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“Why am I a threat?” she asks, her voice low and lethal.
Michael makes a strangled sound. “Because you made Edwin stronger when you were supposed to be Patrick’s toy!”
It hits like a slap.
Her expression hardens. But I see the little tremor at the corner of her mouth. The way her eyes flicker with sadness, as if her mind is trying to reject the image of her life being traded.
Her foot doesn’t move.
“Promised to him by my father,” she confirms flatly.
Michael rushes the rest out, desperate now. “Your dad offered you up in exchange for a guaranteed win for governor. Patrick has a lot of political pull. He could make it happen.”
She swallows the pain like poison and keeps going.
“Patrick is the one who had me kidnapped?”
Michael nods quickly. “Ray was his guy. He was supposed to collect you. Everything would have gone as planned if Asher hadn’t gotten involved. He wasn’t supposed to get hurt.”
He looks up at her, accusing. As if she caused Asher’s death by refusing to be delivered.
She blinks twice, keeping the emotions down.
“What does that have to do with Frank?” she asks.
Michael’s shoulders loosen a fraction. But talking only buys him time, not his life.
“They have a mutual hatred for the Crotavere family. Patrick found out Frank has a special way of getting rid of pretty young girls. Without a partner, Edwin wouldn’t win Sovereign.”
My jaw clenches hard enough to ache. I knew it. I knew she shouldn’t have been in that house. Frank isn’t a holy man offering sanctuary. He’s a collector of lost souls. A butcher.
Zaiya looks away, processing the information. Building a map of all the ways she’s been used.
Michael grabs her ankle, trying to pry her foot off him.
I tighten my arm to stop air from reaching his lungs.
Zaiya doesn’t miss a beat. She lifts her leg in an instant, flashing white panties before she stomps right down on his balls.
God, she’s fucking incredible.
He howls and his body curls, attempting to protect himself with his hands. I let him fall off the side of the bed to the floor with a grunt.
Zaiya looks down at him with contempt. She takes a step closer, and he cowers.
Fire flares in her eyes. They flick up to me, and she’s never looked so strong.
The urge to fuck her right here on his bed is ill-timed. I’m a man of grotesque appetites. But the look on her face tells me it’s time to go.
I step over him and follow her to the door.
“You can’t kill a fellow member,” Michael forces out through his groans. “It’s a rule.”
As if rules mean anything now.
“He won’t have that protection for long,” I say.
At the threshold, I look back at his pitiful form whimpering on the floor, devoid of dignity.
