Page 11 of Explode
I nodded, resolute in the decision I was making. “Do it. What’s theworst that can happen, right?” I chuckled nervously.
“Death. That’s what could happen,” Miles piped up, rather unhelpfullyif you asked me.
Chapter 3
Riley
Laterthatnight,Ilay in bed, my mind in overdrive and wishing for atime when life had been simpler.
When we left the war room after Jack agreed to set up a meeting withthe Bianchis, Tank clapped me on the shoulder and told me I’d make a good queen. He’d been joking, at least, I thought he was, but he hadn’t been smiling when he said it.
The comment churned over and over in my mind. I didn’t seemyself as a queen, for fuck sake, this wasn’t aDisneyfilm. I was a nobody whose path just so happened to collide with the man who ruled the city.
And yet here I was, lying in bed thinking about all the waysIwouldrule the city. Everything I could do to make people’s lives better.
To say I was overwhelmed would be a fucking understatement.
Deciding there was little point in stressing about what I would orwouldn’t do when I was in charge of Hollows Bay, I pushed it out of my head. I had a few hurdles to jump over before that occurred, and there was a damn good chance I would fall at the first one- meeting the Bianchis.
That’s if they agreed to it in the first place. I probably needed to comeup with a backup plan if the head of the family, Georgio, told us to get stuffed. But if they did agree, it was possible we wouldn’t live to walk away from the meeting.
From what Miles told me about the Bianchis, I knew they wereruthless bastards who despised the Wolfes. Perhaps I was being naive in thinking they’d agree to another treaty, but we didn’t have any other option. If they attacked first, not only would we lose our opportunity to deal with Max and Hendrix, but we’d never get another opportunity to reclaim Hollows Bay. I didn’t want that for Kai’s sake. Miles’ too. He was the only living Wolfe now, aside from me, and if we failed, that would be it.
The Wolfes rule over Hollows Bay would be no more.
Ever again.
Surprisingly, I wasn’t scared about going to the meeting andpotentially meeting my fate. If anything, I found the slightest bit of comfort in it. Not because I believed Kai and I would be reunited in the afterlife, I didn’t believe in that for one second. But it would mean I wouldn’t have to live with the constant pain in my heart. The pain that grew every damn day, an unbearable weight that felt like it was going to explode out of my chest any time now.
A pain I carried around with me wherever I went.
Sure, if I died, Angel would be left alone, but I’d achieved what I setout to do- give her a better life. She was currently living in luxury with unlimited pots of cash, and being cared for by a bunch of scary bastards. She had a decent future ahead of her, far away from any danger.
In fact, now I thought about it, I wasn’t sure it would ever be safe tobring Angel home. If I’d learned anything from Kai, it was that being the ruler of a city brought a lot of unwanted attention and a shit load of enemies. Much like I had been used to exploit Kai’s weakness, Angel would be used to exploit mine.
With a heavy heart, I accepted that from here on out my relationshipwith her would be very different from what it had been, and I silently cursed myself for ever agreeing to the deal with Kai in the first place.
But wasn’t that a bitter pill to swallow? If I’d never agreed to the deal,I never would have fallen head over heels for Kai. I never would have found a family. I never would have known that somewhere deep inside of me, I had the strength to keep going, even when my world had imploded.
When I rolled over for the hundredth time and gave in to theknowledge that sleep wasn’t coming, I threw back the covers and got out of bed. Wrapping my robe around me, I tugged open the balcony doors and stepped outside, relishing the feel of the cool breeze on my heated skin.
My room was on the first floor of the three-story house andoverlooked the gardens which backed onto towering mountains. The house was in the middle of nowhere, and a two-hour drive from Hollows Bay. It was a little inconvenient every time we went to take out one of Hendrix’s men, but it was far enough from the city that it was unlikely we’d be found.
Who knew, maybe if the Bianchis agreed to the deal and were feelingreally generous, they might offer to let us lay low on their turf so we could be closer to Hollows Bay.
Or maybe we had more chance of finding the pot of gold at the end ofthe rainbow with a leprechaun dancing on it.
Although night had long since fallen, the moon shone bright, lightingup the grounds enough to make out the shapes of trees and brush. I took a deep breath, inhaling the fresh air and hoping it would help calm the noise in my head.
From the minute Miles broke the news about Kai, my head filled withchaotic din, and it was relentless and exhausting. I craved peace, but no matter what I did, the noise wouldn’t shut off. I suspected my head would only find the silence I desperately wanted when Max and Hendrix were nothing but rotting corpses in the ground.
Or wherever Miles planned on disposing of their bodies.
When I reached the edge of the balcony, I propped my elbows on theledge, held my head in my hands, and stared out into the night. The fresh air did nothing to stop the noise, but being out in the open instead of cooped up in my room wasn’t as claustrophobic.
What the fuck was I going to do?
I had to offer the Bianchis something to convince them to hold offfrom taking any action, and find a way to convince them to give us their men for a fight that wasn’t theirs in the first place.
