Page 28 of Fall Before Her Throne

“Not really.”

He pulled the knife from the bed and flung it back at me. I dodged just in time for it to lodge into the doorframe beside my head. My mouth split into a grin. “Maxy has knife skills.”

“I might be at my lowest, but I’m not completely inept.”

I stepped farther into the room. “Let me give you some advice, Max, if you want to stay alive here. You had better start being honest about what you want. With yourself and with us. Because if any of us find out you’re lying, for whatever reason—to protect her, or hurt her, it doesn’t matter—we’ll make you suffer for eternity. We’ve been chasing you for months, and now that we have you, it won’t be hard to take our pound of flesh as payment for all your sins.”

He glared up at me. “Kill me or leave me alone. I’m too tired to care.”

“Everything okay in here?” Cas said, appearing at the door. He looked back and forth between me and Max.

“Completely fine,” I said with a toothy smile. “Just setting some ground rules and giving some friendly advice.”

“No problems at all,” Max said.

“Right,” Cas said, one eyebrow raised. “You’re both the worst liars.”

My back straightened. “Hey, I’m a good liar.”

“You’re transparent as shit, Ryu,” he said with a laugh.

I smirked, stepping forward to invade his personal space.

“Sure I am, bodyguard,” I said as I collared his throat and leaned in close. His pulse thundered under my palm, and his eyes dilated. I leaned just a hairsbreadth away from his mouth, and he froze completely. “Just like you.”

The moment we’d shared at the gym in the penthouse flashed before both of our eyes. I could see it in the color of his cheeks. We’d left things underdeveloped back then, but that wouldn’t last forever. Not if I had anything to do with it. His eyes flicked to my lips, and heat rolled through my veins.

I stepped backward and shoved my hands into my pockets. “Stay here and don’t cause any trouble,” I said over my shoulder to Max. “When I decide whether I’m going to kill you, I’ll let you know.”

After plucking my knife from the wall, I shoved my way out of the room. My thoughts were a twisted up knot while I tried to find a room of my own to claim so I could call Kostya and warn the Russians.

Leona was permanent.

So if she ended up wanting Max, then I’d have to fucking deal with it.

But if he was going to pretend he didn’t want her as badly as the rest of us, maybe I’d have to keep pushing him. Test him to see if he was real or not. Make him show his cards before he hurt her again. Torture him until he broke—in either direction.

When he failed the test, I’d kill him. If he passed…I’d figure something out.

9

CASPIAN

Ryu sauntered out of the room as if he wasn’t a fucking walking atomic bomb. I dragged my hand down my face, trying to clear the thoughts he’d once again put there, and pretend that Max hadn’t seen how he was taunting me.

Asshole.

“He’s going to kill you?” I asked Max. Ryu was all hot air. He’d never harm Max because it meant more than likely hurting Leona, which he’d never do. But he was behaving the same way toward Max as he did when I first came to the penthouse. Defensive, staking his claim, peeing on the bushes to mark his territory.

Max flopped backward on the bed and stared at the ceiling. “I guess we’ll find out.”

I closed the door behind me and then crossed my arms over my chest. I’d come here to talk to him about his tattoo, about the journals, about him finally telling Leona the extent of what he’d done for us over the years. The more layers we peeled back, the more we needed answers.

Before I could ask, he covered his face with his hands and groaned. “Cas, what the fuck am I doing?”

“I don’t have a clue,” I snorted. “Why don’t you tell me?”

His eye peeked at me from between his fingers. In that moment, he looked so young. Like the boy I grew up with. “I honestly don’t know. That’s not a lie.”