"You accept the deal?For him? Oh, Killian... you have no idea who you’re asking for."
What was that supposed to an?
I’d had enough riddles.
Enough smug jerks treating like I was playing a ga I couldn’t understand. I already got that from my aunt.
I didn’t need more of it from Emiliano.
I didn’t start our afternoon conversation with Lucrezia in the most diplomatic tone.
"What the hell, Lucrezia?"
Her sigh on the line was slow and theatrical.
"You better watch your language, boy. I raised you. I can dispose of you anyti. I just happen to be sentintal about family. Don’t make do sothing about your attitude."
"Why did you do that to Damian?"
"That little parasite?" she snapped. "I don’t need a spy who’s begun working more for you than for . Because of you two idiots, I lost my marriage into the Pri Minister’s family."
I swallowed hard.
"Is he dead...?"
"Don’t make that face. We both know he was just a flower for you to bloom at the nearest convenience. Don’t get mushy on —it’s disgusting."
"IS HE DEAD?"
"Ugh. No. I still have enough grace for his family to let him live. Far too generous for a filthy oga, in my opinion."
My throat burned.
"What did you do to him?"
"I packed him up nicely and sent him to Emiliano. Let him learn what life is like without my protection."
A pause.
"I might buy him back—eventually."
My hands curled into fists.
"WHY WOULD YOU GIFT HIM TO OUR SWORN ENEMY?"
"All this yelling gives a migraine," she drawled. "You’re a grown man acting like a toddler who lost his favorite toy. Everything is strategy, my idiotic nephew. Sanchez has a drug I’m interested in. A hand washes the other."
I stared at the wall, disbelief seeping into my bones.
"You sold him to a garden?"
"I have no idea what Emiliano will do with him," she said flatly. "Never t the man. All I know are stories."
Then she shrugged—casual, like she’d tossed out a broken clock.
"I do find your loyalty one of your very few redeeming traits. But you’re impulsive and reckless. Just like your wrench of a mother. You got Damian in trouble too. Did you at least manage to seduce that arrogant little heir?"
I exhaled sharply.
"I tested the new drug on Luther. It worked—until stage two."
She scoffed.
"Why not stage three? Is your little buddy limp for the little arrogant virgin?"
I flinched. Shifted in my seat.
She laughed—dry, scornful.
"You’re not even good enough to pounce. Got it."
"I’ll reach stage three soon. Once he’s found. His father’s out there flipping the city. If I strike the wrong nerve, this whole thing could go nuclear."
Damian was sold because I helped Luther slip through Lucrezia’s blackmail.
Now Luther’s gone, and I traded our new oga pheromone-blocker drug to a lunatic just to get Damian back.
Probably a waste of a perfectly good leverage chip.
But whatever.
It bought ti. Space to think. Or at least to try.
My head’s pounding. I’ve been running on caffeine, whiskey, and rage for days.
Every ti I close my eyes, I think about that kiss.
Just once—that was all it took. Luther’s mouth tasted like sothing illegal. Addictive. Like sothing I’d sell my soul to taste again.
He didn’t bloom. I don’t even know if he can. But it haunts anyway—the way his body locked up, the way his pheromones punched the air for a split second before he pulled away. Like he was terrified of what he might beco if he let himself go.
That fear? It excited on more than I’d ever admit.
And now he’s gone.
Damian was just a distraction. A warm body. A revenge against Lucrezia for planting him as a spy since I was a teen, I used him. He let . He knew the rules.
But now I’ve got to clean up the ss, because if Lucrezia figures out how much I let slip, she’ll gut .
Still. None of it matters—not really.
Luther is the one I need to find.
And if soone else has already touched him, if soone else gets to see him bloom first—
I will ruin them.
Reviews
All reviews (0)