Page 162 of Fall Before Her Throne

But I never expected myself to live a life like this. I wouldn’t change any of it. I’d felt happier in the last few weeks than I had in a decade. Maybe even ever.

“I hope that’s a compliment.”

“It is.”

I sat back in my chair, watching him. I had wanted to bring something up, but I wasn’t sure how he’d take it. I’d only just started earning his trust, and I didn’t want to lose it so soon. I didn’t want to lose this family just when I found it.

“I think you and I make a good team.”

He tilted his head to the side. “I agree.”

“So then don’t take this the wrong way,” I said, running a hand through my hair. “I’ve been wracking my brain…All the goals we have and the plans we’re working on are making a dent in Greco’s enterprise.”

“But?”

“But I don’t see how it gets us closer to killing him.” I’d been thinking about it for days. Unless we could literally get close to him, we wouldn’t get a chance to kill him. And if we didn’t kill him, he’d just keep coming back. More men. More guns. More money to buy political support.

He rubbed a hand across his beard. “I know.”

“Again, don’t take this the wrong way,” I continued, leaning forward and bracing my forearms on my knees. “But I think you’re hiding something. I already know you’re trying to set stuff up with the Corrections Chief, but there’s something else. Some other part of this plan you don’t want us to see.”

He let out a small laugh. “You can read me well.”

I sat back in my chair. “What’s the hesitation, Obi? What’s the problem?”

He looked out the window and his jaw clenched. “I do have a plan for how to get close to him, but I don’t like it.”

“Tell me what it is.”

He raised an eyebrow in my direction, the words unspoken. There was only one circumstance where he would hesitate to put a plan in motion.

“The plan has to do with…Leona,” I murmured, feeling the ideas spin in my head. “You think she can get close to him?”

He nodded. “Only she can.”

“You don’t think she can handle it?”

He shook his head. “No, that’s not the issue. The problem is that Greco will only let down his guard if he has eliminated every other threat. He will underestimate her until she slips a knife between his ribs, but he won’t let that pride become his downfall unless⁠—”

My eyes widened. “Unless the Shadows are gone. We’re the threat that keeps his guard up.”

“Yes,” he said softly. His fingers danced over the tops of the remaining chess pieces on the board in front of us. He swiped every piece off the board except the queen and the enemy king. “If we’re gone, she can make her move.”

He picked up the queen and moved the piece across the board. With no pieces in her way, she toppled the enemy king easily.

“Have you told her this plan?” She would do it. She could handle it. But what about us? If we were gone, where would we go?

“No,” he said softly. “I am afraid.”

“Of what?”

“You accused me before of being too afraid to live in a world I can’t control,” he said, eyes flicking up to mine. “You were right. Putting her at risk, knowing that none of us can come to her aid, is why I am afraid of this plan. Knowing that she will be completely, entirely, on her own.”

“She can kill him,” I said confidently.

“Of course, she can,” he responded. “It’s not that I don’t trust her. But if Greco makes one move I can’t foresee, it could mean her death.”

I stared at that lone Queen. Standing on her own. All the other pieces overturned before her.