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Her head snaps back in shock. “Excuse me?”

“You know,” Remy says, looking almost as uncomfortable as I feel. “Because his vipers had such a fucking penchant for kidnapping.”

Before Lavinia can spiral into the knowledge that her Father just found a new way of trapping her, I get back to the topic. “So it couldn’t be capable of that.” Biting my lip, I think.

“What about jewelry?” Lavinia asks. “The Lady is required to wear her cuff and—”

My stomach drops, and I whisper, “Oh, no.”

All eyes go to my hand and the ring I was given at the ceremony.

“Take it off,” Remy snaps.

“I swore that I wouldn’t. The covenants…” I trail off. “Ashby takes them seriously.”

“Then I’ll do it.” Lavinia steps forward and grabs my hand. Her fingers wrap around the precious metal, and she tugs.

Sharp pain like a hundred tiny pinpricks stab into my flesh. “Stop! Stop!Stop!” I shout, yanking my hand away. The pain instantly ceases, although the skin throbs. “Holyfuck, that hurt.”

“What the hell?” Lavinia asks, gawking at the red dots springing up above the ring. “Did they booby-trap your ring?”

“Let me see.” Remy holds out his hand. When I hesitate, he adds, “I’ll be careful. I just want to look at it.” He takes my hand in his and lifts it to the light. “I’ve taken several goldsmithing classes. Welding for jewelry and shit.” He runs his narrow, skilled fingers over the metal, green eyes assessing. “It’s impossible to tell from the outside, but if I had to guess, whoever made this created a trigger for when you take it off. Like those spike things when you go in and out of a parking lot? One way is fine. The other, your tire gets shredded.”

Horrified, I snatch my hand back. “I can’t take this off?” I feel sweaty, panicking. It may as well be a noose around my neck. “Ever?”

“There has to be some kind of lever that allows it to retract,” Remy says, shrugging.

Groaning, I inspect the points of the crown. “So if this is a bug, then I’m screwed.” But one look at Lavinia’s ashen face drives it home that it’s not just me who’s screwed.

“I mean,” Remy says, considering, “How attached are you to that finger?”

Lavinia hits him across the chest. “God, what’s wrong with you?”

He rolls his eyes. “Please. You weren’t upset with Nick cutting off Perez’s finger.”

Her jaw drops, but she turns away from him and says, “Did Prince Lex mention anything else? Anything…specific?”

That meeting…

“You’re right,” I rush out, holding her worried gaze. “It can’t be the ring, or else Lex would have known about—” My eyes ping to Remy. “Er, other things. Way more private things. Things he definitely would have brought up.”

Some of the tension disappears from Lavinia’s shoulders. “I guess that’s something.”

“It has to be here,” I decide, wrapping my arms around myself. I can’t shake the sense that Pace is watching this right now like there’s a phantom hand on the back of my neck.

Remy ultimately sighs. “Look, a lot of contractors are coming in and out downstairs. Nicky and I will put them through the third degree, make sure there’s no one suspicious.”

I nod, accepting it when the frat begins filtering out empty-handed.

Pace has made it clear that he’ll be watching, and Lex confirmed it today in the stairwell. There’s no getting the ring off, and I suspect even if we did find the surveillance, it either wouldn’t be everything or Pace would replace it.

I can’t control this, but I can control what I give them, what they see, and how to use it for my benefit.

7

Wicker

“She’ll put this on.”I shove the garment bag into Simon Perilini’s chest, not even gracing my Princess with a look. “And do something with her hair. She looks like she belongs on a corner of the Avenue. Father won’t accept it, and neither will we.”