Fair enough.
With a nod, I straighten and turn to the Uppers, all wearing matching expressions of confusion.Two quick strides and I’m back in front of Sanders, sliding his knife neatly into its sheath on his hip.
Then, I pat his shoulder and walk off.“I’ll go back inside now.You’re welcome.”
This will undoubtedly bite me in the ass later, but those untrained fools were never going to get a name out of those men.
“Hey, Ray Ray, wait!”Sanders calls after me as I jump into the cart.“What should we—?”
I peel off and head northwest, straight to Lions House.
The northwest side of the villa is the most fortified, so I’m not surprised to find it untouched by this morning’s chaos.Given that the attackers breached from the southeast, it would’ve taken them a great deal of effort to fight this far west.
Not that I was worried about Cora.This house has two panic rooms, and she’s smart enough to lock herself into one at the first crack of gunfire.When the doorbell goes unanswered after a few rings, I’m proven right.She’s safe.
Lowering down on the front steps, I slip my phone from the waistband of my shorts and dial Stefano, then Gio, then Lorenzo, then Oscar.
Every call goes unanswered.
I’m not a worrier.Panic isn’t my thing.Calm comes naturally to me no matter how chaotic the storm.It’s my superpower.My edge.It’s what makes me effective.Gets me results.
Mom says I’m a cyborg.Maybe.But I do feel things.Just not often, and never when I should.It’s random, selective.No warning, no rhythm or rhyme.My body decides, and I become a hostage to it.
That’s how I ended up here in the first place.
But now, for the first time in…maybe ever, a pang of something foreign creeps in.
Worry.
My three kings.All unreachable.All radio silent while their kingdom’s under attack.And I don’t like it.Not one damn bit.
I rub behind my ear.“Far from computer.Give me something.Where are they?”
A few short minutes later, a spam SMS pings through:
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A tap on the link takes me to Black Gold’s full security grid.Dozens of tiny camera feeds flicker to life.But only the box in the bottom left shows movement.I tap to expand it.
Ah, there they are.Stefano and Gio.
A warm rush hits my chest and surrounds my heart.Is this what relief from worry feels like?
Also in the frame are Oscar, Luca, and two of their private on-call doctors.There’s blood and bandages.Needles moving through skin.IVs and injections.But they’re upright and breathing.Alive.That’s all that matters.
They’re alive.
“Thanks, Wren.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
Stefano
