He would be dead.
And I would be the one delivering the welcome blow.
She wanted me to infiltrate the Vescovi family? Fine. Easy. What she didn’t know? It gave me the perfect segue to infiltrate hers. Keep your friends close—and your enemies closer.
Her first mistake was assuming that I was anything but a wolf in sheep’s clothing.
Her second was thinking I was safe.
And her third? Thinking she could win a game I’d already been playing for years.
A game I helped make the rules to.
A game where only one person would win.
7
LOUIS
Whoever fights monsters should see to it that he does not become one. — Frederich Nietzsche
The doors opened before she touched them, polished brass swinging inward like a stage reveal—except she wasn’t the star. She was the proverbial sacrifice.
Laughter echoed against the high marble ceilings, distorted by the clink of crystal glasses and the hollow applause of people paid to smile. Suits stood like shadows along the perimeter, all polished shoes and loaded intentions. The room was drenched in wealth—blood money in gold trim and velvet-lined chairs.
And at the center of it all stood her father. He was dressed in a black three-piece suit, thick dark hair was cut close to his skull, his neck tattoo snaked up past his collar just enough to look intimidating. His blue eyes were calculated, cautious as they scanned the room.
Dante Alfero’s presence cut sharper than a mother fucking machete. As soon as he saw her, his expression softened like she was the only thing that existed on this planet—until his gaze fell on me.
Then the man moved. Fast. Like a cobra striking.
Tempest barely had time to part her lips before her father wrapped me in an iron embrace, hands slapping my back with a little too much force, like he was measuring the weight of the man who had just married his daughter and was going to find him wanting even if it meant he had to cut off some skin to prove it. Great.
“Son,” Dante said, and it sounded more like a threat than a greeting. I almost laughed at the ridiculousness of it all, but that would probably earn me the point of a knife in my side so I kept my expression neutral.
I didn’t flinch. But I also didn't offer him a polite smile. That would be too fake, and he’d see right through it. A man who smiled at Dante Alfero was dead before the mistake was even made. A smile was too familiar for Dante; it spoke of a relationship of middle names, private meetings, shared whiskey and secrets. I didn’t have any of those things with him, I was barely lucky enough to stare at him in the face. Men had spilled their own blood for his favor, and he was hugging me; I’d keep my smiles to myself thank you.
Dante pulled back just enough to make eye contact, shoving a tumbler of dark liquor into my hand. “Don’t think marrying into my family means you’re safe,” he murmured, voice like smoke and warning. “I’ve buried men who thought rings meant protection.”
Tempest stepped in, hand on my arm, injecting steel into her tone. “Dad, he’s not a threat.”
I wasn’t sure if it was the vial of whatever the hell I’d drank or Dante himself, but a sudden chill washed over my body. Horrible timing.
Dante’s eyes never left mine, just like his hand was still on my arm. Even with Tempest wrapping me in her embrace, hereminded me who she still belonged to, who was still under his protection. “No, he’s not. Yet.”
Behind her, a scoff.
“Wow,” Raven said under her breath, emerging from the knot of elites by the bar. “And here I thought he went hard on Ace for showing up. I half expected a strip search in front of the florals. And Louis is supposed to be the safe one.”
Tempest shot her a look, but it was too late. I’d heard it all. Her voice was familiar—too much so. I wasn’t ready to face her, not again. I’d made her cry. I didn’t deserve to see her happy and know it was for the best. I’d rather live with the guilt of what I had to do to expose my twin and the evil he was working with—we were forced to work with. The evil Ace took over without as much of a blink. A crime family of unwanted bosses and bloodlines who only held loyalty to themselves—and him, a De Lange. The boss. In a strange way it made sense that he’d be in charge of the strays, and in another life I might have respected him for it.
But he was with the girl that should have been mine.
And I’d just married her sister.
Shit, things went sideways fast in this business.
I knew I needed to put on a show. Dante had already pulled back. Raven was staring at me like she expected me to be in love with Tempest… and Ace, he was measuring me with that same stare.