The Devil I Hate (Devil's Knights 1)

I raised a curious eyebrow. “Do tell.”

“He’s been losing his edge since then. It seems you’ve finally gotten under his skin, Little Wellington.”

“I doubt that. Nothing gets to Luca.”

“You do,” he insisted. “You’re his only weakness.”

I rolled my eyes at the thought of Luca having any weaknesses.

“The power has shifted within the Salvatore family.”

I wondered if he was telling me this to gain a reaction, and I didn’t let him see the effect this information had on me.

I tipped my head up, giving him an interesting smile. “How so?”

He nodded toward the Salvatore table. “Look at how close Luca and Marcello have grown in your absence.”

I glanced over at the two of them. Luca propped his elbow up on Marcello’s chair, whispering as they stared in my direction, though their eyes never found mine.

“I always thought they hated each other.”

“They did,” he said as he pressed the glass to his lips. “But you brought them together.”

I wasn’t sure how to respond to his confession. Sonny didn’t strike me as the type of person who shared random tidbits to hold down a conversation. No, he wanted me to know these things for a reason.

“I guess having a common enemy united them.”

“No, sweetheart, you misunderstand,” he said with his eyes pointed down at me. “You are the one person who binds all of us. We’re at your disposal. Whatever you need, you only have to ask.”

Confused as hell, I narrowed my eyes. “Who’s we?”

“The Devil’s Knights.”

I was well aware of the secret society founded by Luca’s great-great-grandfather. The Knights were the criminal underworld bankers, which earned them a lot of enemies with axes to grind.

“I want nothing to do with Luca’s billionaire boys’ club,” I tossed back at Sonny. “And I can take care of myself.”

Sonny frowned. “I see your future husband hasn’t properly explained our organization.”

“Just the basics.”

“We need to rectify this,” Sonny said in a firm tone, his focus on the Salvatores. “I’ll talk to Luca.”

From across the hall, I could see Damian’s chest rise and fall as he studied a woman with long blonde hair that spilled down her shoulders. She wore a pale blue strapless dress that clung to her lithe body and stopped mid-thigh. Damian looked at her like he wanted to know everything that made her tick. Like he wanted to throw her over his shoulder and drag her out of the hall. But so did Bastian.

I inclined my head in the blonde’s direction, and Sonny’s eyes followed. “Who is that woman?”

“Kali Marx,” he said with a sly smile. “Her dad forced her into moving to Devil’s Creek. Senator Marx is running for governor of Connecticut next year. And guess who’s helping him?”

“Arlo Salvatore.”

He nodded. “She’s a prop piece for her father’s family values campaign.”

“Have I met her before? She doesn’t look familiar.”

Sonny shook his head. “No. You visited during the summers when Kali was in California with her mom. The two of you never crossed paths.”

“I lived in Devil’s Creek for over two years before I moved back to Haven. I don’t remember Kali coming to any of Arlo’s parties or anyone talking about her.”

“She ran off a few months before you moved to The Hills.”

“Where did she go?”

He shrugged. “Your guess is as good as mine. Even the Salvatores could never piece together how she evaded them.”

This gave me hope for Aiden.

Had he done the same thing?

I peeked up at Sonny. “Which Salvatore is she dating? Damian or Bastian.”

“Both.”

My jaw unhinged from his confession. I wondered how one woman could handle the insane desires of Bastian and Damian. She had to be strong to deal with both of them. Blood and bondage? Luca was a lunatic, but at least his brand of torture didn’t involve ropes or cutting.

I spotted Pops across the room. He wore a tuxedo and a black and gold mask. His white hair hung over his forehead, styled to hide his receding hairline. Blair drank champagne at his side, chatting with her friends. She dressed like a fairy peacock in various shades of purple and gold. The cold bitch stood ramrod straight like she had a pole shoved up her ass.

My mother stood beside my father in a black mermaid gown with gold trim and a matching mask. She threw glances in Arlo Salvatore’s direction, which piqued my curiosity when I saw him return her stare. Knowing my mother, she needed more money. And she would do just about anything to maintain her lifestyle. My father was an architect but made nothing of himself, content with living off my mother.

“I think it’s time you meet your new subjects,” Sonny said.

I raised an eyebrow at him. “Subjects?”

“Someday, you’ll be the Queen of The Devil’s Knights, which makes you a very powerful woman.”

His admission tugged at my emotions, but thankfully, my carnival mask hid the change in my demeanor. “I’m not interested in power.”