Page 86 of The Hitman's Prince

“My uncle’s play,” Daren said. “There’d been so much upheaval from what Gideon and Fletcher did. He and my father…they knew I was…knew I was not on their side. It was a precaution, but it wasn’t a kindness.”

“What do you mean?”

“They were hiding him until they needed him.”

My brows knit together over the bridge of my nose. “But it’s not a secret you had a cousin. Everyone knew he existed.”

“I’m not sure if you’ve noticed or not, but the easiest way to survive this life is to keep your head down and your eyes on your own lane,” Daren said, his shoulders sagging low.

“You didn’t seem to excel with keeping your head down.”

He laughed, a sad sound under his breath. “I kept it lower than most. I tried as hard as I could to stay out of everyone’s line of sight so I could buy more time with Luca.”

Luca Mandeville, the infamous second to Gideon North and who’d never met a person he didn’t want to take to bed. If his promiscuity had been a ruse to keep his relationship with Daren secret, it worked. Even though Ihadn’t known much of either of them coming into this life, I’d heard plenty after.

I’d realized there were two circles of families in town and the overlap between them was growing smaller every day. Those at the top thought there was no one above them. That was the mistake Francis North and Miller Sinclair, Gideon’s and Fletcher’s fathers, had made. They were beholden to the Angelinis in ways they didn’t truly understand until the alliance between the three ruling sons was complete.

“But no,” Daren went on, stretching out his legs. “Jacob wasn’t afraid of anything, not even our parents.”

“What changed, then?”

“I couldn’t say. I’ve managed to stay out of their politics up until this last year.”

“And I see how well that worked out for all of you.”

“It worked fine,” he shot back, “until it didn’t.”

“You know I can’t stay here,” I whispered, tilting my head up so I could get a read on his face, which was chiseled and unreadable as stone.

“You have to.”

“This is my fault,” I reminded him. “I thought I knew what was best and I made a bad decision. I thought…thought I owed my father something when, in reality, he didn’t deserve anything from me.”

“You’re doing us all a disservice if you pretend your intent wasn’t at least somewhat selfish,” Daren mused, rubbing absently at the side of his chin. “All of us act in our own best interests. The key to life is surrounding yourself with people who have those same interests.”

“It was a high school obsession,” I snapped. “And it was a delusional trick I used to convince myself I was doing the right thing. The best way. Or something. I don’t even know anymore.”

“Don’t know if it was best?” he asked.

“I thought I had feelings for a man I never knew, but now that I actuallyhavefeelings for him…” I trailed off, unsure of how to finish.

Daren sighed heavily, resigned. “Do you love him?”

“I lovethem,” I answered, still unsure of how deep my feelings for Orion ran, but understanding they were irrevocably wrapped up with those for Vince and Jake. “I can’t lose that now.”

“Fletcher is going to fucking kill me,” he muttered, standing up and throwing a quick look over his shoulder toward the house.

“What?”

“Come around back with me, but be fucking quiet,” he warned. “I’m saying goodbye to Luca and getting a gun, then we’re going to find my cousin for you.”

Chapter 64

Jacob

Iwalked right into my father’s house like I had every day of my life up until the point he’d sent me into hiding at the church. It wasn’t locked, there was no one standing guard, nothing to indicate that any plans had changed. Maybe Daren was wrong, maybe I’d misunderstood my father’s implication on our last phone call. I still slipped through the house carefully and quietly, hugging the walls with my shoulder and counting on the foreign—yet reassuring—weight of a weapon in my hand.

Gideon, Fletcher, and Vince had all killed their fathers to save their own lives. I could do the same if I had to, right? I was working under the assumption my father would end me if it served his bank account or his best interests, so why should I offer him any different courtesies? What did all those childhood memories count for now?