“I didn’tlether do anything,” he snapped. “And I haven’t been— It’s complicated! She’s skittish. And shy. And she had no idea who I was or what I did or who our family was. I was… navigating.”
Milo sucked in a breath and looked away, almost like he was too shocked to even look at his brother. “She doesn’t know she’s yours,” he whispered. “She has no idea. That’s why she thought she could volunteer. You haven’t claimed her.”
A low chuckle built in his brother’s barrel chest until it became a full belly laugh. Luis ground his molars hard enough to make them squeak.
“You fucking idiot,” Milo chortled, pressing his palms to his heavy stomach.
Resisting the urge to throttle him, Luis snapped, “Whatever else she is, Frankie’s in danger, idiot. If I don’t win, one of these fucks will. And after that, she’ll never be free. There willalwaysbe someone hunting her, trying to use her for her blood or worse. I can’t let that happen.”
With considerable effort, Milo sobered up. Mostly. “She’ll need a good, strong vampire to look out for her. Someone from a good family who can keep her safe. Hey, maybe one of the Byrns is single. Of course, she’s gotta like redheads?—”
“Are you fucking done?”
His brother shook his head. “Not until I tell the rest of the cousins. Felix is gonnalovethis after all the shit you gave him about Dahlia. You know, she might’ve tried to run away from him, but she never volunteered for theBlood Gamesto be rid of him. He’s gonna lose his mind.”
Before he could let the panic that particular threat inspired sink its teeth into him, Luis waved the topic away. “Can we focus, please? None of that will matter if I don’t win.”
“You’ll win.” His brother glanced down at the creased photo of Francesca, all done up in soft makeup and a floaty red top. “If she matters this much to you, it’s not like you have another choice.”
“I don’t,” he agreed. “She’s?—”
A painfully familiar drawl interrupted him. “I didn’t know Amauris participated in the Games.”
Luis turned to find the smug face of Malachi Burke staring back at him. Dressed in a navy blue tuxedo to match the tattoos swirling over his shaved head, he looked exactly as overdone and irritating as he always did.
Surrounded by the protection of his entourage, including the behemoth who was almost certainly his personal bodyguard, and clearly delighted to have a reason to pick a fight, he continued, “I figured you were too busy fighting your own family to bother with anyone else.”
The jabs about their family weren’t new. The Amauris had a reputation not just for viciousness and a willingness to do the dirty work, but for the civil war and assassinations that had nearly torn them apart. All that stopped when Felix took over for his grandmother and the cousins swore to never make their parents’ mistakes, but that didn’t change how the rest of the syndicate saw them.
If they weren’t upstarts, they were family-killers. And if they weren’t family-killers, they were a serious business threat worth eliminating.
Malachi didn’t come from a big, powerful family. He’d risen up through the syndicate on his own, amassing wealth through blackmail and strategic murder. He’d been in the business for as long as Luis and Milo’s father had, which meant that he was a scary motherfucker in his own right.
But that didn’t mean they had to tolerate him. They were scary motherfuckers, too, and Luis had a lot more on the line than Malachi.
“Aren’t you a little old to be here?” Luis asked, all faux-sincerity. “I’d hate for you to miss bingo at the old folk’s home.”
“You must have me confused with all the relatives you no longer have.” Malachi’s thin-lipped smile didn’t flicker. “How’s your father?”
It was Milo who grunted, “Retired.”
“A miracle he’s still alive, considering what happened to the rest of his generation,” Malachi replied. It didn’t sound like a compliment. “For a while there it seemed like you Amauris were going to wipe yourselves off the map. What a shame that would’ve been.”
“A shame indeed,” Luis agreed, smiling with all his teeth.
“And young Felix? I heard a rumor recently that he found himself aBowanblood bride. I didn’t even know they had one hidden away. I can’t imagine Alastair was too pleased with that match.” Malachi’s smile oozed malice. “That Felix. He does love to take things that belong to other people, doesn’t he?”
Luis stiffened. There was a very good reason they didn’t do business with Malachi, and it wasn’t just that he was lower than a piece of shit smeared on the bottom of a shoe.
He peered closely at the older man, trying to see through the smug mask to determine what he knew — or thought he knew. In a cooler voice, he replied, “Felix doesn’t steal anything. He just protects what’s his.”
A dark look glittered in those pale, soulless eyes. “We’ll have to disagree on that, I’m afraid.”
Fuck.
Luis resisted the urge to glance at his brother. That suresoundedlike he knew, or like he was fishing for confirmation, which they couldn’t risk giving him.
Forcefully changing the subject, he asked, “What brings you here? I thought you had an anchor.”