Page 58 of Wicked Knight 2

I stood there, shaking my head as he sauntered away. The door closed behind him, and almost immediately, it swung open again. As soon as Belinda saw me, she turned around and practically ran out.

“Oh no you don’t.” I chased after her, across the living room and down the stairs.

Before she reached the kitchen, I grabbed her by the arm and pushed her against the wall. “Why are you running away from me?”

“I’m not.” She furrowed her brows at me.

“We need to talk.” I shot a glance behind me, then gestured down the hallway to her bedroom. “Now.”

“I have work to do.”

“Go now. Or I’ll tell Maxim that you’ve been spying on him since day one.” I braced my hands on my hips. “You’re not even surprised that I know. You saw me?”

She nodded. “Papa was too mad at me to notice Ivan’s door was open.”

“Then no more lies. How do you think Maxim will react to the news that you’ve been spying on him?”

Her eyes watered as she shook her head. After a few beats, she scoffed then stomped down the corridor.

I followed her to her room, then shut the door behind me. “How did Maxim end up with the Brotherhood?”

When Belinda pursed her lips, I closed the space between us and shoved her onto the bed.

“I can’t.” She shook her head. “Papa will kill me.”

“Tough choice.” I took her desk chair and sat across from her. “You’ve been lying to Maxim since he arrived. Feeding him lies about his past because Papa told you to. You’ve been pretending to care about him.”

“I’m not pretending.” She sat up. “I mean, at first, I did it because Papa asked me. But then, I fell in love with him. We were going to get married.”

“Are you sure? That’s not what Maxim said.” I swallowed the lump in my throat and tried not to picture Maxim having sex with Belinda.

“Papa said I would. Then he found you and changed his mind.” She wiped her wet cheeks. “I love him so much.”

“You’re going to tell me everything you know. Because if you don’t, Maxim will know the real reason why you agreed to climb into his bed in the first place,” I said through gritted teeth.

Belinda had the key to unravel this whole mess Papa had created. Partly because Papa had entrusted her to spy on Maxim, but also, because she spent most of her time eavesdropping behind doors.

“Start from the beginning. How did Papa find Maxim? And don’t start with that Moscow bullshit.” I glared at her with adrenaline rushing through me like an avalanche. I had to know what Luca had been through the past year. “Start talking, Belinda. Or I will go get Maxim right now. Maybe you’ll feel more inclined to tell the truth if he’s in the room with us.”

“No.” She swallowed. “Don’t do that. I’ll tell you. But please, swear to me you won’t tell Papa.”

“You have my word. Go on.” I waited until she lowered herself to the bed again.

“Two years ago, Ivan found this hit list that was offering a lot of money.” She shrugged. “He killed a few guys before Papa found out he’d been killing Italians. He was furious because he didn’t want to start a war, but he was curious about who was paying to kill all those people and why.”

“So instead of killing them, he what? Started interrogating them?”

She nodded. “I happened to be walking by the library one time when I heard them beating up a man.”

“Maxim?”

“No, it was someone else. He told Papa about the Society, and how powerful they were. How they kept their power and money a secret, hiding behind corporations and trust funds.” She glanced down at her hands. “I stayed behind the door while they tortured him. After a few hours, I got tired of standing there, so I went to bed. The next morning, he was dead.”

“So that’s how Papa knew about the Society.” I rubbed the side of my face. “What about Maxim? How did he survive?”

“Papa knew this information could be valuable. So he allowed Ivan to continue to hunt down the Gallops.” She furrowed her brows. “No, the Gallos.”

That word was like a punch to the stomach. Papa knew Maxim was a Gallo. Fuck. “Why keep Maxim alive?”

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