Made in Malice (Corrupt Credence Book 1)

LUCIAN

I can’t help but notice the way she has the sleeve of her shirt pulled down, covering as much of the bandage wrapped around her wrist as possible. I would be willing to bet she hates the show of weakness. I know I would. I probably would have told the doctor to shove it up his ass, just like I did when he said I had a concussion after the accident.

What bothers me more, though, is her comment about her kidneys. If Amboni doesn’t have her records in my email by morning, I’ll be paying him a little visit tomorrow. I’m tempted to demand she tell me now, but after seeing the way she shut down earlier and her threatening to leave, I bite my tongue, at least for now. I’ll get my answers sooner rather than later.

“I’m going to get a drink,” I announce, then break away from her and Nox to head to the kitchen. Gertie is long gone by this time of night, which is good. I don’t want anyone else here to interrupt.

Because I’m not a complete asshole, I carry three bottles and a bag of chips up to the billiards room, then stop short when I realize it’s empty. “That fucker,” I mutter under my breath, looking down the hall toward our rooms.

Her soft, sweet voice carries to my ears before I breach the doorway of Nox’s bedroom. There’s no bite in her tone like there is when she speaks to me. “I just can,” she tells him, so I linger in the hall to catch a little more of their shared conversation.

“Just tell me how, please. No one else can tell us apart. It’ll make him crazy if I know and he doesn’t.” Nox tempts her with pissing me off. It’s a good tactic, it might work.

“I told you, it’s just a feeling. When he’s around, my body knows I’m in danger. There’s no other way to describe it. In the kind of neighborhood I grew up in, you learn not to ignore instincts like that,” she admits.

I step into the doorway. Nox already would have known I was close anyway, because we know better than most about those feelings she was talking about. Most people don’t understand how true our bond is and how we can sense each other, but I have a feeling she will.

“So what you’re saying is I turn you on.” I purposely belittle her confession because I love to piss her off. I can’t wait for the day when I can rip her fucking clothes off and fuck her against the wall while she claws at me.

“Nope. What I said before was accurate—you make my skin crawl.” She sends a suspicious glare at Nox as if she knows he conned her into talking while he knew I was nearby. She’s smart and gorgeous, which only makes me want her more.

“I brought you something, lamb.” My voice is pitched low, seductive and coaxing. She responds whether she means to or not by shifting her body just enough to stand directly in front of me. Her head tilts infinitesimally, and her lips part, creating the perfect little heart between her pouty lips.

“What?” She’s apprehensive.

Instead of making her walk to me like I planned, I saunter over to her, watching her head tip back as I get closer while she holds her ground. My dick is hard by the time I’m within inches of her. “I thought you might be thirsty.” I lick my lips, thinking about making her open her mouth so I could spit on her tongue and watch her swallow part of me.

Her eyes dip down as a flush covers her face. I lift the bottle of water, and the pink on her cheeks deepens a shade, proving her thoughts were as impure as mine.

“Is it poisoned?” She takes the glass and examines the cap to see if it’s already been opened.

“No, not my style.”

“You’d rather slit my throat while I was fully aware,” she concedes.

“Killing you hasn’t been part of my plan in a long time, lamb. I enjoy you far too much.”

“You enjoy my discomfort.”

“That depends on what kind of discomfort we’re discussing. Having your boundaries pushed can be rough, but it can also be incredible.”

“Yeah, we’re not speaking the same language.”

I can only smile at that. We both know she’s lying.

“Come sit down,” Nox urges her, which is a good idea, because I’m seconds away from seeing what she would do if I claimed her mouth.

She slowly backs away from me, as if she knows I’m ready to seize her. It’s amusing to watch her eyes dance between mine. Even when she’s steps away and turns around to head toward my brother, she looks over her shoulder, apparently not trusting me to stay put.

I wait until she’s seated on the couch and opening her drink before I sit right next to her, making sure to keep her on edge. This little game makes me think about how much I’m going to enjoy bringing her to the precipice, only to pull her back until she’s begging me to let her come.

Her hand trembles when she lifts the bottle to her lips and takes a gulp. I glance over at Nox. There’s an unspoken conversation shared between us.

You’re frightening her, he accuses.

And you’re loving every fucking minute.

Not the point.

Isn’t it? I lift my brow.

She’s not.

Try again. Look at her, I prompt.

I watch Nox run his eyes over her, from her flushed cheeks and dilated eyes down to her arched back and the way she keeps shifting her thighs. Nox spares me one final glance. Be careful. I would roll my eyes, but he returns his attention to her, making it as pointless as his warning.

“I’m ready whenever you are.” She fidgets under both of our gazes.

“How ready are you, lamb?” I whisper, and she gives me the side-eye.

“Ready for you to tell me what you know and keep your end of the bargain.”

“Too bad.” I sigh in feigned disappointment. “What do you want to know?”

“Everything,” she answers quickly. “Especially about my mom.”

“You’re putting a little too much faith in me.”

“Lucian,” she warns, saying my name for the first time. I don’t let her see just how much I like it while also being conflicted that she didn’t call me pretty boy.

“We don’t know much about your mom, Nova,” Nox tells her before I can.

I hold my hands up in surrender when she glares at me. “I never told you I did.”

“Yeah, but you didn’t tell me you didn’t either.”

“I’m always going to take the advantage.”

“Not that I should be surprised,” she mumbles. “What do you know?”

I think about trying to extract more from her before I tell her, but I decide to stick with my original deal. “I know when she left, she was disowned, dead in the eyes of her family and the founders.”

“So she couldn’t have come back if she wanted to?” She latches onto the fact as if it gives her hope for something else.

“I wouldn’t say that, but it wouldn’t have been easy.” I don’t tell her the families would have demanded a sacrifice that I’m not sure her mother or grandmother would be willing to make. They would have had to forfeit something equally as valuable—like their term of power, a portion of their property, or something—and all that was contingent on the Umbras even allowing her to return.

“Do you know why she left in the first place?” she questions, hanging on my every unsaid word. Damn, I like having her attention on me.

“That’s family business.” I shake my head slowly. “But it may have something to do with your father. Some families still arrange pairings, and I can guarantee your father would not have been chosen.”

“Are you kidding me?” She stands up and sneers at me with disgust, as if I just told her I would be the one picking her husband. Even the thought of her with a partner enrages me just as much.

“I said it happens, not that I’m in charge of it,” I reply gruffly.

“That’s insane,” she argues as if she can’t believe it’s true.

“It’s business.” I widen my hands.

“Are you… Never mind, none of my business.” She spins away to start pacing.

I lean back and spread my arms along the back of the couch to watch her. Her eyes are lowered, but I can tell her mind is working overtime.

“I asked my grandmother if my mom was made to choose, and she told me no.”

“What exactly did she say?” Nox prompts.

She slows her steps and closes her eyes, thinking back, but more importantly, she’s trusting both of us, even if she doesn’t realize it. “She admitted my mom left to be with my dad, and I asked if she had to choose between being here and him, and she said there was no choice.”

“And you thought that meant she didn’t have to choose,” I surmise.

“Well, yeah.” She tosses her hands up in the air.

“I don’t think that’s how she meant it,” Nox replies softly.

“No crap.” She laughs bitterly. “So what was the point of bringing me back here?”

“I told you, without an heir, they would have died out. Your grandfather took your mother’s place. There are no Umbras left to take over besides you. They need you to keep the family name.”

She scowls. “Screw that. I’m not sticking around here.”

I almost tell her she’s not going anywhere, but I manage to rearrange the words trying to spew from my lips. “And let them win?” I goad, poking at the defiant part of her that bucks against me all the time. I find myself just as intrigued as I think about her dominating the other families rather than submitting to me. I’m not right in the head, but I don’t care.

“How would they win if I disappeared?” She cocks out a hip, scrutinizing me.

Shit, I hadn’t thought that through. “They would be able to keep everything that should be yours,” Nox offers.

“Like money? All I want is a decent place to live and a car. I don’t need some mansion on an island or any of the trouble that comes along with it.”

Her words are spoken with too much conviction not to believe her, but it’s still not easy. It’s been my experience that everyone cares about money and wants as much of it as they can get.

“Money makes those troubles go away,” Nox offers.

“Doubtful,” she replies dismissively. “Besides, I’m not sticking around here and letting them try to put me in some archaic arranged marriage.”

“We would never allow that to happen, especially if you’re working with us.”

“How could you stop it?” She allows me to hear her doubt.

“He’s next in line to lead the founders,” Nox tells her, but it’s not really an answer.

“They are trying to keep you in the dark. How would you know that the man they introduced you to was already hand-picked to be your husband? I’m sure he would be kind and charming at first.” My lamb makes a face of disgust at my words. “He could have swept you off your feet, and you would have been none the wiser that they were all using you, but now you know.”

“I would have known,” she argues lamely. “Is this why she said it was dangerous?” She spins away from me and begins pacing again.

“Who said it was dangerous?” I rise slowly, as if something could be threatening her now.

She spins to look at me, searching my face for a long moment before she finally says, “There was a woman. She approached me in the parking lot one night after work and said some things.”

Nox proves he’s just as invested in her response when he asks, “What did she say?”

“That my mom left and stayed away because it was dangerous here. What did she mean?” She bounces her eyes between me and my brother.

“Did she say anything else?” I question, needing more to go on.

“Not really. She ran away when someone came out of the bar, like she didn’t want to be seen. I was going to wait for her tonight, but…” She leaves the rest hanging.

“What did she look like? Did she tell you her name?” Nox prompts.

“No, and I don’t know, maybe fortyish with brown hair down to her shoulders. I couldn’t see her eye color because it was too dark. She had a long, flowy skirt on.”

“So pretty much anyone on the mainland,” I deadpan.

“Excuse me for not getting her identification before speaking to her,” she snaps.

I step into her space, and she holds her ground. “I’m starting to see a pattern here, lamb, and I don’t fucking like it. You allowed someone to put their hands on you at least twice that I know of, then you put yourself in more possible danger by speaking to this stranger in a dark fucking parking lot behind a shithole bar.”

“I didn’t allow anything. I took care of myself, if you remember correctly.”

“Then why was your arm all scratched up and bruised?”

“Why do you care?” She raises her voice and lifts up on her toes, getting closer to my face.

“I already told you. No one touches what’s mine,” I grit out so I don’t bend down and bite her fucking lip to mark her.

“I’m not your anything.” Her eyes are narrowed like little razors to match her tongue.

“Wrong, lamb, you are ours.” I smile down at her, but it’s not in kindness.

“You need your head examined.”

“Is that an offer?” I reach for my belt.

“Not that one, you pervert.”

“Oh, lamb, you have no idea.”

She swallows roughly at my words but doesn’t seem to have a comeback for that one.

“I’ll figure out who was in the library and rip their fucking hands off, then I’ll find this woman and learn what she knows.”

“I don’t need your help.” She tries to turn away from me, but I catch her upper arm, mindful of my grip.

“Then you don’t want to know about the creed?” I feign indifference.

“That’s different,” she argues.

“No, it’s not. We work together or not at all, and it’s already too late for that.”

“Ugh, can’t you talk some sense into him?” she asks Nox.

“He’s talking sense to me, Nova. You need help, and despite Lucian’s gruff delivery, we want to help you. Let us.” He seems so reasonable, I grin but drop it before she can look back at me.

“I should have known you two would work against me.”

“We’re a team.” Nox shrugs.

“And now you’re a part of it,” I remind her.

“Until you decide I’m not useful anymore,” she grumbles dejectedly.