CHAPTER 11 :The Rival Family

When I woke up, the space beside me was empty.

I ran my hand over the sheets. They were cool to the touch. Julian had been gone for hours.

I sat up, pulling his oversized t-shirt tighter around me. The memory of last night—his arms around me, his heartbeat under my ear—felt like a fever dream. Had the Devil of the East Side really cuddled me until I fell asleep? Or was that just another manipulation?

I swung my legs out of bed. On the nightstand, there was a note written in sharp, angular script.

I have a meeting in the penthouse. Stay in the room until I come for you.

It wasn't a request. It was an order.

"Bossy," I muttered, crumpling the note.

I wasn't going to stay in the room like a good little prisoner. I needed answers about the photo I had found. Target: Eleanor Hayes.

I walked to the bedroom door and pressed my ear against the wood. I could hear low voices drifting from the main living area.

I cracked the door open just a sliver.

Julian was standing by the floor-to-ceiling windows, his back to me. He was wearing a fresh black suit, looking every inch the imperious king. Standing opposite him was a man I hadn't seen before—younger, with a scar running through his eyebrow and a dangerous air about him.

"It’s confirmed, Julian," the scarred man said. "Caleb talked."

My breath hitched. Caleb.

"I assumed he would," Julian said, his voice calm but laced with ice. "He is a coward. Cowards sing the moment you apply pressure."

"He went straight to the Vencettis," the man continued. "He told them you have the girl. He told them she’s alive."

The Vencettis? I frowned. I knew the name. Everyone in the city knew the name. The Vencetti family was the only power that rivaled the Thornes. They were ruthless, violent, and controlled the shipping docks.

"Let them come," Julian said. He turned around, his profile sharp against the gray morning light. "That was the plan, wasn't it? To draw them out."

"It’s risky," the other man warned. "If Luca Vencetti finds out she is Eleanor’s daughter... he won't stop until he puts a bullet in her head, just like he did to her mother."

I slammed my hand over my mouth to stifle the scream.

The world tilted on its axis.

Just like he did to her mother.

My mother hadn't died in a car accident. She was murdered. Murdered by the Vencettis.

"He won't touch her," Julian snarled. The temperature in the room seemed to drop. "She is under my protection now. She is a Thorne."

"She is bait, Julian," the man argued. "You married her to put a target on her back. You are dangling her in front of Luca Vencetti to start a war."

I stumbled back, my legs hitting the edge of the bed.

The betrayal cut deeper than Caleb’s ever could. Caleb had sold me for money. But Julian? Julian had bought me to use as a human shield.

He didn't care about me. He didn't care about the baby. He was using us to lure out his enemies.

"I will destroy the Vencettis," Julian said, his voice low and absolute. "And Vivian is the key to their destruction. She has the bloodline. She is the rightful heir to their territory, not Luca. Once I reveal that..."

Heir?

My head was spinning. My mother wasn't just a target. She was... one of them?

"And when she finds out?" the scarred man asked. "When she finds out you are using her?"

Julian was silent for a long moment. He looked toward the hallway, toward the bedroom door where I was hiding.

"She won't find out," Julian said softly. "Not until it is too late."

I quietly closed the bedroom door. My hands were shaking so hard I could barely lock it.

I backed away until I hit the far wall.

My mother was murdered. I was the secret heir to a crime family. And my husband was using me to start World War III.

I looked at the window. We were forty stories up. There was no way out.

"Okay," I whispered to the empty room, wiping a tear from my cheek. "You want a war, Julian? I’ll give you one."

I wasn't going to be the bait. I was going to be the hunter.