The security room was located in a secluded section of the manor. Our men filled the chairs, their gazes locked on the numerous screens before them. Live CCTV footages played out before them, helping them monitor our estate with over a hundred guests gathered here.

“Search for Antony Marco,” I told one of the men who came forward to greet me.

“Yes, Sir.”

He walked away and instructed a group of men to bring up some CCTV footages. While they dug through the feeds, he spoke to someone through his radio gear.

A few minutes later, he came back to me.

“Antony Marco has left,” he said. “His chauffeur picked him up an hour ago. There was a woman with them as well. We’re guessing it to be his daughter, Emilia.”

“No,” I replied in a grim tone. “Emilia’s still here.”

Walking forward, I moved over to the corner where the CCTV feeds were reversed to follow Marco’s progress through the halls of the manor.

My gaze fell on one of the feeds where he was walking with a staggering gait in one of the hallways.

“Follow him,” I instructed the guy before me.

Marco lurched forward and came to a halt before a woman in a luxurious gown. I recognized Lucia at once.

Marco was clearly drunk in the footage. Lucia, however, spoke to the man and ended up asking him for his jacket. To my surprise, she even put it on and let the man lean on her for support.

What the hell was she doing? As far as I knew, she’d never met Marco before.

“Follow them,” I said, keeping my gaze fixed on the flatscreen.

Lucia kept her face buried in Marco’s chest. His long coat provided an extra layer of concealment, helping her cross through the entrance hall without inviting my attention.

The feeds showing the areas outside the manor’s gate showed her helping Marco in the back of his car. She climbed in after him and before my very eyes, drove away.

“She fucking escaped,” Leon’s whisper sounded next to me. “Fuck! I don’t know whether to be impressed or fucking pissed. She fooled all of us.”

“Yes,” I said, watching the car leave through the gates of the estate. “She’s the perfect actress.”

“She turned us into fucking, idiotic fools,” Leon said through gritted teeth. His amber eyes shone with cold rage. “We never learn, do we?”

“Our reputation will take a hit as soon as Callum broadcasts the way she escaped us,” I said, my mind thinking about the consequences immediately. “The whole world will be laughing at us.”

“Fuck!” Leon shouted, drawing everyone’s attention on him.

“Let’s get out of here.” Grabbing him, I forced him out of the security room.

“Get off me!” Leon shouted, throwing my arm off.

“Calm down,” I said. “We don’t want any of our guests to know what happened. They’ll think we’re fucking idiots.”

“They won’t be wrong. We were always a bunch of fools when it came to Lucia. I can’t believe we let her trick us into thinking she’s sweet and innocent. She was just playing us so we’d let our guard down. The moment we looked away, she ran back to her brother.”

I shook my head. “We’ll get her back,” I decided. “And when we do, she’ll wish she’d never met us in the first place.”

“I’m going to skin her bastard brother and force her to watch as he screams,” Leon promised, his eyes burning with rage. “I won’t spare her again. She’ll learn what it is to break a Volkov’s trust.”

A deep ache settled inside me despite the rage flowing through me. I let her under my skin, trusted her when she said I didn’t disgust her.

Nothing ever hurt as much as Lucia’s betrayal. I couldn’t believe we’d let her hurt us once again.

“She’ll pay for breaking our trust,” I vowed. “This time we won’t show her any mercy and she’ll know who we truly are.”

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