I wanted a man who would devote all his time and attention to me. Show me I was worth loving. Drake never committed to anything, always keeping me at a distance.
“We have a car waiting for you out front,” Luca said, stepping toward us, dressed in a black suit, even at this hour. “This shouldn’t have happened. But there’s a lesson here.”
“Yeah?” Drake shot back. “What’s that?”
“Strike first.”
“I’m not like you,” he said, anger dripping from his tone. “I won’t risk killing innocent people.”
I didn’t know what the hell they were talking about, but everyone in the room seemed to understand. This part of Drake’s life was a mystery to me. Of course, I knew about The Devil’s Knights, a secret society that dealt with the criminal underworld.
“Next time, you’ll do the right thing,” Luca said, arms crossed over his chest.
“There won’t be a next time,” Drake growled, now getting into his face. “So, fuck you.”
He shook off Sonny and Aiden and stumbled out of the kitchen. I followed behind and caught him before he staggered into the wall in the hallway. Too proud to ask for help, he tried to hold himself up, but it was clear he wouldn’t get very far without leaning on me.
“For what it’s worth,” I said as we walked down a never-ending hallway toward the front door. “I’m glad you’re back.”
He turned his head, eyes puffy and bruised. “You don’t hate me?”
“How can I?”
“Because this is my fault. They kidnapped us because of my technology.”
On some level, I blamed Drake. He pulled us into his world and made us believe that we could have it all. But now I understood the price of such wealth. To have everything, you had to give something up. Some of his friends, like Luca, had given up their humanity. And Drake gave pieces of himself.
As we approached the front doors, two armed men opened them for us. Our driver waited by the curb, standing beside the open door of a black stretch limousine. I hopped inside and made room for Drake, sliding across the leather bench.
I put my hand on his knee, our mouths so close we could have kissed. “Why did you say those things to Sonny and Aiden?”
“About Tate?”
I nodded.
“Because it’s true. Tate made me promise a few things before he died. He wanted you to know that he loved you. He also asked me to take care of you, which is a given. I’d do that no matter what.”
Curled up beside him, I basked in the feel of his skin against mine, warm and soft and so damn real. When he first went missing, I feared I’d never see him again. I worried we would never get a second chance.
“You said the DNA results weren’t a match.”
“For you,” he admitted, “but not for Tate.”
“I don’t…” My words trailed off, and then the realization hit me all at once. “Tate isn’t my biological brother?”
Drake shook his head. “He didn’t want you to know. But since this secret has been keeping us apart for years, he wanted me to tell you. He thought it was time you knew everything about him. About me. About yourself.”
On the short drive to the Battle Fortress, my heart hammered in my chest. A well of anger, fear, and sadness swirled inside me. I felt everything all at once. But mostly, I felt betrayed by the one person I loved most.
“Why would he do this?”
“Tate didn’t want you to feel left out. He thought knowing the truth would hurt you.”
“Being left in the dark hurts much worse.”
He pressed his lips together.
“So, who is my father? Do you know?”
