Page 17 of Fall Before Her Throne

The room seemed tucked away in the quiet, back part of this massive, supposed safe house. How the fuck did we get here? Where even were we? Leona and the Shadows had the penthouse building, but I didn’t know they owned this other place. Even after stumbling through the first few rooms and limping down the stairs, looking for where they’d gathered, it still felt a good size larger than my estate or the Vero estate. Glimpses through the windows only showed surrounding trees and a bright, late summer sky overhead. I couldn’t see anything else.

When I finally found my way to the living room, they were already deep in conversation surrounding an unlit fireplace. Random furniture was arranged around it. A long sofa. An armchair. Dining chairs. Enough seating for everyone.

My eyes instantly found Leona. She was curled up on the leader’s lap, practically dwarfed by his size. Beside him, Ryuji, the asshole, flipped a knife end over end while he stared at her. The hacker, Ciel, and the stoic one, Wynn, sat side by side on one couch with their hands entangled. Cas sat on the other side of Obi.

Together, the group of them looked so comfortable. A family. I rubbed my hand over my chest, frowning at the sudden pain, deeper than the bruising. I’d felt so dead for so long. This…emotion was uncomfortable. And unwanted.

“Cas,” she said. “What did Giulio say about our supplies?”

“He can bring us everything on your list,” Cas answered. “Food, more med kits, the hardware Ciel needs. Some extra clothes. We just need to give him the address.”

Obi pulled out his phone. “I will text it to you now. It goes without saying that this cannot be leaked. Our location must remain a secret.”

Cas’s fingers tapped away. “Yeah, I’ll tell him. We can trust Giulio.”

Giulio. He’d defected from my men to Leona’s when they announced their engagement. The tumultuous emotions I’d felt that night, and so often after, shot to the surface. Even though I had no right to feel that way, jealousy was one of the few emotions that slipped through my mask.

“Max,” Leona said, perking up to lock eyes with me across the room.

The rest of them turned to look at me, five heads glaring in my direction like I were an intruder. Only Cas looked somewhat relieved to see me.

I told Leona that I wanted to stay, but what the hell was I doing here?

“Where are we?”

“What are you doing here?” Cas asked, always an echo of the thoughts that darted through my brain. “You need to sleep.”

I shook my head while I braced myself against the wall and fought a wave of dizziness. “I’m fine. I want to hear what’s next.”

“Can’t have a planning meeting without the mastermind behind it all, can we?” Ryuji said, gripping his knife with a sneer.

My lips pressed together. “I just want to help. If I can.”

They were silent as they stared. Obi rubbed his eyes with one hand while the other gripped Leona’s waist firmer. My heart clenched at the sight of her tucked into his arm. He murmured something in her ear, and she tilted her head up to whisper something back to him.

“Sit,” he said as he gestured to the only free seat in the room. He leveled his careful, dark eyes at me.

I sat down with a huff, withholding my groan of pain. The bruises rattled my bones with every movement. “Where are we?” I asked again.

“Staten Island,” he replied carefully.

I nodded. Close enough to the city, yet far enough away for privacy and safety. Some neighborhoods here were wealthy enough to have houses like this.

“I believe I owe you all a thank you,” I said as loudly and clearly as I could. My head pounded and my side ached, but this needed to be said. “So thank you for taking me with you and giving me a safe place to stay.”

“For now,” Ryuji taunted.

“Regardless,” I continued. “Thank you.”

The room was tense with silence until Cas finally huffed a breath. “You’re welcome.”

“So now what happens?” Wynn, the stoic one sitting next to the hacker, asked. “Are you going to leave?”

I pressed my lips together. I’d heard violent rumors about him on the streets. My men had whispered about how bloodthirsty he was, and I’d seen it firsthand that night at the Albanian auction in the subway tunnels. His pretty face would have had me second-guessing the rumors, but I’d learned long ago that what you saw on the surface was rarely the truth.

“Max told me he wanted to stay. I see no issue currently,” Leona said. The way they all turned to look at her…it was the same way they listened to her at my house when we agreed on our temporary alliance and on the missions that followed. They respected her.

Cas told me they gave her a chance to become who she was meant to be. Neither her father nor I ever did that. I’d gotten my thoughts about her wrapped up in the same hatred I had for Luciano, and it made me stop listening to her, stop thinking about who she was or who she could be. Shame made bile rise to the back of my throat.