My dad hated tardiness.
I rose from the chair and smoothed a hand down the front of my pants. Alex stood beside me, biting her lip as she looked up at me.
“Duty calls.” I bent down to kiss to her lips. “Paint something for me.”
“Will you be gone long?”
“I don’t know, baby.”
“Benji will sit with you while you paint,” Marcello said. “And you’ll have two guards posted at each end of the hallway. I’ll send Benji in after we leave.” He lifted her feet off the floor and kissed her. “We’ll be back soon, princess. Two floors above you.”
I glanced down at Alex’s canvas on the tarp and smiled. She drew a group of men wearing cloaks with hoods over their heads. The man at the center of the group had eyes that shone various shades of red and orange, while the others had X marks over their eyes.
“What gave you this idea?” I asked her.
“It’s The Devil’s Knights. After all of you saved me from the island, I realized how much this queen needs her Knights. You couldn’t have rescued me without their help.”
I pointed my finger at the canvas. “Why did you cross out their eyes?”
“For anonymity.” Nonchalant, she rolled her shoulders. “You know, since it’s a secret society.”
I raised an eyebrow at her. “Why are my eyes different?”
She laughed. “Who says that’s you?”
“Please, Drea. We both know the man at the center is me.”
“I want to reveal the painting at my next showcase since the Russians ruined the last one.”
“You sold out the Blackwell Gallery,” I reminded her. “It was still a success.”
“I sold out because the four of you bought the paintings.”
I snickered at her comment. “Like we would let a complete stranger hang our faces in their homes.”
Alex walked with us across the massive room. “I’m working on other pieces. One of them is a surprise. A wedding gift to the four of you. I painted it for our eyes only.”
I waggled my eyebrows. “Sounds kinky.”
She laughed. “It’s more suggestive than my usual work. We can hang it in my bedroom.”
“I want it now.”
“Good things come to those who wait, Mr. Salvatore,” she taunted.
Isat in the chair across from my father with a glass of scotch in hand. He puffed on a cigar, the smoke filling his office. Luca sat on his right while Bastian and Damian took their usual places beside him.
My dad flicked the ash onto the tray on the coffee table. “The auction ended last week. Lorenzo is still on the run with Savanna. Our intel confirmed he has the support of The Lucaya Group. They’re hiding him. He was last spotted in New York.”
Damian’s nostrils flared.
The Lucaya Group was a sore spot for my brothers, and rightfully so. They killed their parents.
Bastian shot up from the chair, enraged by the announcement. “I’m done waiting to take them down. You promised us revenge fifteen years ago.” He balled his hands into fists at his sides, his top lip quivering. “We handed over twenty-five percent of Atlantic Airlines for The Founders Society’s connections. Damian and I have waited too long to get close to The Lucaya Group.”
“I have every intention of following through on our agreement,” he assured Bastian. “We’re not backing down from The Lucaya Group or Lorenzo Basile.”
My brother hovered above my dad’s chair, so angry he spit as he spoke. “You promised you would help us find these bastards. This is our chance. We finally have enough allies.”