Ciel extended his hand to Cas. “We can handle it. Leona will be safe, and she’ll cement her claim on the business. It’s a necessary risk.”
Cas grabbed his hand briefly before letting go. “If Max touches a hair on her head, he dies.”
Ciel nodded. “Leona and I already agreed we’d kill him together, taking turns to inflict the damage. You want in?”
Cas laughed. “Don’t you dare leave me out.”
43
LEONA
At the last minute, Giulio switched the place of our agreed upon meeting from a warehouse building in the city to an abandoned office park just outside. Ciel and Cas had been scrambling, but Giulio and a few of the other men coming with him were worried someone snitched to Max about the location. A snitch was highly likely, so we couldn’t chance it. Ciel, Cas, and I arrived early anyway just to case everything and make sure it wasn’t booby-trapped this time around. Thankfully, it was clear.
Wynn had to stay a little later than planned with Fallon, but he was heading back from Philadelphia. Obi and Ryu were on their way back from the airport, but all three of them were supposed to meet us here any minute. Then Giulio was supposed to show up with whatever men he could gather.
We could do this.
My nerves were already shot. I’d been buzzing all day, going over what I wanted to say in my head over and over. It would be a balance of persuading them to join our new syndicate—that I could lead them as Head—and convincing them they needed to oppose Max.
Neither of those things would be easy.
I’d been a spoiled princess all my life, living separately from the business because of my father’s wishes. Max, on the other hand, was respected a thousand times over. He’d earned their loyalty—enough that they still followed him after he killed my father.
Getting them to switch their allegiance would be difficult. Cas had been talking to Giulio, doing his best to spread the word. I hoped it would be enough. The more powerful he became, the more alliances he formed, the harder it would be to kill him.
“Leona, I need to talk to you before everyone else gets here,” Cas started. He ran a hand through his hair, bracing his other hand on his hip.
He’d also been nervous all day, like something that he just couldn’t bring himself to say was on the tip of his tongue. It had been driving me crazy with worry. Did he not think this was going to work? If evenhedidn’t think so, how was I supposed to get these men to change their minds?
“What’s wrong, Cas?” I asked.
After another few moments of hesitation, he finally opened his mouth to speak. Before he had the chance to say anything, though, something poked into both sides of my waist. I jumped, squeaking in surprise, as arms spun me around.
“Ryuji!” I grinned at my dragon. “You guys made it!”
“Of course we did, sweetheart.” He pulled me into a deep kiss. “Wouldn’t miss it.”
“Where’s Obi?” I asked, breathless.
He nodded to the side, where Obi stood talking with Ciel. Obi glanced our way, momentarily meeting eyes with Cas, who swallowed, and gave a slight shake of his head. Something passed between them.
Before I could ask, Ryuji’s hands tightened on my waist. “Did you miss me?”
“Of course I did.” I brushed my thumb across the fading bruises on Ryuji’s jaw, giving him a small smile. “You look exhausted. You have dark circles.”
“Just a lot of travel.” His words were tight. “But we finished the job.”
I raised my eyebrows. “The Chinese will ship for us?”
“All over the world, sweetheart,” he said as he tweaked my nose. “And your empire expands.”
“Our. Our empire expands.”
His eyes crinkled. “You’re right. Ours.”
Cas cleared his throat behind us, and I stepped out of Ryuji’s arms. “What were you saying, Cas?”
He looked from me to Ryu. “I’d like to speak with you in private.”
