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“Of course I’m fucking serious. He gave me two options, and I did what I had to do.” I cross my arms in front of my chest and lean back against the wall.

“And my father was there?”

“Yeah, he just fucking stood there like the chosen one. I told him it would piss you off, but he didn’t even react.”

“What a piece of shit. He has acted like I don’t fucking exist ever since my Damien died.”

The hairs stand up on the back of my neck at the mention of his brother.

“Any idea who did this to Astra?”

“No. They left nothing behind. Used a burner phone for the text.” Lucien stares at me with an unreadable expression.

I nod. I watched Evelyn last night on her cameras. She turned off her location, so I called Lucien, and he informed me that my princess went to save her friend. I’m not mad that she saved her, but I’m fucking pissed that she put herself in a dangerous situation. Again.

I decided to give her some space today. She was visibly upset last night. She kept pacing her room and running her fingers through her hair. So now, I have something to take care of.

“I have an idea,” I state with nonchalance.

He tilts his head at me, waiting for me to elaborate.

“My father is the one in control. I am his heir. I am his only heir, and everyone already answers to me. What if my father were removed from the equation?”

He stares at me as if I’ve grown three heads.

“You can’t be serious, D. My father will kill you himself if he finds out.”

“Not if he goes down with him.”

We both stare at each other for a moment—the tension lingering on my implication.

“Think about it, Lucien—you and me. We will run everything. We already know how to do the dirty work, and we can easily do the back-end deals. We can’t let them keep fucking with us like this.”

The ball is in his court now. If he agrees, we can do this cleanly. We will be done with our fathers reign of fucking terror.

He paces the room, his jaw tensing as he pumps his fists.

“Let’s fucking do it.”

I smirk and bring him in for a handshake.

“You’re in luck. I have a plan.” With that, we get to work. My father will regret my existence, as it will be the last thing he sees.

* **

We pull up to the compound where my father holds Bastian. He questioned him weeks ago, but I kept him around, wanting him to suffer a while longer. Now, the tables have turned, and I need to use him as bait to get my father, Alaric, and Lucien in the same room.

It’s funny how the universe works. I didn’t even know why I was holding out on the sorry son of a bitch, but now it all makes sense.

It was easy to get them to agree to meet. It’s business. Bastian had been intervening in our affairs and stealing from both parties. He’s the perfect bait.

Our fathers are already inside; Lucien and I rode together to make our plan air-tight. We step out of my Mercedes and head for the door. We use our access cards to enter the building.

The building sits in the middle of 450 acres and is made of concrete. It’s about as secure as it gets. The outside is free from windows and features security cameras along the perimeter and inside. The feeds are intended for use only by my father, Alaric, Lucien, and me. Lucien’s older brother was also granted access, but he died a year ago. No one will see the footage except us, making it the perfect place for a gruesome crime.

We make our way through the corridor and down to the elevator. We have Bastian held in the basement.

We walk out of the elevator in the basement and go to room 5. I scan my card and walk into the dimly lit area. Our fathers have a few rules for the compound. One is that no weapons are to be left here, under any circumstances. Luckily, we brought our own weapons. We know our fathers don’t do the dirty work either, so their weapons are usually simple. A gun.