“Safe from what?”
“Not tonight, baby.” He weaved his fingers between mine on the countertop. “That’s a conversation for another time. C’mon, you need your rest.”
The Wellington twins thought they could outsmart me. Guess again. No one had ever bested me, and I was not about to start with Alex and her pain in the ass brother.
Alex’s eyes flickered with rage as she spotted me at the end of the bar. She stormed toward me with Aiden at her side, her teeth gritted. “Why are you here, Luca?”
Aiden shot me a nasty look. “I should have known Marcello set me up.”
I raised the glass to my lips, turning my attention to Alex. “Am I not allowed to drink at a local bar? And you, my pretty little liar, what are you doing here?”
Alex blushed three shades of red.
I downed the rest of my scotch and raised my finger for another. “The last time I checked, you were too busy to leave the house. What lie did you tell me, Drea? Something about your exhibition taking precedence over any of our prior engagements.”
“Luca,” she groaned. “This game with my brother ends now.”
“I’m just drinking, D.” I slid out the stool beside me and patted the leather seat. “Sit. You look like you could use a few drinks.”
Aiden folded his arms over his chest, glaring at me. “What are you playing at, Salvatore?”
Ignoring Aiden’s question, I flagged down the bartender to order a cosmopolitan for Alex and a bottle of Heineken for her brother.
As I handed them drinks, I said, “I know everything that happens in and around Devil’s Creek.”
Alex’s nostrils flared. “If you’re behind this, I will never speak to you again. My brother is hellbent on destroying his life for the sake of his art, and wherever he goes, I will follow.”
Alex was the only woman with power over me. Burned into my skin like ink, the lines of our past and present were so intertwined I couldn’t figure out where we started and ended. I didn’t want Alex chasing her brother around Devil’s Creek and Beggars Bay, all for the sake of her brother’s ego.
I had to show him the correct path.
The one that led Alex right to me.
“I have a proposal,” I said to Aiden. “If you stop putting your sister in danger, I will introduce you to The Serpents.”
“Done,” Aiden said before I could finish.
“Once I make the introductions, you will never interfere with Alex and me. Understood?”
His brows furrowed. “I haven’t changed my mind about you, Salvatore. You’re no good for my sister.”
“I don’t care what you think about me.” I extended my right hand. “Do we have a deal?”
He nodded, then shook my hand.
“Aiden,” Alex protested. “What are you doing?”
“Like I can keep you away from him. C’mon, Lexie, you’ve been running back to him since we were in high school.”
She tucked her bottom lip into her mouth, making me want to kiss her. I offered my palm to Alex, and she stared at my hand for a moment before she slipped her fingers between mine.
“If anything happens to him,” she said in a threatening tone, “I will kill you myself.”
I pulled her onto my lap and tapped the stem of her glass. “Drink up, baby girl. Your brother has business to deal with while we have some fun.”
She sipped her cosmo. “What kind of business?”
“That’s for Aiden to worry about.”
“Promise no harm will come to my brother.”
“You have my word.” I kissed the top of her head, holding her warm body against my chest. “He’s in excellent hands.”
After she finished her drink, I rose from the chair, taking Alex with me.
“Aiden, I’d like you to meet my friends.” I pointed my finger at a tall man with thick, black hair and colored tattoos from his neck down. “This is Hades.” Then I motioned to the man with white-blond hair, tons of muscle, and even more ink. “And this is Morpheus.”
Hades raised his arm, tipping his beer bottle at Aiden. “You have our attention. Make it count.”
Morpheus pointed at a stool. Without further instruction, Aiden sat between the leaders of The Serpents.
“Get arrested, and you’re on your own,” I whispered into Aiden’s ear. “Fail their tests, and you’re also on your own. Unless you want to reconsider becoming a Knight.”
His nose crinkled at the thought of joining the Knighthood.
As a Wellington, it was his birthright, but he acknowledged none of the money, privilege, or power. I was a member of the secret society since my freshman year of college. Months away from taking my father’s place as their king, I needed a queen. The Devil’s Knights had waited a long time for Alex. And with her brother sure to fail, I knew he would self-destruct.
I was not too fond of Aiden, but he was essential to the plan. Without his obsession with The Serpents, I never would have gotten Alex. He was her weakness, and she was mine.