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CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

Ryker

I’d regained enough control by the time I stepped onto the dais that I didn’t punch the earl’s smirking sons in the face when I passed them. Behind me, my father strolled with his fiancée draped over his arm as he stopped to chat with the earl.

Stopping before Ivan, my smile was genuine as I recalled the carisle I’d stolen from him. We’d hidden Ivan’s money securely in the woods, waiting for me to use it to help destroy him.

“It’s good to see you, Your Highness,” I greeted.

We both knew it was a lie as we despised each other, but the niceties were all part of the game we played so well.

“It’s good to see you as well, Ryker. I hope you’re enjoying the party.”

“I am, and I hope you are as well, milord.”

“It’s been an interesting evening so far. Learning of your father’s engagement has been quite the surprise.”

“Yes, it was a bit of a surprise to me too, but she’s a lovely young woman.”

And she was also this man’s niece, but if he ever learned that, he’d kill her.

I’d told my father not to bring Bria here; someone else could recognize who she was, but he’d insisted on showing off his future bride. He believed that though I’d recognized who Bria’s father was, no one else would.

I wasn’t so sure about that, but to him, bringing her here and flaunting her, all while knowing her true parentage, was the ultimate fuck you to Ivan. He didn’t care he was playing with her life by doing so.

We’d argued over him bringing her until late in the evening before I finally gave up and went to sleep. It didn’t help that Bria looked forward to the party and meeting her uncle, even if Ivan couldn’t know it.

She didn’t heed my warnings either, making me question whether she was as arrogant or foolish as my father. However, as I got to know her better, I realized there was a lot more to her than the smiling woman she portrayed.

She was far from stupid or na?ve. She was as arrogant, if not more so, than my father, and I suspected she was getting off on flaunting her secret as well.

My father was also basking in all the attention and his little secret. They were both idiots, and while I didn’t want Leo’s daughter to die, I would gladly watch Ivan cut my father to pieces… even if I’d prefer to do it myself.

And Ivan would destroy my father if he learned the truth of this. My father had a lot of carisle, power, and influence, but not as much as Ivan.

If I were to let the truth of my father’s engagement slip, Ivan would arrest him here and now. And he’d cut off Bria’s head. As far as I could tell, she was nothing like her father, but Leo had protected her, and I would too.

When the music started again, I looked across the room to where the musicians sat and spotted the man who’d been talking to Ellery on the dais. My eyes narrowed on him as my father and Bria spoke with the king.

I said my goodbyes to Ivan and descended the steps to fade into the crowd. I stalked through the dancers as I hunted Ellery.