Nadi felt Raziel bristle beside her. “Whatever you have to say to my wife, you can say to me,” he said, his voice dangerously soft.
Mael’s golden eyes flicked briefly to his brother before returning to Nadi. “May I…may I schedule a private meeting with Monica? She has been tugged in different directions enough of late. I wish to speak to her about what it’s like to be a Nostrom. From perhaps a different perspective.”
“Of course,” Raziel echoed, the words dripping with venom. “Why would I ever not trust you, brother?”
Nadi placed a gentle hand on Raziel’s arm—a gesture that would seem comforting to observers but was actually intended to restrain. “It’s all right,” she said softly.
Something passed between the brothers—a silent battle of wills that Nadi couldn’t fully interpret.
“As you wish,” Raziel finally said. “May I at least be allowed to know where and when?”
“The Blue Terrace. Noon tomorrow,” Mael replied. “I’ll send a car.”
Nadi nodded, feeling under her hand tension vibrating in Raziel’s body. “I’ll be ready.”
Mael inclined his head, then glanced at his naked brother with something that might have been regret before turning and walking back toward the dining room.
As they stepped out into the night air, a servant appeared with a long peacoat for Raziel, which he donned in silence. Their car waited at the end of the drive, Ivan at the wheel.
Neither of them spoke during the ride back to Raziel’s estate. Nadi stared out the window, mind racing through the implications of everything she’d witnessed. She had expected to feel triumph at seeing Raziel brought low. Instead, she felt only a deepening of the complicated emotions that had been tangling inside her since the night at the estate.
It wasn’t until they were alone in his bedroom, doors locked behind them, that Raziel finally broke the silence.
“Enjoy the show?” His voice was strained as he shrugged off the coat and headed for the bathroom.
Nadi hesitated, then followed him. “No,” she admitted. “I didn’t.”
He paused, hand on the shower door, surprise flickering across his features before he masked it. “I would have thought my humiliation would be the highlight of your evening.”
“I would have thought the same.”
Their eyes met in the mirror, and for a moment, neither spoke.
“Why did you agree to meet with Mael?” he asked finally.
“Information.” She shrugged. “The more I know about the dynamics between all of you, the better positioned we’ll be totake them down. Besides. Don’t you want to know what he’s up to?”
Raziel studied her reflection, as if searching for deception. “And if he offers you a better deal than I have?”
Nadi considered her answer carefully. “Then, I’ll weigh my options, just as you would in my position.”
A slow smile spread across his face. “Fair enough, little murderer. Fair enough.” He opened the shower door. “Get some rest. You’ll need it for tomorrow’s performance.”
As she turned to leave, his voice stopped her one last time.
“Nadi.”
She looked back, meeting those unsettling red eyes.
“Remember who you’re dealing with. He’s not on your side. And remember whose sideyou’reon.”
That was the problem.
She was supposed to be on nobody’s side but her own.
And now?
She didn’t know if that was still the case.
