Lucian turns to me, snorting. “You hearing this, cop? Your woman is hitting on me right in front of you. You haven’t got anything to say about that?”
I grit my teeth. “I guess your hold on her is stronger than I thought.”
“It’s not ahold,” Elle murmurs, almost sounding convincing even to me. “It’s a connection.”
“A connection,” Lucian repeats, as though mesmerized. “That’s what I’ve always tried to show you, tried toproveto you. There’s nothing wrong with the love in my heart. I know I’m… unconventional.” He winces, looking across the restaurant.
I follow his gaze to find two waitresses huddled near the entrance to the kitchen, both of them looking over at us.
“I might have to leave,” Lucian says, shaking his head. “Fuck. You know, I came here ready to fight, spill blood, and let the chips fall where they may. But now that you’ve…”
His eyes begin to glisten. I study him in shock and disgust. Does he believe Elle? Is he tricking himself or us? It’s impossible to tell. Clearly, he’s a sick, broken individual. He doesn’t have a firm connection with reality.
“Can we make this work?” He says, forgetting that I’m here as he gazes at Elle.
“I believe we can,” Elle says, her voice cracking, eyes glistening.
Jealousy twists through me even when I know this is a game, a play. This is what I told her to do, and yet, hearing it makes me want to smash his face in.
“But how?” Lucian says, more urgent now as his gaze tracks a waitress moving across the room. “Where? When? You need to promise you mean it, Elle. You need to swear.”
Elle’s hand trembles as she reaches toward Lucian. My soul splits right down the middle as her hand comes to rest against his. It takes every shred of discipline I have not to leap to my feet and ruin him.
“I swear, Lucian,” Elle says, tears sliding down her cheeks. “I’ve had a lot of time to think, and ever since that night, I wished I’d told you sooner how I really feel. My family poured poison in my ears, convinced me I could never be with you because they said you were a criminal. But it wasn’t fair. I wanted you from the start.”
Lucian gasps, eyes widening. He looks like a boy on Christmas morning who’s discovered he’s getting everything he asked Santa for.
“The truth is,” Elle murmurs, “I wanted you from the start. I was just never allowed to admit it.”
“So why…” Lucian gestures at me. “What the fuck isthisabout then, sweetheart? Why would you laugh with, joke with, … anddatethis man? This cop? Why would you do that?”
She sniffles. “When you were in prison, I felt so alone. I felt like I had to be someone I’m not, to pretend. So, yeah, I tried dating, laughing, and being normal with Rhett. But it’s all fake. You were always the man for me.”
Lucian turns to me, raising an eyebrow. “You hearing this, cop?”
“It’s all news to me,” I snarl. “But if this is what’s going to make her happy, I can’t stand in her way.”
Lucian kneels and takes both of Elle’s hands. “Is this a trick?”
“No,” Elle says, so convincingly that even I almost believe her. “Lucian, I’m sorry I didn’t say this sooner. But I love you.”
When Lucian smiles, he looks ill somehow. Like a little boy who’s spent the afternoon burning ants with a magnifying glass and is sick with the thrill of it.
Then he leans toward Elle as if to whisper in her ear. I stiffen with rage, sitting up and ready to take his head off. Elle glares at me for a split second, a moment of desperation punching through her façade.
Stay where you are.
He whispers something in Elle’s ear, then quickly stands.
“I have to go,” he says. “But we’ll be together soon, sweetheart.”
He turns and strides across the restaurant. When he’s close to the exit, two men walk into his path. They’re young and have a do-gooder look about them. My guess is they’ve recognized him, or the waiting staff told them, and now they’re taking it upon themselves not to let him leave.
The violence is immediate. Lucian slams one man into the wall so hard I hear his nose break from here and trips the other and stamps on his face.
Elle gasps and buries her face in her hands. I stare at the brutality, the viciousness of it. I stare because I have to. Because when the time comes, it will be a reminder that he deserves everything that happens to him.
Several people are recording as Lucian, blood-spattered and manic, stands over the beaten men. He waves his hands erratically. “Don’teverstep to the goddamn prince!” He roars. “Don’t eventhinkabout stepping to the fucking prince. Do you know who I am? Do you know who my father is? I’m a Conti, you dumb fucks!I do what I want.”
