Page 28 of Ruthless Reign

“I would go after the right column first,” she said. “They’d be more willing to turn on her for the right price.”

“Damn.” I blinked as I flipped through the rest of the pages. “You compiled all of this in two weeks?”

“I did all of this in three days,” she said. “I’ve been sitting on it as I waited to see what you would do. I had hoped you would come to some kind of arrangement on your own, but you know what they say about Roses.” At that, she paused to smirk. “All brawn, no brains.”

“Is that what they say?” I asked in Italian, causing her cheeks to flush as she pursed her lips.

Ignoring my flirtation, she continued. “When you and the Roses showed up at that abandoned cabin four months ago, you messed up her plans. She won’t make a mistake like that again. She won’t allow herself to be that vulnerable.”

“Okay.” I flipped to the last page, containing an apparent list of wedding invitees.

“You need to draw her out,” she said.

It all clicked together like one brilliant puzzle piece. “The wedding.”

“Precisely.” Julia nodded and sipped her wine. “She wants Leo. She’ll do whatever she can to eliminate what she perceives as her biggest threat.” She leaned forward on the table, intertwining her fingers under her chin. “She doesn’t realize Leo is only a pawn.Iam her biggest threat.”

I acted like that didn’t turn me on in a million different ways.

“You think this will work?” I raised my eyebrows, trying to imagine a world where we did it, where we got rid of Gabriella and made peace with what remained of the Caputis.

“You could ambush her the way she did to you,” Julia continued. “You could intercept her trade routes and steal her supplies, and that might be a good way to intimidate her. But a lion in wait rests while the wolf exhausts itself chasing its prey.”

“Who told you that?” I’d never heard that proverb before.

She cleared her throat and looked down to her half-eaten plate. “My father.”

I resisted the urge to shift uncomfortably at the reminder of our parents. Her father had killed my mother, my uncle, and my aunt. Selene would never admit it, but I suspected she had then retaliated by killing Julia’s father in return. KC had killed Julia’s brother, and her other brother had nearly killed Lore. On and on the bloody rampage went.

She hated me for it, and I returned the sentiment. But lately, it seemed like I had room in my heart to put aside that loathingand open it up to new possibilities…like accepting this marriage and leaning into it.

Pretending would be a start. I could pretend to like her. I could pretend to want her. Fake it until you make it and all that bullshit.

“This is amazing, Julia,” I said. “Thank you.”

She nodded. “Don’t thank me yet. We don’t know if your club will go for it.”

“It’s something to work with.” I closed the folder, filled with a new sense of warmth and adoration for the woman sitting in front of me. The candles lit her features in a beautiful, hazy glow, making her seem like a succubus here to tempt me into damnation. Her mind matched her beauty, and it made me want things that I shouldn’t want, that I knew she wouldn’t want. “When it comes to pretending, do you think we should practice?”

She ran her tongue over her lips, forcing my gaze to the motion again. Such a tender pink tongue, I bet it could make my knees shake.

“Practice? What did you have in mind?”

I shrugged. “How real will things look if the first time we kiss is in front of my club? It might be obvious we don’t do it in private.”

Julia paused, seeming to consider that. “Are you asking to kiss me,husband?”

The use of that word in her condescending tone sent shivers down my spine, ending with a lurch in my balls. It started as a taunt, true, but now it sounded more like a promise.

“Is that what you need to admit you want it?” I asked. “Do you need to hear me ask for it?”

“Who says I want it?”

“Wife,” I teased. “I saw you watching me when I was in the shower. I saw your hands between your legs and the desire in your eyes. I watched you come, and I know you liked it.”

She blinked and dropped her gaze to the table, clearly avoiding me. “That was a mistake.”

“Was it?” I hummed. “As you say, Iamyour husband. If there’s one person who can give you those things, whoshouldgive you those things, it’s me.”

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