Page 16 of Bound By Betrayal

Derek sat beside me.

“Kai, you don’t have to do this.” Moving closer, his voice lowered to a whisper. “We can take her out. Call Leni, Silas—some more of our people, and get you out of this mess before hers even know what happened.”

I shook my head. “Derek, her family has deep connections, not only to Ares and The Six, but Cartel. We’d be putting a target on our backs—Eva, Vali. Come on.”

All I had to do was mention his family. They were sacred. He put them above everyone, including me. But I understood. I’d grown to love Eva, and Vali was so special.

My thoughts drifted to Gio and Amalia’s mother, and a twinge of guilt ran through me at the thought of ending their lives. But neither was as strong as when I envisionedherlifeless. “No,” I said, shaking my head and feeling a strange sense of deja vu. “Not an option. No one touches her.”

“Okay. So what’s the plan?”

“Sign the marriage license and be thoroughly fucked—or not. Can you believe there’s a damn no-sex clause?”

Derek put a hand on my shoulder and huffed a resigned breath. “I’m sorry, brother.”

“Yeah, well, you owe me for this.”

A soft knock at the door sent a small rush of blood through my veins at the possibility of it being Amalia. Despite everything, I couldn’t deny that fighting with her and touching her filled me with a thrill I hadn’t experienced in a long while.

“There you are,” Eva said, eyes on Derek. He leaned back and smiled at his wife. “You didn’t tell me you were home.”

“Peeked in and saw you putting Vali down for a nap, and I didn’t want to wake her.”

She slid onto his lap and gave him a quick kiss before turning to me.

“Heard you met the family this morning. How was that?”

“They surprised me,” I said with a shrug. “I hadn’t expected them to be so welcoming. But then again, they’d have no reason to be suspicious. She’s making them believe we’re in love.”

Eva had intended to speak, but Derek gripped her by the back of the neck and kissed along her jaw.

“Do you need me to leave?” I asked my brother with a laugh.

“Don’t be ridiculous; this is your room.”

“Derek,” Eva scolded, playfully swatting his hand.

“I haven’t seen you all morning, angel.” Standing, he swiftly tossed his wife over his shoulder. “Let’s go catch up.” He turned to me. “I’ll swing by later.”

I offered him a nod and leaned against the closed door once they exited.

“Fuck.”

8

“Youclean up nice.”

Gio stopped and glanced down at his navy dress shirt before cracking a smile. “Thanks.”

I could see what Amalia meant. The kid seemed out of place in this family. He didn’t have a malicious bone in his body, which made me wonder about his upbringing and what differences had made her into the woman she was versus this boy who beamed when paid a simple compliment. We all had a story, a rhyme or reason as to what led us to shed vital pieces of our conscience and morality.

Hers intrigued me.

“You know, she’s not so bad,” he said, breaking the silence.

“Who?” I tried to play it off as if I wasn’t aware of who he was talking about. I didn’t want him to know that I had those thoughts about Amalia. It was clear they were close.

“My sister. She’s not as bad as people think she is.”