Page 43 of Fall Before Her Throne

“Yes,” I replied without looking away from her.

“But their main informant is dead,” Ciel added. “Depending on what testimony he has already given, their case could be blown apart.”

“Unless they have someone else in their pocket,” Obi countered. “Any of the Camorra men, or Sandrini’s men, willing to face jail time to testify against us. To take us down.”

A RICO case relied on a snitch to help boost the evidence that there was a conspiracy taking place, and that the men in charge ordered crimes to take place which were perpetrated by the men who worked for them. The snitch wasn’t necessary, but it solidified the case. That was how the racketeering charges would stick. The FBI might already have enough evidence gathered on me, Rossi, and Sandrini to prove that we led the remaining Five Families, but any kind of testimony against Leona could be enough to loop her in with the rest of us.

“Yeah, all it would take is one of San—Sandrini’s men to take the fall,” Ciel said. “They could wipe out all the New York mafia in one swoop and give Greco everything he needs to take control.”

“We can get Samuel to investigate,” Obi said. “He can find out how extensive this case really is.”

“That doesn’t change the fact that Max is here,” Wynn said. “He’s here, and we’ve been working with him for weeks. There’s likely more than enough documentation to establish conspiracy to commit a crime.”

I had tried to keep her out of this. I had wanted to deal with it all on my own while she was safely away from the city. And worst-case scenario, I had planned to take the fall for it all if things ever got that far. I was still willing to do that.

But we were in too deep now. She was in this, and there was no going back.

“Leave,” she said. My heart stuttered to a stop when I thought she was talking to me, but then she turned to the rest of the men in the kitchen. “Leave us, please.”

Cas lingered for a few extra moments while the rest reluctantly left. Ryuji pressed a knife into Leona’s hand and whispered in her ear. She gripped it tightly.

“It’s okay, Cas,” she murmured. Finally, he walked out.

She kept her head down on the counter for at least two minutes, just letting the silence fester between us like a rotting wound. Finally, I couldn’t take it anymore.

“You should have left the city when I told you to months ago,” I gritted out. Before she could say something that would eviscerate me.

She straightened. Her finger poked into my chest as she crowded closer. Her other hand still gripped the knife. “You’re the one in fucking trouble. Not me.”

“I have been trying to keep you safe.”

“Why?” she pressed.

“Why, what, Leona?”

Her finger pressed harder, like it could cut the truth from my heart itself if only it held the blade. “Why are you trying so hard to protect me? Why do you even care?”

My mouth hung open while the truth caught in my throat. I swallowed.

“Why?” She jabbed my chest, punctuating every word. “Goddamn it. Tell me why!”

“God, you piss me off,” I spat. “Why do you think!”

The reason didn’t even matter, because she was there and I was here and there was no crossing the barrenness that had decayed between us.

“I have no clue! You’ve spent the last four months trying to kill me!”

“If I wanted you dead, you would be!” I almost laughed at the thought. How many times had I let her go? How many times had I shot at her feet? Or threatened her when I could have shot her? How I agonized over pushing her away, getting her out of the city, and she’d refused? “How has that not been clear?”

Her teeth ground together, her eyes fierce. “Tell me the fucking truth, or I swear to God, I will kill you myself.”

She lifted the knife and held it toward me.

I wished she would. I wished she would kill me so I wouldn’t have to suffer the pain of acknowledging just how badly things had turned. But the way her eyes blazed…they were gorgeous in their fury. She was a vision in her anger, in her passion.

I’d stopped looking at her so long ago, and now that I was seeing her—truly looking at her again—I couldn’t look away.

Without another thought, I surged forward. My lips were on hers. My hands were pulling her body against me. My tongue was darting into her mouth.