Page 123 of Deviant Reign (Knight's Ridge Empire 6)

“Not since we let him free for the manhunt, no. He’s on his own with hounds chasing his tail.”

“Why?” I ask, forgetting that I said I only wanted to know one thing. “Why not just end it?”

“Because…” Cruz hesitates, trying to come up with the right words.

“It would let him off too easy?” Theo offers behind me.

“Bingo,” Cruz sings. “He’s controlled us, everything around him for too long. He’s made himself too many enemies, enemies who want more flesh from him than we do, it seems, and that’s saying a lot.

“He’s always been a power-hungry cunt, but in the past few years, he’s taken it to the extremes. Kissing Damien’s arse over the whole Joker situation was a fucking joke, because while he was trying to form stronger allegiances with the Cirillos, he was colluding with Luis to bring the Family down a peg or two, planning on taking over their supply chain.”

“What?” Theo roars, surging to his feet to stand. “Does my dad know about this?”

“He does now,” Dad says with a nod. “That’s where we’ve just been.”

“It’s what all of this has been about,” Cruz says, waving his hand between the two of us. “Ram and Luis used your mum’s connections to the Cirillos for their own gain. They tied you to the Family, to your enemy, in the hope of digging up some dirt, causing some shit. But while your mum’s greed played right into their hands, your need for vengeance didn’t.”

“That’s what that guy meant,” I mutter to myself.

“What guy?” Theo asks.

Blowing out a breath, I think back to my short time in captivity at someone else’s hands other than his. “When I was locked up, there was this guy who came. He was nice. Let me use the bathroom, shower. Spoke to me like a human being. He told me that the reason I was there was because they needed me on side. I had no idea what he meant at the time and he wasn’t exactly forthcoming with an explanation. But now it makes sense.

“Did they really want me to be a snake?”

“Yeah,” Dad states coolly. “And your pops instigated the whole fucking charade.”

“Motherfucker,” I hiss under my breath.

“They lured your mum in with promises of the wealth and future she dreamed of for the two of you, all the while waiting to incriminate her and sell you out,” Cruz explains, in case it wasn’t already abundantly clear.

Dad’s fists curls where his hands are resting on his thighs before he pushes from the seat, announcing, “I need a fucking drink.”

No sooner has he left the room than Theo drops a kiss on my cheek and takes off after him.

It’s not until they’ve both vanished from sight that I finally fall back on the sofa and blow out a long, calming breath.

“This is fucking insane.”

“Welcome to my world, baby girl.”

I flip him off at his use of the nickname he uses to tease me.

“What happens next, Cruz?” I ask, my voice sounding utterly defeated even to my own ears.

“Well…” he starts, sitting forward and stealing one of the very cold coffees from the table. He takes a sip before his top lip curls back in disgust. “This is gross.”

“We got distracted.”

A knowing smirk twitches at his lips.

“Don’t even start. I’m a married woman.”

He salutes me and thankfully turns the conversation back to where we started.

“Okay, so as for what’s next. The Wolves need a new leader. The Reapers need a new Prez.” He winks, and I can’t help but laugh.

“God help the world, Cruz is about to be the boss,” I mutter lightly.