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The Kings aren’t just powerful. They’re monsters.
Watching Sy make an attempt at compassion is like watching a bear use a pair of tweezers.
“Don’t let him take me back.” “I have this whole problem with the concept of wasted effort,” Sy rumbles, ambling toward the door closest to my loft—his bedroom. “No one’s taking you back.”
“It’s not like that, Vinny.” Gently, he places my hand into my lap, resuming the brush’s strokes through my hair. “It’s the violet. I like the way it looks, not the way it hurts.”
Only one person deserves a punch. One. And I can’t very well bash my own fucking teeth in, can I?
Lavinia Lucia was the love of my goddamn life, and I would have done anything for her.
in. Or maybe my love is just like the rest of me. Ruinous. Mangled. Selfish.
I only know one thing, and it’s that rejection isn’t a sting. It’s a goddamn amputation.
“Point that finger at me again and the next place you’ll find it is sitting next to your prostate.”
She’s my idol
“Little piece of advice.” She swipes the empty glass out of my hand before it even touches the bar. “Learn how to get down on your knees for something other than licking pussy because this is going to take Olympian levels of apology.”
Clock it
“Do you have any idea how weak the Dukes look now?” “It doesn’t matter,” I reply, still nursing the bottle of whiskey I’d snagged off Auggy. “She’s back now.” Killian freezes, and then sits up. “She’s what? Since when?” I shrug. “Since my brother went and stole her back, about… oh, say, three hours ago.”
“Oh, you fucking morons. Are you trying to turn Forsyth into your own militarized dick measuring contest?” If we’re measuring dicks, my brother surely would win.
You don’t interfere with a Royal and their woman. Ever. She belongs to them as much as she does to you.
“You can’t come here looking for an escape every time things get rough, and you can’t just throw away your problems.
“What if it’s too late?” I ask. “What if I fucked this up for good?” It’s the first time I’ve really considered it. What if I’ve lost them—and her? “You’re a Duke. Fighting is in your blood.”
“The question is, what—or who—are you willing to fight for?”
Maybe I’ve always been here. Maybe all that I am is contained with this awkward, narrow margin of panic. Maybe I was born here, and I’ll die here. Stardust.
Maybe, like Remy, all they see is hurt and trauma, not the woman I used to be. Maybe they don’t even want me anymore.
The broken toy, used and discarded, only to be fished back out of the trashcan. Ashes to ashes. Dust to dust.
But Nick breaks promises. I know that now.
“...bring her back from the brink of death and all she cares about is that stupid cat.” A door slams, and another opens. “Where are you, you fucking—there you are. Stay still.” Rustling and cursing follows. “Come here, you little shit!” he says. “Don’t you fucking hiss at me!”
I’ve spent years in boxes—large and small—and I’ve never left a handprint.
How odd to think of those lips as having been on mine, warm and wanting. And now that I’m in his bed, in the dead of night, weak and pliant, he’s free to have it again.
Except this morning, when I wake up to find her tucked up against my side. She must have rolled over and curled against me at some point. There’s a long stretch of time where I just lie there, flat on my back, cataloging the warmth of her skin against mine. Cool hands, hot feet, warm breaths. The realization doesn’t hit me so much as it just… arrives. I’ve been waiting for this. No. I’ve been hoping for this.
Maybe that’s it. Remy and his fear of losing hold on what’s real. Nick and his twisted idea of justice and fairness. Me and the way I feel strangely responsible for it all.
Like she didn’t need me to be better or fixed. She just needed me to be the best I could, and that was enough.”
“Plus, she’s got my ink now, and that makes her mine. Oldest dibs known to mankind.”
Because you might not be able to win against whatever’s wrong with me, but her?” He looks up at me, considering. “If she’ll let you—if you really want to—you could fix her.”
I slip an arm around her shoulders, tucking her against me. “And stay close. You’re my ring girl tonight.”
If someone’s going to take care of Sy, it’s going to be me. You heal me, I heal you.
“It’s their language, Lavinia, and you have to speak it before they can learn yours.”
If you want to survive this, you’re going to have to give them a chance to be who they are. Maybe they need to lose before they realize there’s something to
You have more control in this situation than you realize, but to grasp it, you’re going to have to work with them instead of against them.”
I knew it the minute my ink buried into her flesh, when I marked her. She became mine.
To make it final. A marriage of bodies. A declaration of permanence.
“And I watched a piece of her fucking die while I was doing it!”
Ugh just heartbreaking
just knew if I kept her, I’d do it again.” “So she’s gotta eat shit because you don’t have any fucking self-control?”
“That’s the issue, isn’t it? Just like always. You have a problem, you go off and solve it alone. I hate to break it to you, but you’re not good at it.”
I need everyone to know she’s mine. I need her to know she’s mine.
She’s more than just a girl, and we both know it.
And I don’t think she can help it. You’re like the person-version of that box her dad had her in. You suffocate her, man.”
“The point is you’re a Duke. A Bruin. You belong in the tower and she does too. She’s our Duchess. The instant Sy broke into the Count’s mansion, that was sealed. For life.” His jaw tics. “Yeah, your big brother is the savior now. But that little act? It came with consequences.”
“I’m so fucking tired of being held down by the men of Forsyth.”
Remy kisses me like he’s a goddamn soldier going off to war.
never make promises. You know as well as I do that in our world, a promise is just another word for debt. But I promise you this.” His thumb slides away, soft as silk. “I won’t let him hurt you again.”
“Should see the other guys,” Sy mutters, dropping his keys on the table. “Virtually unscathed.” I glare at the back of his head. “Hey!” He twists to shoot me an irritated look. “Yeah, our girl got in a good shot. I, on the other hand, managed to pummel the business end of a bat with my skull.”
“We risked our hides to get her back. We’re not letting you put us in that position again.” Nick twists to glare at him. “What does that mean?” “It means that we need to project a united front, but as far as everyone in this room is concerned, the Duchess only has two Dukes.”
I AM GASPING LIKE A FISH OUT OF WATER!! I think I love this man
“Now, you’re going to earn it. You’re going to show us you can be trusted with her—with us. And that starts with you looking her in the fucking eye and saying you’re sorry, because I’m not going to order her to forgive you.” Sy shakes his head, nostrils flared. “I’m sick of cleaning up your messes, Nick. This one’s on you.”
You’re not square with us until you’re square with her.”
There’s never a day or a time when I don’t think my little bird is the sexiest woman I know.
