheard of. A no-name Royal making a deal with a King. I should’ve gone through Saul, but I don’t know who I can trust right now, only who Ican’t.

“Fine,” he says, finally swiping out to snatch the knife from my hand. He bares his teeth in a sadistic grin, reaching up to smear the blood on his neck. “But I only make deals in blood, Perilini.”

I stare at his out-stretched, blood-stained hand. “Fucking gross.” Nevertheless, I play his stupid, unhygenic game, flicking at the blood on my own throat before taking his hand, matching his strong grip with my own.

He leans in and says in my ear, “If any harm befalls my son–if my secret gets out to anyone–it won’t be like it was tonight, boy. You won’t see me coming for you.”

He steps back and gestures over my shoulder, Regina rigidly sprinting the distance to him.

Maddox may not be the devil, but I still have the feeling I made a deal I may regret.

I dropBallsack and the other guys back at the gym, then take a long, convoluted way back to the house on the river. All the while, I keep vigilant, making sure I’m not being followed. I still feel grimy from the meeting at Underworld, and I’m glad that this isn’t my destiny; making deals in shitty bars, with narcissistic assholes fighting a decades-old turf war. Nick gets the pleasure of dealing with Kings in the future, not me. My dreams are bigger than being a Duke. I’ll get my degree, go to med school, become a psychiatrist and rise above it all.

I pull up to the house, parking next to the garage. Slumping back, I scrub a palm over my face and get a look at myself in the rearview mirror.Jesus, I look like shit. I’ve barely slept since I left my parents’ house. I’m lucky it didn’t give Maddox the upper hand.

Or maybe he just let me win out of pity. The Dukes, in the current form, are a fucking shit show.

I get out of the car and walk to the house, the crunch of gravel under my feet. I need a shower and about sixteen hours of sleep—preferably in my own bed.

No. Preferably in my own bed with Lavinia curled up next to me.

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