I nod, holding his gaze.
Truthfully, I’m not quite sure what I’m trying to tell him with this nod. All I know is that what I’m feeling is too big for words.
But I want him to know that I’m here with him. That I would go anywhere with him. And that no matter what happens tonight, I won’t regret a single moment of the time he, Theo, and Ryland were in my life.
“I’m not done, angel,” he murmurs quietly. “We’re not done.”
Then he kisses me.
It’s warm and languid, slow and deep. A promise that matches his words. A promise of more.
The room seems to dim around me, fading away as I lose myself in the perfect feel of Marcus’s lips on mine. I can still taste Theo and Ryland on my tongue, can still smell their lingering, distinctive scents, and it does more to soothe my nerves than any calming words ever could.
We’re together.
That’s how we’ll face this threat.
And that’s how we’ll win.
When our lips separate, Marcus rests his forehead on mine for a moment, then steps back. The rest of the room comes flooding back into my awareness, and I catch sight of Victoria standing in the door to the living room, her arms crossed.
“You done?” she asks, arching a brow.
I don’t even bother blushing. Instead, I just shrug. “For now.”
Theo laughs, and Victoria rolls her eyes. I think Dominic is blushing a little, looking vaguely uncomfortable.
Shit. If he knew I was his sister, he’d probably be red as a tomato.
I shove thoughts of brotherly protectiveness aside and step toward Victoria. “Let’s go.”
She leads the way to the garage, and we all pile into her car. It’s less awkward this time since I don’t have a dress hampering my movements, but it’s still a tight fit.
It’s the only option we have though, and I feel better sticking together. Not that I don’t entirely trust the other two, but… well, I don’t entirely trust them. I’d rather have eyes on them at all times until this is over.
Marcus sits up front again, although he’s not brandishing his gun like he’s thinking of putting a bullet in Victoria’s head this time. That’s progress, I guess.
The cemetery is on Halston’s west side, only a few miles from my old apartment. I’ve walked by the sprawling graveyard once or twice but have never actually entered the grounds.
It’s fully dark by the time we arrive, and Marcus slips out of the car smoothly and walks up to the gate. He uses a pair of bolt cutters to break the chain that holds the two sides of the wrought-iron gate closed as Victoria lets the engine idle quietly. He gives the gate a shove, and it swings open.
With an easy stride, he returns to the car and climbs back into the passenger seat. “All right. Let’s go.”
Grinning fiercely, Victoria rolls through the open gate.
There are a few streetlamps spaced along the winding road that takes us deeper into the cemetery, but they’re dimmer than the streetlights that illuminate the roads outside.
Headstones and statues create formless dark shadows on either side of the narrow path, reminding me eerily of the tall shadowy people in my dreams.
From studying the layout of the place earlier, I know we’re heading west, toward the far side of the cemetery where Genevieve’s gravestone is located. After several minutes, Victoria pulls over to the side of the road, her car bouncing a little over the uneven grass and dirt. She stops and turns the headlights off, plunging us into even deeper darkness.
“It should be somewhere up there. Genevieve D’Addario. With an angel carved of white marble hovering over her.”
Theo gives my ass a squeeze as Dominic opens his door and climbs out, and I shoot him a grin, grinding my ass against his crotch a little before I follow my brother out of the car.
The night air feels cool after the cramped confines of the car, and I rub my damaged arm as goose bumps crawl over my skin, making the nerves in my stump prickle. The tightness of the thigh holster strapped to my leg is a comforting feeling. Reassuring, somehow.
The guys grab a few pieces of gear from the trunk before we start moving forward on foot.
It takes us several minutes of searching, but we locate the statue at least a dozen yards away from the little road. The marble angel looms out of the darkness, its white wings bright even in the dim light.
We gather just below it, in front of the headstone that bears Genevieve’s name. I shift my weight from foot to foot, feeling almost superstitious about treading on her grave like this. I can see why Luca considers it sacred ground.
Let’s just hope he’ll honor that tonight.
Marcus pulls out his phone, his thumbs flying across the screen as he quickly types out a message. Then he looks up, the lower part of his face lit by the soft blue glow of the screen.
“It’s done. He got the message, and he knows where we are. Now we just wait to see if he’ll come.”
If I thought waiting all day for sunset to arrive was torture, it’s nothing compared to the wait for Luca. The chilly air seems to grow colder, and I find myself staring at the shadows of gravestones as if I expect Luca to materialize from behind one of them like a demon in the night.
When he finally arrives, it’s the slight crunch of wheels on gravel that alert us to his presence.
Instantly, all three of my men have their weapons trained in the direction of the sound.
The crunching noise stops, and a moment later, a door closes with a soft thud. I didn’t even hear the engine at all. Whatever car Luca drives, it’s fancy and expensive enough to run without a whisper.
My eyes have adjusted to the dark as well as they’re going to, but it’s still hard to make out Luca’s face as he approaches us from the direction of the road. It’s not until he’s within a few yards of us that I can make out the sharp, hawklike cut of his features.
He stops before he reaches us, folding his hands behind his back as he lifts his chin, surveying our small, motley group.
“Well.” He makes a tsk noise with his teeth. “This is disappointing.”
“No one’s more disappointed than we are,” Marcus shoots back, his voice just as bland as Luca’s.
I realize with a start why Theo and Ryland both voted immediately for him to be the one to accept the prize, if we can convince Luca to step down. He’s good at this. He’s made for it.
Luca and his fucking game shaped Marcus into who he is today.
And now Marcus is going to take him down.
“The game is over, obviously.” Luca shrugs. “Too many of you know for it to continue.” He frowns, glancing over at Victoria. “I’m surprised to see you here. I’ve heard stories about you, and I know how vicious you can be. I didn’t think you’d give them a chance to speak before you killed them.”
“It wasn’t exactly voluntary.” Her voice drips ice as she addresses Luca, her gaze focused on him like a laser.
“Ah. I see.”
He doesn’t even glance at Dominic, and I feel a stab of anger in my chest. He’s dismissed the other man outright, and it makes me think Dominic wasn’t wrong that Luca might’ve been about to kick him out of the game before everything went to hell.
“We didn’t call you here to chat, and that sure as fuck isn’t why you came,” Marcus says. “We know you’re the Viper. That you’ve been lying to all twelve families who volunteered their heirs for the chance to succeed you. That you’ve been lying to everyone else you do business with in Halston. You’ve been double-crossing them, making deals with them as both Luca and Viper. Cheating them. If we share what we know, there’ll be an uprising. One not even you can put down.”