Chapter 136

Livia was undaunted despite Greg’s hostility. She flicked her high ponytail to the back to expose her bare

shoulders, and leaned towards the table between her and the Duke. Her red-colored, sweetheart

neckline dress did everything to advertise her cleavage as she said, “I came with a proposition, your

Grace.”

“Not interested. Get out, Livia. Don’t make me tell you again.” Greg snapped, and took another sip from

his glass as he averted his eyes from her and started staring into space while he waited for her to leave.

Livia simpered, and leaned back into her seat as she signaled the bartender for a drink before returning

her sights to Greg. His eyes had turned onyx, and it was nothing close to lust. Livia was well-aware of

that this time.

“That’s it.” Greg signaled his men and the bouncers approached his table in quick steps.

“Before you do that, you might want to think about what would happen to a certain wolf if you threw me

out.” Livia uttered his way in a taunting manner.

Greg’s hand raised without needing to think, halting his three men at the exact moment they had reached

his table. His voice was low when he asked, “You’re threatening me?”

Livia’s lips pursed in contemplation for a brief second before they flatten themselves out when she said,“

No, a threat seems murderous. I prefer the word ‘warn’ or ‘caution’.”

“And if I don’t heed to your warning, you’ll do what? Hurt the Queen?”

“Something like that.”

“I applaud how you’re not turning red in embarrassment right now. We both know you have no skill set to

accomplish that. And you’re far from having such connections.”

“Who said that the connections are mine?”

Greg was a little surprised to hear that. “Hm. Been making friends, I see.”

“Something like that.”

“You’re an idiot to think you can hurt the Queen, by the way. She’s stronger than you think, and her allies

would do anything to defend her.” Greg said in utmost confidence.

Livia smirked arrogantly as she said, “Funny how they couldn’t protect her from her most recent…

mishap.”

His eyes burned into hers when he asked, “What mishap?”

Livia mocked a surprised expression as she said, “You don’t know? She went off to fight a few rogues

with her friends yesterday. They thought they were winning until an arrow no one saw impaled right

through her flesh.”

“Wolves heal, you fool.” Greg muttered. But internally, his heart clenched when Livia mentioned Lucianne

was hurt by an arrow. What the f*ck was his cousin doing?! How many times will he let Lucianne get hurt

before he learned to protect her?!

Livia saw the flash of hurt come and leave Greg’s eyes. Her calm demeanor was beginning to fade with

the jealousy building in her chest as she spat, “No, your Grace. You’re the fool! You’re a fool if you think

the arrow was just an arrow!”

If it were possible, Greg’s already-onyx eyes turned a shade darker as he demanded to know, “What did

you do to her?”

Livia emitted a low growl at how protective he was to another woman before she declared firmly,”

Nothing she doesn’t deserve! You’ve always been proud of your connections and resources. Well, now’s

the time to put them to good use and find out for yourself what happened to the woman you can never

get.”

Greg growled ferociously, and the casino started to quiet down. One of his men held Livia by her neck on

the Duke’s command. The crowd watched in shock at Livia gritting her teeth to cope with the discomfort

o f being strangled, her fingernails scratching the bouncer’s large hand, a desperate plea to be released,

but t o no avail.

Livia adamantly fixed her eyes on Greg as she choked out, “If…….die…so will…she.”

Greg’s merciless gaze turned hesitant. He knew that Livia never had the resources to hurt a fly, let alone

kill Lucianne. But she was never one to make empty threats. She never made any threats, to be honest.

He thought hard about whether Lucianne would be harmed if his men killed Livia right then and there.

Lucianne was strong. But the people around her were not. The Oleander blade she took for the child

proved that she was still susceptible to injuries and even…death. The thought of Lucianne’s death on his

hands was too painful to be pushed aside, and Greg reluctantly gave a hand signal for his man to

release Livia.

After Livia fell on the floor and took in the air she needed, she pushed herself up, and Greg asked

impatiently, “What’s your price?”

Livia scoffed darkly. “You think that’s what I want? Money?”

“In the black market, ‘price’ includes favors of some kind, newbie. Now, name your price.”

Livia smirked like she struck gold. With her forearm on the table, she leaned in to whisper into Greg’s

ear,“ My price…is you.”

Greg tried not to show how nauseated he felt by her perfume and her request. His face remained

unperturbed when Livia pulled herself back to study his reaction. When she got nothing, she asked,

“Well?”

“You have to be more specific. What does that entail? My resources?”

“No. We just want you on our side.”

“Our side?”

“Yes. The more capable minds we have on board, the quicker we’ll be able to get what we all want.”

“And you’re saying you can help me get what I want?”

“We can. If you help us, too, that is.”

“And what do I want?”

Livia responded in confidence, “You want everything the King has. The throne, the power, the influence.”

‘Not even close’, Greg thought. After he realized that he had fallen for Lucianne, all he wanted was for

her t o be safe and happy. But he wasn’t going to give Livia a reason to hurt her. So, he continued the

conversation as if Livia had hit the jackpot, “And what makes you think you can get me those things?”

“Unfortunately, due to…competing interests, we can’t give you the throne. But…when our work is

complete, and the dust has settled, you will be second-in-command. That’s also something you feel that

you’re entitled to, isn’t it?”

In his mind, Greg’s animal was chuckling at how poorly Livia chose to ask her question. From memory,

he only told Sasha about his frustration of not being second to the King. So, Livia inadvertently threw her

friend under the bus without even realizing it.

To give him that position, Christian Blackfur would either be forced into resignation or killed. As tempting

as it was to get rid of that upper-level servant to his cousin, Greg couldn’t deny the fact that there was a

dangerous game being played against his cousins and Lucianne, one that he doubted any of them knew

about

As he kept Lucianne at the back of his mind to not give himself away, he asked Livia, “What is it that you

want me to do?”

Livia smiled broadly as she said, “Well, first thing’s first. We need you to live with us. It’ll be easier to

keep track of your movements and monitor your loyalty. And if you choose to betray us, any of us, we

won’t kill you. We’ll go after her.”

It was one of the most difficult times to stop his animal from coming forward to tear Livia to shreds. He

cleared his throat and remarked, “So, you’re offering me a job without telling me about the job

description?” 1

Livia sneered, “I am making a proposition on behalf of the team. You will know the full extent of what we

require you to do and NOT do when you choose to join us. Join us, and you can stop hiding in some

underground business place. Join us, and you will wield the power as the second most powerful man in

the Kingdom. Choose otherwise, and we’ll bury you with the rest of the creatures we’re going to bury

when we’re done.”

Her voice was a little unsteady when she talked about burying Greg, and Greg couldn’t help but think

how pathetically naïve Livia was to expect any real intimacy with him just because they had sex. He slept

with so many women. What made her think she was any different from them? He would fire a stream of

condescending comments at her but angering Livia would put Lucianne’s safety at risk, and Lucianne’s

safety took precedence.

Giving into Livia’s request now was unwise. She knew how he felt about Lucianne, how he wouldn’t go

against her. He had been in this game long enough to know that the most tactical move was to ask, “How

long do I have to decide?”

“Twenty-four hours.” She took out a white business card from her purse, and placed it on his table as she

continued, “Call this number and cite this code. Someone will come to get you.”

As Greg studied the upper row of digits and the lower row of jumbled up numbers and letters, Livia made

one last comment, “I hope you make the right choice, your Grace. It really isn’t a hard decision to make

when you think of the benefits you’d reap.”

As she turned and left, Greg couldn’t help but agree with what Livia just said. This really wasn’t a very

hard decision to make. He would take any side that kept Lucianne safe. Period.

After Livia left through the doors, Greg stood and looked around the quiet casino before locking eyes

with a man holding a pint of a beer in his hand and had a cigarette in his mouth. After motioning the man

to come over to his table with two fingers, Greg resumed his seat as he yelled out, “Show’s over!”

Greg took some comfort in repeating Lucianne’s words from the training ground. The murmurs in the

casino filled the space once again. The man Greg summoned put out his cigarette before taking a seat in

front of the Duke. “Your Grace, was there something you needed?”