Total pages in book: 97
Estimated words: 92078 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 460(@200wpm)___ 368(@250wpm)___ 307(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 92078 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 460(@200wpm)___ 368(@250wpm)___ 307(@300wpm)
He shook his head, and curls fell in front of his clear blue irises. “What I’m doing for The Serpents is dangerous. I can’t tell Alex about any of this. She’ll only worry more.” Aiden sank back against the leather chair and pushed the hair off his forehead. “There’s a chance I won’t come back from this job. So I need you to promise you’ll help her. She likes you, Marcello. I know she does. And if anyone can bring her back from the dead, it’s you.”
“I promise,” I said and meant it.
As Alex continued running her fingers down my arm, she snapped me out of my memory of the past. I made a promise to her brother, one I intend to keep. So many times, I’d wanted to tell her the truth. That her brother was within her reach the entire time. The Knights had rules for a reason, and if Alex knew the truth, she would have gotten herself into trouble. And she was in enough danger.
Alex looked into my eyes as she stroked my arm. “What are you thinking about, Marcello?”
I held her gaze. “You.”
Always you.
Luca
I sat in the armchair across from the Knights. We gathered in my office instead of the temple to stay closer to Alex. With Marcello out of commission, I wasn’t taking any chances with her safety. She could hate me all she wanted. Alex could yell and push me away, but I wasn’t letting her pretty ass out of my sight.
I raised a snifter of scotch to my mouth, surveying the mood of the room. The Knights looked on edge. The attack at my estate had rattled each of us in different ways.
Sonny didn’t look as put together as usual. Drake had dark circles under his eyes from searching the Dark Web for the past three days straight. Bastian, Damian, and Cole were out late last night looking for the Albanians with Alpha Command. They leaned back in their chairs as if they were seconds from falling asleep.
Sonny steepled his hands on his lap and glanced over at me. “Is Marcello coming?”
I shook my head. “He’s dealing with Alex and her nightmares.”
“It should be you,” Sonny countered with hate dripping from his tone. “Marcello isn’t marrying her. You should be downstairs comforting our queen.”
“Thanks for the reminder, Dad, but I have more important shit to worry about than Alex’s bad dreams. Like saving her fucking life.”
“Do you give a shit about anyone other than yourself?” Sonny snapped.
“I care about the Knights… and my family… and Alex.”
“Could have fooled me,” Sonny challenged. “If Marcello had died, we would have lost Alex too.”
“You don’t think I know that, motherfucker! Stop hassling me. I’m not in the mood for your melodrama.”
“Marcello reached her when you couldn’t,” Sonny insisted. “She needs him. The Knights need him too.”
I rolled my eyes at the annoying asshole. “Is everyone team Marcello? Where is your loyalty to your Grand Master?”
Sonny howled with laughter. “With how you handled Marcello’s shooting, you lost a lot of my respect.”
“Sorry if I don’t handle shit to your liking. But I don’t answer to you.”
“Until Alex agrees to marry you, you’re not the next Grand Master.”
My jaw flexed in irritation. “Are you trying to work me up, Cormac?”
“I’m sick of you treating Alex like shit,” Sonny growled. “I’m not alone on this. She’s our queen, not some whore you picked up from a street corner.”
“Please, like I’d let a five-dollar whore suck my cock.”
“Not the point,” Sonny yelled with his hand balled into a fist on his lap. “You’re out of control. We need a leader who can do his job without his feelings getting involved.”
I snickered. “You’re fucking high if you think I even have feelings.”
Sonny’s nostrils flared as he glared at me. “Despite what you want everyone to believe, we know you have a heart. Even if it’s as black as fucking tar.”
He would defend Marcello to the death. They were best friends since they were old enough to walk, the two of them inseparable for most of their lives. Golden Boy was there for Marcello when I couldn’t physically stand to be in the same room as him. He was the one who helped Marcello deal with our mother’s death, which hit him even harder than me.
I couldn’t connect with either of them, not until after our Initiation into The Devil’s Knights. But I’d always protected Marcello from our father. I honored my mother’s dying wish.
“Alex is in danger,” Drake interjected. “We don’t have time to argue. If we’re not united, we’ll lose Alex the next time. Our enemies will sniff out our weaknesses and pick us off one by one.” His gaze drifted to me. “Set aside your differences with Marcello, and let’s focus on the task—keeping Alex alive.”
“Which is why we’re here today,” I reminded them. “The point of this meeting is to discuss Alex, not me.”