“Fuck if I know. I’d be much more worried about us.”
He had to be all right. They all had to be.
I inhaled through my nose and exhaled through my mouth.One breath at a time. We could get through this. He said they were coming. Everything would be fine.
“What are we supposed to do?”
“I’m holding this for as long as I can and praying to the great cosmic void my brothers get here in time.” A small rock fell from beside his shoulder to land next to mine. The sound echoed in my ear.
“What can I do?”
“Stay still.”
I clamped my arms to my side, staring up at his body. Seconds ticked by, but every sound of shifting rock or Ryuji breathing was like nails grating on a chalkboard. My fingers dug into the ground. Shit, I wanted to be brave, but this was torture. Terror flooded my body with chills. At any moment, the wholething could come crumbling down. Ryuji could get hurt even worse.
Tears pricked my eyes. Max had outsmarted me, again. I’d royally fucked up. How was I supposed to make good on my promises to these men, build ourownempire, if I couldn’t see more than one step ahead at a time? Couldn’t kill one fucking guy?
“I’m sorry, Ryuji,” I whispered. This was my fault. I had lost my temper. I had punched Max. We could have overtaken him.
“Don’t. We don’t let setbacks break us. We never give up. You want to be a queen? Act like one.”
I swallowed back my tears. “How am I supposed to be this mafia queen if I can’t see simple shit like this coming?”
He was silent for a few breaths. “You want to know what I think?”
“Yes.”
“I’m so damn proud of you, vixen,” he whispered. I searched his face in the darkness.Drip.Drip. “Punching that asshat in the face? My dick went rock-hard.”
Despite the blood and the ceiling slowly crushing us, I laughed. “That messed everything up. We had this whole plan to force him to comply, but my temper couldn’t handle it.”
“If you wouldn’t have done it, I would have had a knife in his neck within seconds.”
“You should have. That would have solved a lot of our problems.”
“Nah. I preferred watching you do it. Now I see why Wynn is so obsessed with training you.” His voice went low. “Count me in next. I’ll make you so damn powerful, the entire world will bow at your feet.”
His eyes burned into mine in the dim light, sending a shockwave of heat through me in spite of our condition. God,that was just like Ryuji. Even in life-or-death situations, he found ways to turn me on.
“You’re ridiculous.”
“Excuse me,” he huffed. “I’m keeping us alive right now.”
“You have my infinite gratitude.”
“You owe me. One favor. Redeemable at my choice.”
“Oh, we’re bargaining now?” I scoffed.
“Yes. One favor, Leona.”
I rolled my eyes. “Fine.”
He grinned. “Inevitable, Leona dear.” Those words he said to me only a few days ago echoed in my ears.It’s inevitable that I’ll be buried inside your pussy with you screaming my name as you come.
My cheeks flushed. “You never stop, do you?”
“Never.”
