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"Good evening, gentlemen," Az said, separating himself from the group. A charming smile lit up his face as he approached my father and Uncle Theo. He held out his hand to them in greeting. Both older men looked at him with distrust but returned the gesture. "We haven't been introduced properly, I'm Az Casadei."

"Theodore Abrams." Uncle Theo replied cooly as he withdrew his hand from Az's grip. Az's easy, confident smile wasn't meshing with the constant angry asshole I'd come to know, and it was sending my brain for a loop.

Ava, my father's maid, entered the foyer from the dining room. "Dinner is ready if you would like for it to be served now, sir."

"That would be perfect, Ava." My father smiled. "Why don't we take our seats in the dining room and I can get to the reason I asked you all to come tonight."

"Of course. Lead the way, gentlemen." Az said, motioning for them to go ahead as he stepped next to me and placed his hand on my lower back. "We'll follow you."

I turned to look at him, my eyes wide and brows knitting together in confusion.

"Go with it, Princess. We can go back to hating each other as soon as we leave." He muttered to me under his breath. I nodded, noting that besides him, the rest of our group had remained silent and simply fell into step behind him as we made our way to the dining room.

He led me near the head of the table, but instead of pulling out the chair by my father, he pulled out the next one and motioned for me to sit. Once I was situated, he sat to my right, directly opposite my father, and Rich sat to my left. The rest chose places seemingly randomly, but closer inspection showed their true intentions. They had all picked spots to ensure they had eyes on each door that led into the room.

Servants filed into the room carrying trays of food and placing them on the table while others filled our glasses with red wine. My father ignored them as if they didn't exist, choosing instead to begin speaking.

"I've heard something quite interesting from one of my clients and I thought I would give you all the opportunity to set the record straight."

"Thank you," I murmured quietly to the young woman filling my glass, before giving my father my attention.

"It seems there has been some trouble in your club, Az. Trouble that happened while my daughter was there."

"If I may–" Joey started, but my father held up his hand and quickly cut him off.

"Dad!" I scolded.

"Hush, Victoria." He shot back with a scowl. "I hired these men to protect you, and if the rumors are true, they've done anything but. You will sit quietly and eat your meal while I discuss their shortcomings with them."

"Hugo, I don't think that's really necessary." Theo interjected. "Victoria is here, clearly alive and well. If she felt anything was amiss, I'm certain she would have called you immediately."

"Thank you, Theodore." Az bit out. "As you said, she is perfectly fine. So what is this actually about, Hugo?"

"Aside from being involved in a shootout in your club, I was informed just last night that someone who looked suspiciouslysimilar to my daughter was in some low-class illegal fight club and while there, an attempt to take her was made. I don't know what sort of filth you five usually run with, but I think it's safe to say you're prioritizing your illicit activities over your duty to protect my daughter."

"If you know about the attempt, you know damned well I made sure it wasn't successful." Leighton seethed.

My eyes flicked toward him. He held his fork in a tight grip, posed as if he would launch himself across the table to attack my father with it at any moment. I shuddered at the thought of what sort of damage he could inflict with it, given I'd seen what he was capable of with his bare hands.

"We'd never let anything happen tola petit démone."

"Enough, Leighton," Az spoke before glaring at my father. "We promised to keep Victoria safe, which we have done. As you can see for yourself, she's intact. No harm has come to her. We never promised to hold her prisoner at the manor. I doubt she would allow that even if we had. You know as well as I that she can be quite a willful little brat."

"Fuck you, Az-hole." I hissed.

Az settled back in his chair, grinning slightly at my outburst as if I had proven his point. An awkward silence settled over the table as Az waited for my father to respond. After several minutes, Theo cleared his throat and spoke.

"I think that settles the matter. Clearly these men are doing the job they were hired for, otherwise Victoria wouldn't be sitting here with us." Theo turned his attention to me. "Unless you have something you need to tell us, Jellybean?"

I opened my mouth to speak, intending to tell my father that the trouble didn't start until after he stuck me with the guys, but he started talking before I could get a word out.

"Yes. Well, regardless, I can't say that I approve of my daughter being dragged to obviously dangerous places. If we canall agree that she isn't to do so anymore, I can let it go. This time."

"That's ridiculous!" I shouted, standing so abruptly that my chair tipped over and clattered against the floor. "I am an adult. You seemed to recognize that enough to have me care for you while you recovered the last six months. You don't get to dictate where I can and can't go. Ionlyagreed to your ridiculous protection detail because you threatened the funding you give to the center."

My father sighed wearily. "As I was saying, Mr. Casadei, no more taking my daughter to seedy clubs or fight rings in the future and we won't have anymore issues."

My mouth gaped open and closed, and my fists balled at my sides as my gaze bounced around the table before finally landing on Az. He seemed to be studying me momentarily, something akin to understanding mixed with pity painting his face. I knew the second he found whatever he was searching for in my face because he rose from his seat and smoothed down his slacks.