Page 70 of Scarred

Tristan

“Do you think it’s a rebel?” Edward says, adjusting the cuff on the edge of his uniform. “Someone who’s grown restless and took matters into their own hands?”

A shot of rage fires through my chest at the thought of a rebel disobeying me, and I glance at Edward, distrust weaving through my mind.

“Why would somebody wish themselves a torturous death by my hands?” I ask. “They have to know that’s what would await them.”

He nods, rubbing at the scruff on his jaw. “Do you think it’s Alexander? That pathetic little bird?”

“I think everyone is suspect at this point.” I rise from my seat, making my way to the corner of Edward’s room and staring into the mirror perched on top of his chest of drawers.

“Even Lady Beatreaux?”

Defensiveness slams down like a concrete wall, cracking my foundation with its force. I spin to face him, tilting my head. “If you have something to ask me, Edward, do it. I cannot stand guessing games.”

He swallows, lifting a shoulder. “I mean nothing by it… but sheisan attractive woman.”

I clench my jaw, tamping down the urge to cut out his tongue for speaking of her as if he has any right. As if he has any clue of howdevastatingshe truly is.

“She’s my brother’s.”

He glances at me from his peripheral as he comes to stand next to me in the mirror. “Yet you warned the rebels not to touch her.”

I sigh, tiring of his line of questioning. “I will be the one to kill her, Edward. Preferably while Michael watches.”

My mind flashes back to the dinner, when she brushed against my cock, then placed the same fingers in Michael’s hand, smiling up at him like he was her world.

A sudden thought strikes me like a sharp slap to the face.

What if it was her responsible for Takan’s death?

She’s always sneaking around in places she doesn’t belong, has knives attached to her thigh, and plays the part of a doting royal when I know for a fact she’s a silver-tongued snake.

She was also sitting next to Lord Takan at the banquet.

A huff of air escapes me as the puzzle pieces slot together, a cool trickle of relaxation sliding down my insides at the realization.

Of course, it would be her.

My little liar.

I expect to feel anger, but instead I grow aroused, delighted that if itisher, she’s far more nefarious than I thought. It makes me want to push her, see how far she’ll go until she breaks.

My cock rises to half-mast from her devious deeds, and I sink my teeth into my bottom lip, biting back a groan, recognizing that this makes her even more attractive to me than she already was.

I straighten my black vest, then walk to where my black tailcoat is thrown across the chair, picking it up and easing my arms through the sleeves.

“This changes nothing with our plans,” I say to Edward, a sly grin creeping along my face. “Might as well make tonight a two-for-one special.”

* * *

The last ballheld in the Saxum castle was when Michael assumed the throne, throwing the most lavish event since the turn of the century ten years prior.

I didn’t attend.

Must have slipped my mind.

Still, I knew that by presenting Lady Beatreaux to the court, she would be the center of attention.