Page 420 of Reign

“One. Miguel may have been innocent, and Luciano killed him anyway. That was wrong. Be angry.”

A second finger rises.

“Two. Felipe put a gun against you, and you liked watching Luciano lose his mind over it.”

Heat climbs into my face.

“Ayla,” Adriana warns.

“What?” She looks between us. “She didn’t like Miguel dying. She liked knowing Luciano would become a fucking monster because someone touched her. Those aren’t the same thing.”

Her third finger rises.

“Three. Felipe made you helpless. You froze, and you had nothing to fight him with.”

“I know how to protect myself. After Vasilisa was attacked, my brothers taught me self-defense and how to shoot.”

“And yet you didn’t have a weapon.”

“No one gave me one.”

“That’s fucking stupid.”

“Ayla, be nice,” Adriana warns again.

Ayla cuts her a look.

“No. It is. She’s surrounded by armed men, and she’s the only person in this house expected to stand there waiting for one of them to save her.”

The words hit hard.

“I froze though.”

“Then train until your hands remember when your head doesn’t.”

My brows raise.

“You were born into this life. Your brothers are Angelo and Santo Amato. You’re in love with Luciano Castillo. Did you think you were going to marry an accountant?”

“I could marry an accountant.”

“No.”

“I absolutely could.”

“You’d eat him alive.”

Vasilisa hides a laugh. Adriana takes another drink to cover hers.

Traitors.

Ayla leans back. “Do you wish you hadn’t seen Luciano like that?”

“No.”

“Then stop acting like you were supposed to want less of him afterward.”

“But Miguel—”