Page 79 of Heir of Darkness

Valerio continued his assessment, looking over the man’s neck that was covered with a thick beard. “And they're not actual members of the family either. They’re assassins the familyuses, certain dealers, spies, anyone with secret association to the family.”

“I never understood why they needed to hide it,” Dante muttered. “If you were planning on attacking, don’t be a fucking coward about it.”

“Because these were attacks or missions that could cause complete destruction, war. A hit on Luna Kingsley is grounds for complete annihilation. Look at who her soon-to-be husband is, her brother, her father, her father-in-law. The list goes on. They wouldn’t want to come out with it full on. That would be too easy.” He continued his assessment, making sure not to miss a single inch of skin. “And the hard part is telling which one belongs to which family because they make an effort to keep it a secret, so only members who carry the mark could identify each other.”

“How would you even know who it belongs to if you find one?” Augustus asked.

“Well, when you have a ridiculously smart person like Valerio who makes an effort to memorize them, it’s easier,” Allister said.

He came up to the left ear, noticing a small little patch of ink that only showed from the bottom of the man’s earlobe. His eyes narrowed as he used the pen to lift the earlobe up.

There it was. A small emblem. Valerio stopped when he noticed what it was. A small lion head with two swords crossing behind it, and faintly, nearly impossible to see if the eye wasn’t trained for what it was actually looking for, was a “K” in Old English font in the lion's open mouth. To anyone else, it would have looked like just any tattoo, but he wasn’t just anyone.

Valerio stood up, deathly calm.

In a split second, he grabbed Finn’s neck, slamming him down onto the dead man’s body, squeezing with all his might.

“What the fuck are you doing?” Augustus yelled, trying to pull Valerio off.

“Why the fuck is the Kingsley symbol on the assassin that tried to kill Luna?” Valerio screamed. He tightened his hands, choking the life out of Finn, who fought against his hands.

“Let go of him. You can’t kill her brother,” Dante said, trying to rip him away.

“I’ll tell her the assassin woke up from the dead and got the correct Kingsley this time,” Valerio spit out.

Then he thought about Luna and how fucking heartbroken she would be if he told her that her dumbass brother died. With that thought he let go, stepping away. Finn coughed and attempted to catch his breath.

“Did you have to push me against the dead man’s dick?” Finn asked. He was hunched over holding his knees, taking in deep breaths.

“Explain to me why that man has your family symbol on him,” Valerio said. He was seething in anger. His mind was already jumping to conclusions that he hoped weren’t true for Luna’s sake.

Confusion crossed Finn’s face. He walked to where Valerio had seen it, looking back at him with even more confusion. “I have no fucking idea.”

“If you’re lying to me, I swear to God,” he hissed. Dante held him back.

“I’m not lying,” Finn spit out.

“Is it possible someone else hired him?” Allister asked. “Someone from a different family that wanted to frame you guys?”

“Why are we dismissing the possibility of it being your father so quickly? Maybe what Cecilia was saying about your father was true,” Augustus said to Finn.

Finn shook his head. “My father wouldn’t send someone to kill his own daughter. There’s no fucking way.”

“How do you know?” Valerio asked.

“Because he has to have some humanity!” he screamed, running a hand through his hair. “Why would he attack his own daughter? Why not just go after you?”

“Because it would cause a full-out war if your father attempted to kill me,” Valerio said. “It would be the first person my father would attack, but if Reece Kingsley harms Luna himself, he can blame whoever he wants knowing the truth. Has he mentioned anything about the contract to you?”

“No. Nothing,” he said, shaking his head.

Augustus looked up with an uncertain face. “Actually, I might have heard something.”

“What?” Valerio barked at him.

“I overheard him asking about legal loopholes, but my father couldn’t find anything. That contact was so fucking precisely worded,” Augustus said. “But I thought it was just him being a protective father. No fucking offense, but can you blame the guy for not wanting his daughter with you?”

“You didn’t think that was important enough to mention?” Dante asked, rolling his eyes.

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