“Yeah.” Art’s jaw tightens. “He does that sometimes.”
Lance is standing now, wiping blood from his mouth. He doesn’t acknowledge the crowd. He just turns toward a tunnel, a guy with pasty skin, and short, wavy blond hair at his side.
Right before he disappears, he stops, his hand gripping the edge of the stone archway. He looks over his shoulder, and his eyes find mine.
I feel it again—that sense of something shifting beneath my feet.
Then he’s gone.
I’m snapped to the present when Art mentions something about my father.
My breath stalls, and then a hand wraps around my mouth and jerks me back.
Chapter 3
Lance
The Lye reopening isn’t news, more of an inevitability. I’ve never been under the illusion that I was free, even after getting rid of Frederick.
I lift the gun.
A sharp, pained laugh bleeds out of Frederick’s mouth. “He’ll kill you if you stay down there.”
I shrug, even though the thought ofhim—Brutus Myrddin—sends a chill down my spine.
My life’s forfeit every time I step into the ring anyway.
“Then I guess I’ll see you in hell.”
A muffled noise breaks through the memory, and I’m on my feet before Art can blink.
“Anyone else supposed to be here?” I ask.
Art shakes his head but keeps his face turned away. Still, he falls into step beside me without a word, the way he always does—the way we have since we were kids.
I don’t know what I expect to find when we round the corner, but it’s not Benjamin Voltaire with his pasty hand overGenevieve’s mouth, her body thrashing like a wildcat clawing her way free.
Fucking Benny.
MarcusandFrederick’s nephew. A two-for-two in the lost uncle lottery, and every bit the smug shit you’d expect from someone who got his status through nepotism.
“Get your hands off her,” I snap.
Benny smirks and loosens his grip just enough for Genevieve to drive her elbow into his ribs. He grunts and lets her go, and I hold back a grin at the sight of this tiny woman manhandling a guy almost twice her size.
She has terrible form, but not too bad, all things considered.
“The fuck is wrong with you?” I cross my arms.
“Relax, boss,” Benny says.
My fingers twitch at that stupid nickname.
“Was just showing Gin what happens when you eavesdrop where you don’t belong.”
Her cheeks are flushed, mouth tight, but when our eyes meet, her chin lifts.
Of course she was listening.Genevieve never can stay in her lane.
