Page 105 of The Bastard Prince

"I have a doctor waiting to see you," Trigger announced, tone harder than earlier. "He will tend to your wounds." His shoulder brushed against mine as we walked side by side down the familiar corridor towards the western wing of the house. "Whatever you need…" His voice trailed off as he tapped furiously on the keypad of his phone. "He is very discreet."

Of course he's discreet, I thought to myself.

Doctors, lawyers, or anyone else that dabbled in the affairs of The Order or any other criminal organization in the underworld had to have the discretion side of things nailed down.

If they didn’t, well, let's just say, they would not be alive for long.

Discretion was a vital attribute to possess in our world.

Not bothering to respond, I kept my gaze locked on Trigger, watching as he moved with purpose through my father's house.

He knew his way around.

That much was clear.

"You've been here before," I whispered, curiosity piqued. "Many times."

"Sí," he confirmed, not bothering to look up from his phone. He was so familiar with his surroundings that when he took a left under the archway that separated two of the house wings, his feet didn't falter once.

"When?" I asked with a frown.

Silence.

"Trig?"

"Yes,corderito?" He sounded distracted, like he was only half listening to me. "What is it?"

"When have you been here before?" I repeated, upping my pace to keep up with his long strides, as we passed countless closed doors with armed guards stationed outside.

I frowned, noticing that every one of them bore a flaming crucifix on their necks.

The shared tattoo was no bigger than the size of a thumb, but I knew what it symbolized.

The army.

His army.

"That is not your concern," Trig finally replied, shoving his phone back in his pocket. He cast a quick glance over his shoulder, noted that I was still following him, and then nodded in approval before continuing down the corridor.

A flicker of defiance sparked to life inside of me and I stopped walking.

Something inside of me demanded that I not allow this man, who was once my equal, to ignore me.

When Trig finally noticed I wasn't beside him, he turned around and retraced his steps, looking unimpressed.

"Walk." He narrowed his eyes. "Now."

"Tell me," I pushed, feeling a spark of fire ignite inside of me. "How do you know your way aroundmyhouse, Trigger?"

We had a full-on ninety second stare down where neither one of us moved a muscle, let alone blinked, before he blew out a frustrated growl.

"Do you remember when we raised the army?"

I rolled my eyes. "Obviously."

The seven years Trig and I had spent together had been spent plotting our revenge on Fabio.

Day in, day out, nights awake, nights dreaming…

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