Page 63 of Brutal Queen

then they will be taught it in fire and blood and anguish. Good night.”

J.B. Priestley, An Inspector Calls

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

SINCLAIR

“What the fuck do you mean, it was empty?” Aurora shouts, slamming her hands on the conference table and leaning over to bark into the phone we have on speaker. Luc’s voice comes back through angry and failing to curb his own emotions at the situation.

“The fucker torched it. There’s nothing here. Whatever he was using it for, he’s moved on. He went full scorched earth.”

“You sweep every square inch of that property and the surrounding areas and call me back in one hour. I want to know what he was doing there,” Aurora demands.

“On it, Don Bianchi,” Luc replies before hanging up.

Aurora stalks back to her desk and drops down into her chair, rubbing her temples in small circles. Benny pushes away from the table and follows after her, standing at her back and kneading her shoulders.

“If he’s torched the place, then we’re hurting him.He wouldn’t have destroyed that location if it hadn’t been important to him.”

“That’s not why I’m upset, Benny. If he’s destroyed it, then it’s likely that anyone he was keeping there is already dead.”

I nod in agreement. “It’s highly unlikely it was simply a drop off location if he’s felt the need to torch it.”

“Bingo,” Aurora replies.

“Fuck,” Benny says as he realises that in discovering this location and interrupting Charles’s delivery, we probably sentenced other people to death. Charles not only confirmed the address when we interrogated him, but how many women had been delivered to it in the last month.

“We have to take him out,” Enzo says to my left. “We must have enough intel on his organisation by now to be able to cut the heads off the hydra in one fell swoop?”

“We have a lot, but we’ll need everyone in on this,” I reply.

“Luc’s got us covered for weaponry, Gabriella has the intel, and every one of the capos has the numbers to help us coordinate a strike on multiple locations,” Enzo says.

“Okay, so what’s our primary target?” Aurora asks, rolling with the suggestion.

“Hit them where it hurts. Take out the highest earning branch,” Nico says.

“Hit The Knights?” she queries.

“Yeah, coordinate attacks on their primary warehouses,” Enzo suggests.

“But what about the drug houses he’s absorbed? It’s a tidy little revenue stream. They bring in enough to help bankroll anyone with half an idea of taking over. It would take longer, but it would definitely be enough.” Aurora’s questions take the air out of everyone's sails. Everyone in the room slumps back into their chairs like week-old balloons. I wish she was wrong, but she has us there.

“We don’t have the resources to hit that many targets simultaneously. Not effectively anyway,” I confirm, resting my elbows on the table and realising it's my turn to rub my temples.

“We need to come up with another way to take out his other revenue streams,” Aurora says, tapping her index finger to her bottom lip.

It’s a cute little habit she’s picked up when we’re holding meetings. It’s usually the precursor to her throwing out an irritatingly clever idea that I kick myself for not thinking of first. I pride myself on being ten steps ahead of everyone, whereas she’s just happy to be running circles around me.

“What are you thinking,colibrì? I can see the cogs turning from here,” I say.

“Not sure yet, maybe something and nothing,” she muses in a playful voice. Suddenly she stands and crosses back to the table, leaning over to get her phone. Dialling and flicking it to speakerphone, she tosses it back on the desk.

“Don Bianchi,” comes Stefano’s low rumble over the line.

“I'm calling a meeting. Round up the capos and get them here in two hours.” Her orders are short and to the point.

“Anything else, boss?”

---