Page 215 of Fall Before Her Throne

“Finally, they decide to show up,” I muttered. Black spotted my vision. I tried to stand, but my limbs wouldn’t respond. “Shouldn’t that antidote be kicking in yet?”

“Yeah, probably,” Enzo said. “Badawi! We’ve got a problem over here!”

The Special Agent rushed over, gasping when she saw the blood on my hands. “We need to get you medical attention.”

“That would be nice,” I said. “But maybe arrest that bastard first.”

Greco was on his stomach, crawling toward the door like a fucking dog.

Badawi yanked his hands behind his back and he yelped. “You’re under arrest, Greco.”

“Basta! You can’t do this!” He tried to shout, but it came out more like a rasp. There was no fight left in him, and he slumped. The paralytic was doing its job. “I’ll have your fucking head for this! Your bosses will bury you! How fucking dare you!”

Enzo pressed cloth napkins to my side. I couldn’t tell if the nausea was from the pain of the gunshot wound or the poison. “I’m fine.”

“I don’t think you are,” he said. “We need to get you to a doctor.”

I ran my hands over the wound. “Well, in my expert opinion, it just went in and out. Everything’s fine.”

“Right,” he said with a roll of his eyes. “Hold this. I’m going to find you a medic.”

He transferred the wad of napkins into my palm, and I winced at the pressure, but I did my best to push through it. I struggled to my feet, sweat dripping down my temple. Greco was still resisting Badawi with what little energy he had left. She’d maneuvered him to a sitting position, using the fallen table to brace his back.

“Hey,” I said, kicking Greco’s foot to get his attention. I gave Badawi as strong a handshake as I could manage. “Thanks for coming through for me.”

She grinned while Greco stared at me with wide eyes, fuming.

“You think you’ve won?” he spat. “There are no places on this earth where my influence doesn’t reach. There are no situations where my money and my connections run out. You might put me in jail for an hour, but when that hour is up, I will hunt you down and make you beg for death. You have no idea what you’ve just done, Leona Vero.”

The laugh bubbled up from my chest. “Actually, I think we’ve outsmarted you. But I don’t think you’ll realize it until you’re sitting all alone in your cell, with no one to call and no one to help you.” Blood dribbled over my palm. “You want to know your biggest mistake?”

His nostrils flared, but he didn’t answer.

“That’s okay, I’ll tell you anyway,” I said. “You underestimated me. You never thought that I could outsmart you, or that my men could overpower yours. Your hubris is your downfall. I’m a woman, and it never occurred to you I might win. That’s on you. I would say that you should learn your lesson and do better next time, but this is the end for you, Greco. Our new friend, Badawi, is going to make sure of it.”

We had made arrangements for Greco’s jail accommodations, but I wasn’t going to tell him that. No, he’d find that out as our last little surprise.

Now, I just needed a little bandaid and everything would be fine.

70

OBI

Isat in solitary confinement with my eyes closed, my head leaned back against the wall, and my hands clasped in my lap.

I counted the seconds.

I counted my breaths.

Every moment was a moment closer.

Leona, I know you’ll win. I know you’ll do what I need you to do.

I’d spent eleven years planning for the power that now sat at my fingertips. All I had to do was reach out and take it. After Greco’s death, it could be mine. I could sit in his seat, absorb the empire that the Camorra had created, and sleep in peace knowing that my family—my siblings and my brothers and my queen—would be protected.

What would it be like to walk the streets of my hometown in Nigeria and know peace?

What would it feel like for Ezenwa, Amadi, Chiasoka, and Ekene—my siblings—to know me as the older brother I wished to be? Instead of the monster Ekene rightfully claimed I was?