“So you can marry him.”
She shrugs. “All’s fair in love and war.”
My hand clenches as the earlier impulse to throw her in the pool rises again. It’d be a stupid idea for a lot of reasons, not least of which is the fact that she can probably swim better than I can. But I don’t quite know what to make of her. She’s obviously not interested in negotiating or bargaining over her engagement to Marcus. She’s chosen her tactic and is sticking to it.
But she did just give me a useful piece of intel. I’m not sure where she picked it up, but it’s not something that either Ryland or Theo seemed to be aware of. In all our war meetings, they made it sound like Gabriel and Michael were well-positioned, like they wouldn’t be easy targets.
Of course, Victoria only gave me the info because she obviously hopes I’ll tell Marcus, and that he and the other two men will act on it. She’s trying to get them to do her dirty work, pointing them toward mutual enemies and assuming that it will benefit her in the end.
I don’t know what to make of this girl, honestly. She’s blunt and hard-edged, mercenary and ruthless—but she doesn’t seem to revel in cruelty for its own sake the way Natalie used to. She’s doing all of this as a means to an end, not as the end itself.
That doesn’t make her any less dangerous than Natalie though.
The door to the house bursts open, and Marcus strides out. His gaze glides quickly over Victoria before landing on me, and he stalks toward us quickly, wincing just a little as he does.
Before he reaches us, Victoria takes a step closer, speaking low under her breath. “Oh, and if you ever pull some shit like you did at the party last night, you’ll pay for it in blood, you understand me?”
My lips curl, anger burning through me. “If you don’t want me to fuck your future husband in a laundry room, maybe try marrying someone who actually loves you.”
The look Victoria shoots me is pure anger.
Looks like I struck a nerve.
I don’t have time to smirk over it because Marcus reaches us a second later. His gaze darts between me and Victoria, suspicion coloring the lines of his face. “She give you any trouble, angel?”
His arm wraps possessively around my waist as he speaks, and I see Victoria’s gaze track the movement. Something like pain—like jealousy—burns behind her eyes, then her features settle into a mask.
“Don’t worry,” she drawls. “I wouldn’t fucking hurt her. Even though she’s not technically a part of the game, I’ve got more honor than Carson Purcell did.”
She grimaces as she says the name, then takes a step closer to Marcus. She’s an inch or so shorter than me, and she has to tilt her head up a little to meet his gaze, but somehow she manages it without losing her air of regal power. She rests a palm on his left pec, and Marcus’s free hand whips up like a snake, grabbing her wrist and forcing her hand away from him.
Victoria chuckles. “Don’t worry. I know what this is. I’ll never have your heart, and I don’t fucking want it.” She yanks her wrist from his grip. “But whether I have your love or not, you’re promised to me. I expect you to keep up your end of our deal. I saved your life—remember that.”
Marcus stares at her for a few seconds, and if looks had the power to kill, Victoria would be nothing but a scorch mark on the spotless marble. Then he turns away from her, not even bothering to respond to her words as he pulls me a little closer against his body. “You get what you need?”
I nod. I got something, at least, and I have a feeling it’s all I’m gonna get from Victoria.
“Then we’re out of here.”
Keeping his hold on my waist, he steers me around the auburn-haired woman and toward the back door. She makes no move to stop us, and she doesn’t even follow us inside as we make our way back through the house to the front.
There’s a man in a suit packing up a few supplies in the living room as we pass by, and I glance over at him quickly.
Doctor Brenson. It must be.
“How’d your checkup go?” I ask quietly as Marcus pushes open the front door and holds it for me.
“He said I’m not gonna die.” His gaze is dark as he glances toward the back of the house before following me outside. “At least, not from this.”
Chapter 20
Music plays through the speakers as Marcus starts the car up, and he glances at me as he pulls away from the curb.
“I was serious, angel. Did she give you a hard time?”
I shake my head, staring out the window as I try to organize my thoughts. “No, but she’s not willing to back down from this marriage idea. She wants to fucking win this thing, and she seems to think the way to do it is through you.”
Marcus grunts, drumming against the steering wheel with his fingers. As I sort through my strange, heavily loaded conversation with Victoria by the pool, her last words stick in my mind.
She saved Marcus’s life. Just like I did.
She claims she doesn’t want his heart, and Marcus seems to hate her. But his obsession with me began the night I stepped in front of those bullets for him. Will he fall for Victoria the same way?
My stomach twists into a tight, painful ball at the thought, and my hand curls into a fist. Marcus doesn’t miss the movement.
His gaze cuts to me, worry and suspicion in his eyes. “What? What else did she say?”
I lick my lips. I shouldn’t even go down this road, but
