“Obi—” Hurt twisted my throat closed.
He knew. He had practically told me himself.Make decisions without us. Agree to this. Secure the army.
Both he and Cas hadtalkedabout this. All those shared glances. The frustration. They’d planned it. Orchestrated it behind my back without telling me. Treated me like I was a pawn.
He wasn’tmentoringme. He wasmanipulatingme.
Giulio looked between us all. “Feels like I’m missing something.”
They didn’t want me. They wanted Cas leading the Family. I was just the woman he would marry to achieve that.
Shouts echoed from the back of the room. Men shuffled, drawing their guns.
I shifted, pushing Cas out of the way so I could see what was happening.
“Max,” I breathed, eyes wide.
He sauntered in, flanked by five men. Casually, he pushed an old office chair out of the way. It rolled into an abandoned copier before falling to its side.
My guys moved to block me from him. Ryu and Cas stood in front of me, guns drawn side by side. Obi and Ciel shifted to my sides, wrapping me up in a cocoon of protection.
The entire place was moments away from exploding, and my heart was on the cusp of breaking.Someone snitched.Someone told him where we all were. Who?
I yanked my knife free from my thigh again and swallowed down the emotion. I bit my lip so hard it bled, trying to get control over the raging pulse in my ears.
“Wait!” I shouted.
Everybody froze. Max and I stared each other down.
I had to think. I had to be smart. We could not get into a firefight right now.
Despite their recent declarations of allegiance, these men could turn on me in a second. And now that I knew they were only here because they thought Cas would take over the Family, I knew they could gun us down in moments.
But if they still chose me—chosehim—we could kill Max. If these men chose us, we could kill him right here and now.
“Nice of you to join us, Max,” I said, trying to keep my voice as calm as possible.
Calm. Restraint.
“Well, well, well,” Max said, hands in his pockets like he hadn’t just caught almost forty traitors red-handed. His dark suit was immaculate, as always. “What do we have here?”
I swallowed, stepping between Cas and Ryuji. “Just a few old friends catching up. Why? You didn’t get your invite?”
His hair fell in front of his eyes when he shook his head. “Looks like mine got lost in the mail.”
“Bummer.” My hand fisted at my side, knife in hand.
Max looked around the room, pausing on each face. I watched as the men shrank under his gaze, faltered, and refused to meet his eyeline.
“The Family is mine, Max. These men are mine.”
“No.” His voice sliced through the air, so powerful it felt like a dagger down my chest.
Nobody moved.
I could feel my Shadows behind me, waiting for some kind of signal, command, anything telling them what to do. Should they kill him?
“Lots of weapons on me right now,” Max said as he walked around. “I’d be careful about not making any sudden moves.”
