Page 72 of Scandalous Kingpin

“Ivy, please let me?—”

“Is. It. True?” Tears glimmered in her eyes. “Tell me… please.”

I stared at her, waiting. Willing her to shake my shoulders and tell me it was all a misunderstanding.

“Yes.”

One fucking word and it stomped on my heart. All these months. All the conversations we’d had and time we’d spent together and she let me believe Sofia was the killer. Was she laughing at me behind my back?

Awkward silence followed while Juliette and I stared at each other. Years of friendship and loyalty turned into dust until all I saw in front of me was fakeness oozing from her.

She shifted and I realized she was growing uncomfortable beneath my stare.

Juliette glanced away, seeking out her husband. Basilio and his sister stood emotionless while Emory’s gaze shimmered with pity, but she refused to get involved.

“I would have told you sooner—” Juliette started, but I didn’t let her finish.

I gritted my teeth as a wave of resentment crashed over me.

“Let me guess, it slipped your mind,” I spat, my gaze narrowing.

“Well, no… but I didn’t want to lose you. I can’t lose you too.”

For a second, I was reminded of all the times we’d stuck by each other, through thick and thin, her difficulty coming to terms in learning her parentage, but I refused to let her pull on my heartstrings.

I snapped, the pain and deceit blurring my vision. I moved almost robotically, like I was watching this version of me from above, as I grabbed a chunk of her dark hair and pulled, jerking her head to the side. She looked at me, shocked, and lifted her hands on instinct. Ready to fight back.

From my peripheral vision, I noticed Dante trying to cut in to help his wife, but Christian held him back. “Let them work it out.”

Basilio and Emory kept my brothers contained, though they didn’t seem too concerned with my safety. I must look feral to have earned their confidence.

She pulled at my shirt, throwing us off-balance, and we fell to the ground. Amid the wreckage caused by the destruction left behind by Sofia Volkov, I straddled her and knocked her head against the ground.

Juliette screeched. “Ivy, stop.”

“Get your hands off my wife,” Dante growled.

“Stay out of this,” Juliette and I hissed at him at the same time while Dante fought against Christian’s hold.

“I’m going to murder you,” Aemon growled at Juliette, but unlike Dante, he stood stoic, unwilling to fight against Emory—any woman, for that matter.

“You try, and I’ll end your entire fucking family,” Dante glowered at him while Basilio struggled to keep my other brothers at bay.

“I can’t believe you would keep this from me!” I slapped Juliette’s cheek. We might have all come as one force, but there was no fucking way we’d leave as one.

“If you would just let me explain,” she said, shoving me to the side with her knee. A breath left my lungs while Juliette tugged my hair so hard my scalp burned.

“What is there to explain?” I growled, digging my nails into her wrist until she released my hair. Her body shoved me away, leaving me lying on my back, trying to catch my breath.

“Youkilledmy dad, you fucking psycho.”

She turned her head to look at me. “Andhekilled my father.”

Something in the tone of her voice made me falter. She let out a bitter laugh. “What? You don’t see me bitching about that, do you? Besides, your husband could have let you know.”

I froze. “What?”

“Shut the fuck up, Juliette,” Christian seethed, the fury vibrating from his every pore as he pulled me up off my best friend. Correction,ex-best friend.