Page 55 of Intrigue
He’s not my problem, yet. But if he tries to play hero, if he gets in my way, I won’t hesitate. He was never meant to keep her. That ring on her finger is an insult, a lie she keeps telling herself. And when she sees how quickly her perfect world falls apart, she’ll have no choice but to face the truth.
“If he gets in my way, he’ll meet his end.”
Bianchi shifts beside me. “You sure about this?”
“Never been more sure of anything in my life. They wanted answers,” I murmur. “Let’s give them something to find.”
Bianchi signals our men waiting outside. Within minutes, the Morettis and Don will arrive, drawn in by the chaos, walking straight into the ambush we’ve set.
I check my gun, the weight of it grounding me. This ends tonight.
Selene doesn’t know it yet, but I just decided her future for her.
Chapter 17
Selene
My head throbs as consciousness returns. The kitchen tile presses cold against my cheek, and copper fills my mouth where I bit my tongue. Cassian’s footsteps echo somewhere in the house, punctuated by breaking glass.
The broken phone lies inches from my fingers, Sandro’s voicemail still burning in my mind. I manage to press play again, needing to hear it one more time.
“I should have told you years ago.” His voice breaks. “Everything you believe about that night is wrong. I took the fall because... because there are things you don’t know about who you really are. About what your father did...”
The phone screen goes off.
What does he mean?
Rage propels me up. My legs shake as I stumble toward the living room, following the sound of destruction. The apartment is eerily silent, but the moment I step through the doorway, I find him.
Cassian stands amid the wreckage of his paintings, canvas shreds scattered like confetti. An empty whiskey bottle dangles from his fingers, his knuckles smeared with blood.
When he spots me, his lips twist.
“There she is. The princess who ruined everything.” He hurls the bottle. It shatters against the wall beside my head. “The perfect setup, wasn’t it? The struggling artist who just happened to catch the princess’s eye.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Ask your father.” He hurls another bottle past my head. “He paid well for this performance.”
Before I can process his words, his hand connects with my face again, harder this time. Stars explode behind my eyes. “Cassian please stop this...”
“Don’t you fucking tell me what to do, you whore!” he screams.
I cough and struggle up. “Ok...I’m sorry...” I just need to get him to calm down so I can get out of here.
“I just want to know one thing. Was any of it real? Or was I just another puppet in your game?”
“You hit me, you drunk asshole. You don’t get to play victim.”
He lurches, staggering closer. “Victim? You picked him! Sandro! After all I did for you!” He laughs. “Hit you? You destroyed my life. Everything I worked for, gone because I was stupid enough to fall for you.”
“What are you talking about?”
I don’t see the next slap coming.
He lunges forward again, hand raised. Pain explodes across my face before I can block him. I stumble back, vision blurring.
Slowly, I lift my head. Cassian’s breathing hard, his face twisted with something worse than anger. Betrayal. Hatred. Despair.