Page 170 of Pretty When She Breaks

LAUREL

I stood up off the swing, a satisfied smile on my face as I took in Dax and Prince. Prince was on his knees, head in his hands and shoulders shaking as he let out low moans. Dax was clinging to the balcony railing, the metal bent around his fingers as he turned to me. His skin was coated in sweat, the pallor of his face waxy against the whites of his wide eyes.

I drank it all in. Losing Madison would have shattered their pack, cutting soul deep.

“What have you done?” Dax rasped.

“Me?” I asked innocently, widening my eyes. “I simply showed you myplacehere. What was it you called it? The true role that I play.”

I walked to the balcony railing, resting a hand on it, my face settling back into that dark smile that felt so good. “I’m the Crimson fucking Duchess, and this ismydomain. It’s funny how everyone seems to forget that.”

I reached down and grabbed Kaos’s oversized hoodie,pulling it back on, glad for the warmth and comforting scent in this frigid room.

Dax snarled and staggered toward me, but I stepped back to the swing, ready to move out of his reach if needed.

“I’d rethink that. My father wants a word with you. In fact, he’s probably on his way right now.”

Dax hesitated, unsure if he should call my bluff. I pulled on the pair of track pants that I’d shoved into the massive hoodie pocket, tucking the dress underneath. I wanted to feel like Laurel for this next part. Down below, I heard Jewel—as myself—talking to the crowd, but no one up here was paying attention.

Soon enough, footsteps could be heard approaching from the other side of the suite. Prince finally stirred, looking up with tear-streaked eyes as my father, Jag, and his three bodyguards rounded the corner.

The bodyguards had guns out, and trained them on Prince and Dax.

“Uncle?” Prince said. “Did you see what she did?—?”

“Silence!” my father barked, command lacing his tone and making everyone flinch, including me.

Prince fell quiet, his eyes wide. There was a beat of tense silence as Father reached us and rested his arms on the back of an ornate chair.

He took a deep breath, seeming to try and steady himself. “Do you know why we, as a family, have been so successful?” my father asked the room.

He inclined his head toward me.

“Laurel? Any ideas?”

“Loyalty,” I recited.

“Precisely,” my father said, fixing his gaze back on Dax and Prince. “Loyalty—innate loyalty—cannot be bought. It is the foundation on which this entire empire rests. Familyblood and pack bonds unite us and make us strong. And yet…” He trailed off, straightening and taking his hands from the chair.

“When this loyalty is broken, our foundation crumbles. If we cannot trust those of our own blood, we can trust no one. We become selfish and greedy, no better than any of the other criminals that lurk in the shadows.”

He looked at Dax, frowning at the shaky alpha. “It’s a shame. I was truly impressed with you. Yet, today, I find out you have been planning my murder.”

“Uncle, that’s absurd,” breathed Prince, looking like he was about to vomit.

I fought to keep the triumphant grin off my face.

“Absurd, is it?” my father spat. “I have evidence. Messages of your betrayal. Jag will have my men escort you to the pens, and I’ll decide your fate from there.”

Dax and Prince, with three guns leveled at them, had no choice but to let Jag secure cuffs to their hands and lead them away toward the elevator.

Where Finch and Jewel would be waiting.

NINETY-SIX

LAUREL

My father didn’t even glance at me as he walked over to the bar. As usual, he’d failed to think of me as anything other than a meek, harmless omega.