As soon as my father leaves, I give Kristian a deadpan look. “Try it any-fucking-time and I’ll castrate you.”
Kristian flashes an evil grin back, eyes starry like he’s discovered his fucking soulmate. “Careful, baby, you’ll make me fall in love with that sort of talk.”
Dogs bark in the distance again. My father’s so-called business partners have arrived. We don’t have to wait long for the rest of the organization to turn up.
“Now we’re all here, let’s get started,” says Adrien as he enters, accompanying the remaining two of The Five, Albert Marques and Royden Earlshore, into the dining room.
“Aren’t we waiting for Duke?” asks one of them.
“Unfortunately, Duke has chosen to opt out of this one,” says Adrien.
Kristian scoffs. “He’s a fucking pussy, just like Joseph if you ask me.”
“Who are you calling a pussy?” Lorcan drawls, strolling back into the room. His eyes are slightly brighter than usual. I wouldn’t put it past him to have taken a little something to take the edge off. I’m tempted to join him. Thankfully, no one seems to have noticed.
Dino looks relieved, quite the opposite to his brother whose expression is one of extreme distaste.
Clearly this isn’t over yet.
Not by a long fucking shot.