Page 75 of Brutal Queen

“Thank you,” I say, letting the words out in a shaky breath. He quirks his brow in confusion, and I can’t help but chuckle at his expression. “For saving me. For risking everything for me. For standing with me.” I don’t just mean Enzo. “All of you. Thank you.”

With solemn faces, they all nod before rising to their feet again.

“We’d better get him back down, make things a little easier for Etta with the clean up,” Sinclair says as he rises to his feet, but before he can make a move Benny pipes up.

“That won’t be necessary,” he says with a mischievous grin that gives me more than a little pause. “Fire in the hole.” There’s a flurry of confusion around us, which has an exasperatedBenedict shouting, “Hug the wall and cover your ears, people.”

There’s a rapid scattering of footfalls, most of them towards the loading bay, not particularly eager to find out what Benedict is up to. I’m bundled to the wall by Enzo and Sinclair as Nico lifts Benny, bridal style, and walks him back to join us.

“You’re a fucking liability, you know that, Bambi,” he says when he sees Benny produce a detonator from his pocket. His tone is serious, but the frown he’s throwing Benny’s way doesn’t reach his eyes, and I see the tiniest smirk on the side of his lips.

“You love me really,” Benny playfully teases.

The second Nico touches his feet to the floor, Benny turns and we follow his lead and stare up at the body gently swaying in the breeze coming in from the shattered warehouse windows.

“Three… Two… One…” We barely have enough time to cover our ears when he blows the collar he placed around Max’s neck. It’s nowhere near as loud as I’m expecting, but fuck me, is it effective. The force of the explosion obliterates the flesh within the collar, severing Max’s body from his head. Well, what’s left of his head. As the body drops to the floor, the top of the skull is launched towards the back of the warehouse.

“You can explain to your sister why the fuck she’s going to need to go on a treasure hunt for body parts,” I say, plastering my best scowl on my face.

“Worth it,” Benny says with a giggle, flinching when his muscles tighten.

“Time to get you seen to, no fucking arguing this time,” Sinclair says, locking eyes with Benny and making it clear he has no choice in the matter.

“What he said,” Nico adds before sweeping him up into his arms and stomping towards the loading bay.

Sinclair, Enzo and I follow behind and step out of the warehouse for the first time in what feels like years when it can’t have been more than an hour.

In less than sixty minutes everything has changed. I meant every word I said in there, but tonight I achieved a freedom no one else did.

The realisation makes me feel like I’ve grown wings. I feel lighter than I have since the day I was sentenced to my damnation. To the living hell, I never allowed myself to believe I would ever escape.

Today I made myself a widow.

And fuck me, it feels good.

CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

SINCLAIR

The ride to the hospital was short, but with every passing minute, Benedict looked more and more pale. By the time we pulled up, it wasn’t only Nico barking orders at the staff to help him. It took a fair amount of smoothing things over by Doc Em for them to even let us in to see him once he’d been admitted. Doc Em had only had him under observation for forty minutes when his labs came back and he was rushed into surgery.

Now we’re back in the same relatives' room we were a few short months ago while we waited for news on Enzo. While the major bleeding had been cauterised in the field, the bullet nicked Benny’s small intestine and needed to be repaired. Doc Em was confident she’d be able to fix it but was concerned about infection because of the delay in getting him here. Those weren’t her exact words though.

What she’d actually done was hit us over the heads withBenedict’s chart and called us ‘absolute fucking idiots’. I don’t disagree.

The door opens and Nico fills the frame, shaking his head when I ask if there’s any update. He hands out a selection of coffees to everyone, giving me the last one before dropping down next to me.

“Why are you so calm?” I grouse and then swear when the coffee burns my tongue as I take a sip.

Nico looks straight ahead and stares at the wall. “Because I have to be. I can’t lose that man, so I have to believe Doc Em when she says she’s going to bring him back to me. To us.” His hand lands on my knee and he squeezes reassuringly before resting it on his lap.

“Thank you,” I say as I nudge his shoulder a little, glad of his support and closeness. While I don’t find myself attracted to Nico, the bond that has grown between us is something I hold dear. He means more to me than I could ever have predicted. I join him, staring into the void and letting the sounds of the hospital wash over me while we wait.

It’sdark in the waiting room when I open my eyes, having felt a gentle jostling on my shoulder. Aurora is attempting to rouse me, while Enzo on the other side is poking Nico in the ribs. It would seem that I fell asleep on Nico. I blush as I stir, not because I’m ashamed of my choice of pillow but because I can feel the drool at the corner of my mouth and roll my eyes when I see a small wet patch on his shirt.

“Ew,” he says, scowling and brushing at the mark. “We’re going to need to address your terrible sleeping habits if you’re going to join the cuddles. What the fuck, man?”

“It’s not my fault you're a terrible pillow. Fucking rock sol—” I throw back at him.

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