Page 67 of Fall Before Her Throne

Iprowled the house like I had a fucking chip on my shoulder. I’d barely slept since we’d gotten home from Greco’s warehouse. Instead, I spent the last two nights—while Leona slept with Cas—watching that video of Max kissing her.

It pissed me the fuck off.

Yeah, we’d made some headway last night. Turned out the asshole might have had a sense of humor. Turned out he wasn’t all that incompetent with a weapon. Turned out he might know what he was talking about as far as the smuggling.

But it wasn’t fucking enough.

Everyone else was working, but I’d spent the morning doing as much as I could to get my attitude in check. I’d worked out, sparred with Cas in the backyard, made lunch and prepped dinner, and checked in on all my clubs.

Thankfully, there had been no other visits by law enforcement since those two Special Agents dropped in when Leona and I were fucking in my office. Alec said things were surprisingly quiet, for once.

But I’d been restless all day. I was just full of energy and had nowhere to put it.

The only good idea I’d had all day was to ambush Max and stick a knife in his back, but that probably wouldn’t have gone over very well. I didn’t think Obi would want to clean blood out of the hardwood floors of our brand new home.

I wasn’t jealous, despite what my brothers might think.

Restless.

Like that feeling of knowing something bad was about to happen, yet being able to do nothing to stop it. The inevitability of everything blowing up in our faces.

The Camorra were definitely part of that, but it was more the anxiety I felt every time I caught Max staring at her out of the corner of my eye. Every time he lingered in the kitchen while we all ate our meals, hanging on the outside of the group but so desperately wishing he could step in.

I felt like screaming.

With a sigh, I lurked in the upstairs hallway, waiting for Leona to finish her shower. No one else was up here right now; they were all downstairs.

I just needed to blow off some steam.

As soon as she opened the door to her bedroom, my head shot up. She caught sight of me and smiled, and the sight almost stole the breath right from my fucking chest. Involuntarily, my fingers found their way right over my heart as I tried to rub the twinge from it.

Her face went from happy to questioning. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing, hanii.” I grabbed her face and pressed a hard kiss to her lips. “Nothing you need to worry about.”

She pulled away and raised her eyebrow. “Well, that’s very convincing.”

I smirked as I wrapped my arms around her and hugged her. Instantly, the tension threaded through my every muscle relaxed.

“Did you fight with Max again?” she mumbled from where her head was squeezed tightly against my chest.

I ignored her.

“I know you can hear me.”

“No, I can’t.” I squeezed her even tighter, and she squealed before she poked both index fingers into my ribs. I barked a laugh and let go, but I didn’t want to talk about that bastard right now, so instead I just cupped her cheeks and brought her lips to mine again.

I walked her backward until her back hit the wall just outside her bedroom. Her fingers clutched my shirt, twisting the fabric.

“It’s been a while,” she whispered against my lips.

It had been six days since I fucked her. Yes, I was keeping track. “Too goddamn long.”

“You’re pent up, aren’t you?”

I kissed a line down her neck, feeling my cock stiffen with every puff of her breath against my ear. “Maybe.”

She laughed softly. “I’ve missed you, too.”