Page 24 of Goldsin

I’ll need to be good at getting closer to Victoria while keeping Julian in the dark about my true intentions.

“Perfect!” She claps her hands as she gets up to leave. “I’ll let him know the details,” she says from over her shoulder, her voice fading as she rounds the corner.“It’s sure to be a memorable evening.”

What?

“Wait, Victoria?—”

But it’s too late. She’s already gone.

“Perfect,” I huff, sinking down between the cushions ...

And the doomed realization there is no escaping Julian Harrow.

CHAPTER SIX

JULIAN

The nauseating scent of a Cuban cigar whirls around me. Lucian’s office is covered in a thick layer of smoke, hiding the gold leaf on the mahogany bookshelves from my eyes.

I’m standing in front of his desk, yet his presence towers over me. I shuffle my feet on the plush Persian rug with the pestering need to leave this place.

No one knows how much standing here is killing me.

It’s the middle of the day and the sun is shining outside, but the curtains are drawn. Long shadows are cast across the waxed surface of Lucian’s desk from the torchiere lamp in the far corner of the room.

The tension between us is palpable.

Adrian is at his side, looking as composed as ever.

The smug bastard.

“DeMarco is dead,” Lucian growls. “We need to find out who did this.” His hands twitch, a tangible echo to his seething rage.

The room seems to shrink under the weight of his anger. It hangs heavy in the room.

But Lucian’s anger isn’t anything new. Nothing unexpected for me.

It’s an old friend.

The way his jawline sharpens as he grinds his teeth together. The way his eyes darken, boring into me. The way his vein throbs in his forehead, threatening to burst at any moment.

I’m all too familiar with how much his own wrath dominates him.

The sight wrenches something within me. Not out of fear but recognition.

The man in front of me is the same one who haunts my mother at night, unleashing his fury upon her, punch after punch.

The familiar frosty glint in his eyes—the same color as mine—as he lifts his hand to her. The same protruding tendon tightening along his forearm like a steel cable. The same cruel curl of his lips after each blow meets its mark.

The man in front of me is an uncanny reflection of that monster. And just like in a nightmare, all I can do is stand by helplessly and watch the darkness lurk within him.

“Of course, Father.” Like the perfect obedient son he is, Adrian doesn’t waste any time in pleasing him. “We’ll do whatever it takes to find the person responsible.”

I let a chuckle filter through. Thorough and heavy. Intentional.

“I expect you to put your shit aside and focus on the task at hand,” Lucian snaps, slamming his fist downon the desk. “DeMarco’s death has caused a significant disturbance within the Inferno Consortium. This cannot go unpunished.”

“Understood.”

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