Page 66 of Brutal Queen

Sinclair, Enzo, and I swap glances, loathed to make her that promise.

“I can’t go through that again.I won’t fucking do it. You swear to me right now or I’m going to stop this whole thing at The Knights. I want to take Max out, but I won’t do it if the cost is any one of you. Do you hear me, you pig-headed idiots? Now promise me.”Aurora roars the words at us, and we have no choice but to consent.

She’s right. The thought of any of us having to experience a loss like that again makes my skin crawl. Whether or not she can survive it is not the only thing to consider. I don’t think I could either.

The realisation of how ingrained these people are in my soul isoverpowering.

“I promise,” I say out loud, knowing that I will do everything in my power to make sure that we all survive. For her. For each other.

Aurora glares at Enzo and Sinclair until Sinclair makes the same promise. Her eyes glisten and tears threaten to fall. In a near silent murmur, she implores Enzo. “Please,mio re.”

Zo reaches through the front seat, pulling her over the centre console into his arms. I watch in fascination as she rests her palm on his neck, curving her thumb around the base and stroking gently against his pulse point.

It’s more than a little hot to watch his entire demeanour shift at her touch. It’s one thing to know that Aurora is dominant to him, but it’s a thing of fucking beauty watching him settle into a place of complete calm beneath her.

“I promise, Don Bianchi.”

Fuck. Me. Sideways.

Why is calling her that as an honorific quite possibly the hottest thing I’ve ever heard? A sharp sting across the back of my head snaps me out of it as Sinclair clips me round the ear.

“What the fuck was that for?” I grouse, rubbing the back of my head as he hauls himself into the front seat Aurora vacated.

“Eyes front you, and for fuck’s sake, do something about that,” Sinclair says, eyeing the outline of my cock, which is threatening to break through the inner seam of my pants. There’s no subtle way to adjust a hard-on when you're in close quarters, so I get on with it and pretend Sinclair’s not a foot away from me as I lift my hips for just long enough to reposition it upwards so it’s a little less obvious.

There’s a sudden but quiet thud on the side door of the panel van, causing Aurora to jump for a moment before calming when she hears the not-so-quiet whisper shout on the other side. “Open up, guys. I’m freezing my tits off out here.”

Zo moves Aurora off him and gets the door, sliding it just enough for Benny to dive back through.

“I told you, you needed more than a fucking long-sleeved tee under your vest, you idiot,” I snark at him, trying to chastise him but failing to hide my happiness at having him back safely.

“I was plenty warm when I was carrying the full weight of the charges I set,” he huffs defensively. “I just forgot the getting back to the car part of the plan.”

I reach between the seats and retrieve one of the black holdalls, pulling out his jacket and throwing it at him. He rolls his eyes at me like the bratty little fuck he is. “Just put it on. It’s time for us to all load up. We should be getting the go-ahead from Gabriella soon,” I remind them.

As we’re busying ourselves with Kevlar and comms, holsters, and weapons, my phone screen lights up with a message.

Gabriella:

Max’s cavalry has arrived.

Estimate: 60% of his manpower across both locations

Bulk deployed to the warehouse, calling in support from Dante’s team, sending Dom’s your way.

Heading in now, wait for my signal before you send in support.

We finish up by stashing as much ammo as we can carry into the various pockets of our utility pants. We look like some strange black ops crew who’ve been through an action movie style preparation montage, ready to storm some secret bunker. In our defence, that’s the look we’re going for. We need theseidiots to believe that we’re raiding them alone and say as much when they report back to Max.

“Remember, I need to be front and centre when we breach their perimeter. Feel free to cover me, but don’t even think of holding me back,” Aurora says, her voice steady and her stony expression unmoving.

We all nod and pile out of the van, letting her lead the way and falling in line at her back. Where we belong.

CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

MAX

Iunderestimated my wife. Sitting in my office, staring at the video feeds from The Knights’ warehouse, I let out a near-inhumane scream. I’m incandescent with rage at the damage she’s doing. The entire operation was rebuilding our funds at an exponential rate. Once I’d introduced them to some of the less savoury De Luca connections, the increased demand had us all raking in the coin.

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