Page 166 of Reckoning

My anger surges, I grab the man by the throat, slamming him back into the wall. So, that’s what this is. He’s with Blue Eyes and the fake therapist.

“You stay the hell away from her or I’ll…” I begin.

“You’ll what?” He gasps. “You think you and your little biker gang are any match for us? We are the Brethren. We run this country. We control everything. You think we can’t simply have you removed and just take what we want?”

“If you even try…”

“Koen,”

I freeze.

We all freeze at that voice.

Magnus turns his gaze to just over my shoulder and he grins.

“Sofia,” Roman snarls, moving to block her but she shifts quickly out of his grasp.

“Put him down.” She says gently to me.

“Is that a joke?” I reply. “This man would happily gut you…”

“And if we’re smart, then perhaps it won’t come to that.” Sofia states.

Magnus smiles more. I clench my fist, slamming it into his smug little face and then I let him fall.

Hastings tuts but I can tell Roman approves of my show of aggression. Not that I need his approval.

“You should be resting.” I say to Sofia. She’s still in those leggings and dressing gown. She looks shattered. Her hair is all over the place and I have no idea why she even got out of bed.

“You weren’t there.” She says quietly. “You can’t expect me to sleep in a bed if you’re not beside me.”

I huff, feeling like I should feel more complimented that I do right now. Maybe I’ll have to handcuff her to the bed when I leave from now on.

She plants a kiss on my cheek then turns her attention on Magnus.

“You want the Devil’s Heart diamond, don’t you?” She says.

He nods only enough for us to notice. As if extending his head further would be a waste of his precious energy.

“I’ll give it to you.” She says, holding her hand to silence my splutter. “But on one condition.”

“Your father made conditions.” Magnus sneers. “And then he failed to honour them, why should we trust his daughter to be any different?

“Because unlike him, I don’t give a shit about it.” She snaps. “And you can at least hear me out before you make yourself look stupid in turning me down.”

Fuck, I love her like this. Full of rage. Full of fury. How my cock doesn’t stir in my pants I don’t know but it’s a good thing. I can hardly stand here with a raging hard on in front her damned brother.

“Go on then.” Magnus replies.

“You can have the diamond as long as you agree that Koen is there when you extract it.”

“Excuse me?” He blinks like he doesn’t understand.

My jaw drops, I shake my head but again she dismisses me, acting like she has sole control of the room.

“The diamond is in me.” Sofia says.

All three men react. Roman with horror. Hastings with shock. And Magnus, I can’t quite tell what he thinks but he quickly covers it.