I knew what needed to be done, though. No matter how badly it would haunt me later, no matter how much I wanted to lose myself in the fantasy, I couldn’t allow her to weaken me.
Danny DeLuna needed to die.
Steeling myself, I brought the blade to her throat, pressing down just enough to draw that very first droplet of vivid red blood against her alabaster skin.
Her eyes snapped open, locking on mine.
40
A storm lashed the windows of my bedroom, the sea beyond whipping up in a frenzy, but I refused to close the shutters. I couldn’t bring myself to shut out the view that Danielle—or Danny— had loved so much. Every fucking minute since she left me on that bridge in Venice had been pure torture, picturing what that guy was doing to her.
It had been made all the worse by Sam’s failures in hacking the Guild files. I wanted answers , goddamn it. I wanted to know where to find her . Was she okay? Was she happy ?
Was she pregnant?
She would come back to me if she was, I could feel it in my bones. Even if it was just to spit in my face, I would see her again.
But if she wasn’t… I couldn’t just cross my fingers and hope. I had to find her myself.
A sharp knock on my door dragged me back to reality, and I stormed over to bark at whoever was interrupting my melancholy mood. I wasn’t in the fucking mood for more bad news, and sooner or later, someone was going to catch my ire in the form of physical violence. Worse than Sam had, too.
That scuffle had been a setup, intended to win Danny over by defending her honor. But when I’d seen the frightened way she looked up at him, I’d lost my shit. Those punches had been a hell of a lot harder than they’d needed to be, and Sam had taken a few days to forgive me for it.
“What?” I demanded, throwing the door open.
My sister glared back at me, her arms folded and her bitch face firmly in place. “I see your foul mood hasn’t improved with time.”
I snarled. “Fuck you, Moana, you have no idea—”
“How thoroughly she had you fooled? How utterly stupid you feel now? How badly you regret opening up to her and showing your genuine feelings? Yeah, Kai, I have no idea . Get off your fucking high horse, she played us all.” She sneered at me, and I resisted the urge to slam the door in her face.
I would never hurt my sister, no matter how badly she pissed me off. She was the only person who had ever truly loved me. I would quite literally do anything for her, not that she ever needed saving. Moana was the reason I’d joined the military. She was my idol, my inspiration, and then the Guild had ruined her.
It was for her that I would destroy the Guild.
“I have info for you,” Mo told me when I said nothing back. “Our contact reached out again.”
My brows shot up in surprise. “Danny—”
Mo shook her head. “Not about her. About the guy. Leon.”
My eyes narrowed. “That’s his name?” Leon .
“As soon as I heard it, I remembered the night of the Halloween party. The guy that kissed Danny near the bar, and she slapped him? Right before I met her in the bathrooms? His name was Leon.” Her face twisted in disgust and bitterness. “Turns out, she wasn’t lying. He is her colleague. But he’s also more than that, and I bet she doesn’t even know.”
A turbulent storm of emotions ripped through me, and my fists clenched at my sides. “Who is he, Moana? Who has her?”
She gave me a pained look, pitying. “He’s on the Circle, Kai. He’s not just one of the snakes… he’s their handler.”
Blackness swirled in my head, and I punched my fist through the wall with a scream of rage. I had to save her. I had to get her back. But what if I was already too late?