Chapter 49
ALEX
We took the elevator to the third floor, where Luca occupied most of the west wing. I pushed Marcello in a wheelchair despite his protests. He tried to walk up the stairs and ripped his stitches, so I forced him into the damn chair.
We entered Luca’s office, which had a long mahogany desk between a wall of windows and a patio overlooking the bay.
Drake, Damian, Bastian, and Cole Marshall gathered around Luca on the couches in the sitting area.
Sonny and his brothers, Finn and Callum, leaned into each other, their whispers ceasing when I entered the room with Marcello.
Luca sat in a chair by the fireplace with his shoe propped on his knee.
My mouth watered as I saw my handsome Devil dressed in a navy suit with gold cufflinks and a gold tie.
I hadn’t seen him much in the last week, mostly in passing.
And I couldn’t deny that he instantly affected my body. As usual, his eyes stripped me bare.
I waved to no one in particular and said hello to the group. Some men spoke, while others tipped their heads in greeting. Sonny fired off one of his boyish smiles.
“Over here, princess.” Pops flagged me down, a big smile on his face. “Come sit beside me.”
I wheeled Marcello next to Sonny’s couch.
Sonny shook his head, laughing. “Look at Cello milking our queen’s precious time for all it’s worth.”
“Shut up,” Marcello growled. “I’m only in this chair because Alex insisted.”
Finn Cormac, the second oldest of the Cormac boys, chuckled.
Marcello attempted to get out of his chair.
I stood over him. “Sit down. You don’t have to prove anything to them. You barely survived.”
“She’s right,” Sonny said. “I’m just fucking with you. For real, we need you up and running soon. So get better.”
Sonny tapped his best friend on the shoulder, and Marcello smiled, a real one for once.
“With Alex as my nurse,” Marcello said to rub it in, “I never want to heal.”
“Ooh,” Sonny said with his eyes on me. “You giving out sponge baths? Because I’d get injured to have your fine ass soap me up.”
“Sonny,” my grandfather warned.
Sonny cleared his throat. “Sorry, Mr. Wellington.”
I smiled so wide my cheeks hurt, then dipped down to whisper in Marcello’s ear. “I hadn’t even thought of that. Maybe if you’re a good boy…”
I rushed over to Pops, throwing myself into his arms.
He patted my knee with a reassuring smile. “How are you holding up, princess?”
I released a sigh. “Okay, I guess. I’ve done everything you said for Marcello. His wound is looking better.”
“That’s good.”
My eyes swept over the room. “What’s going on?”
“You know about The Devil’s Knights,” Pops said. “But I haven’t told you much about them since your breakdown.”
“Yeah, I know. It’s a secret society.”
“It’s more than a secret society,” he said. “The Knights are a brotherhood. There’s a hierarchy in our world. We start as Knights before we can ascend to The Founders Society. You will become the Queen of the Devil’s Knights.”
“What if I don’t want that?”
He bit the inside of his cheek. “Alex, we’re not like other people. We have legacies to maintain. Each of us carries the responsibilities of our families.” He tucked a loose curl behind my ear and grinned. “And you, my beautiful girl, will carry on my legacy.”
My stomach twisted into knots. Was he giving up on Aiden? He would have carried on the family name, not me.
“Which means you need to marry a Salvatore.”
“I don’t want to get married,” I said, resolute about my decision.
“Alex, please.” Pops’s tone hardened. “This isn’t about you and Luca. The Knights need a queen. They haven’t had one since Eva’s death almost twenty years ago.”
I thought of Evangeline Franco, my idol, and my insides set on fire.
“How did she like being their queen?”
My grandfather glanced over at Arlo. “You want to take this one?”
Arlo leaned forward with his elbow resting on the arm of a leather chair. “Eva was an excellent queen. We ruled together for twelve years before her death.”
Pops grabbed my shoulder. “Alex, there’s something else we’d like to discuss with you.” I pressed my lips together, and he continued, “There’s a lot of hostility between you and Luca.”
I snorted with laughter. “That’s an understatement.”
“I spoke with Arlo about a new arrangement to help you rethink the marriage.”
“Nothing will change my mind about Luca.”
At that, Luca grunted, drawing my attention to his smug face. He glowered at me, his jaw so hard it could cut through steel.
“What if you had a choice?” Pops asked, diverting my attention.
My eyes snapped to him.
“A choice between Luca and Marcello,” he confirmed. “It’s clear you have feelings for both of them.”
I didn’t bother to correct him.
“You have until the end of the month to choose,” he said, unaffected.
My gaze shifted between Marcello and Luca. While Marcello looked like he’d won the fucking lottery, Luca was seething with anger.
“What if I can’t choose?”
All business, my grandfather remained expressionless. “Then I will choose for you.”
“I already know who you would pick.”
“Fuck this,” Luca snapped, his nostrils flared. “You promised Alex to me a long time ago, Wellington.”
My grandfather glowered at him. “Boy, you better learn to respect your elders.”
“No,” Luca growled. “Alex won’t choose Marcello over me.”
Pops grinned, but it was sinister. “Then you have nothing to worry about.”
My eyes met Luca’s, and he shook his head. “Why are you doing this to me, Drea?”
“You did this to yourself.”
“Bitch,” he yelled, his hand balled into a fist.
Anger bubbled up inside my chest. “Luca, if you don’t shut your mouth, I will choose now. And you won’t like my decision.”
He clenched his teeth.
“Why do you think you deserve me?” I asked Luca.
“Because you’re mine.”
My laughter filled the quiet room. “No, I’m not.”
He rolled his eyes and drank a full glass of scotch, slamming it down on the table with a thud. “You’re in denial.”
“You don’t love me, Luca.”
“We don’t marry for love.”
He looked away as he filled his glass with more scotch.
“It’s sad,” I said. “You mistake the tension between us as a connection. My doctors call it a trauma bond. It’s when two people bond because of ongoing cycles of abuse.”
He threw his arm above his head, his face twisted in anger. “I never fucking touched you!”
Disgusted by his outburst, I shook my head. “Emotional abuse is worse than physical abuse.”
He snickered. “If you say so, Drea.”
My doctors had often mentioned trauma bonding during our sessions about Luca.
They thought it was why I could never walk away from him.
Luca was never physically abusive and would never hurt me.
But we had a toxic push-pull relationship, a constant punishment and reward system that always brought us back together.
Like an idiot, I would accept his apology. And the cycle continued. I used to think the universe wanted us to be together. Maybe he was right about fate. He had me convinced it was our destiny to be together, but perhaps the glue binding us was nothing more than our past traumas.
I had formed a connection with him the day he let me touch his scars.
And he developed intimacy with me that he hadn’t shown to another person.
We were both scarred, battered, and mentally fucked beyond repair.
But my time with Marcello changed the game.
He made me see that love didn’t have to hurt.
That I deserved love and happiness and could find it with someone else.
As I attempted to leave, Pops grabbed my elbow. “Alex, please, we’re not done. You have people who need you. Men who would fight for you. Kill for you. Even die for you.”
All eyes were on me. A weird feeling stirred inside me, churning up the bile rising at the back of my throat. Needing space from Luca, I crossed the room to sit beside Sonny on the couch beside Marcello’s wheelchair.
Luca’s eyes flared with pure hatred. Like he wanted to slit my throat and throw my body in the bay. He thought I’d chosen Marcello, but I didn’t know which one I wanted. I understood that I was responsible to my family and would follow through.
Unable to sit still, Luca bounced his knee as he glared at me. It was killing him to see me with his brother. He’d always thought being the oldest entitled him to me. But this game was far from over.
With the Knights staring at me, my skin flushed with heat. I’d taken this fight with Luca a little too far.
“What else did you want to talk to me about?” I asked Pops.
“I planned your wedding for the second week in September.”
I cleared my throat, shooting daggers at him. “Excuse me?”
“We don’t have time to waste,” my grandfather explained. “The Knights can’t admit any new members until they have a queen. It’s in the charter. We need as many allies as we can get.”
“Don’t you make the rules? Just break them.”
“It doesn’t work like that. If I don’t follow the rules, then why should anyone under my authority?”
“So I have one month to choose?”
“We still have the Albanians waiting to steal you from the Knights.” Pops gave me a stern expression. “They will come for you, and when they do, they will have more men and a better plan. The Knights can’t admit new members without a Queen, which weakens their ranks.”
“I came here to find Aiden,” I told my grandfather. “I’m not marrying anyone until I know if he’s dead or alive.”
Arlo’s jaw tightened. Luca stared at the wall on the other side of the room.
The rest of the Knights nervously shifted in their seats.
Pops’ face was expressionless, and I wondered if he knew the truth about Aiden.
He didn’t seem bothered by Luca’s comment or the fact that no one offered any information.
What if they didn’t know what happened to him? What if Aiden was lying in a ditch somewhere? Not knowing killed me. I couldn’t get married without my brother walking me down the aisle.
“I didn’t kill him,” Luca offered.