Page 28 of Broken Princess

I text Sin, and he appears at the door almost instantly, Benny and Nico peer in behind him. He takes one look at her and curses.

“I don’t know what happened. One minute she was mocking me and the next she just zoned out.”

Sinclair stares at the monitor and flicks his glance between it and her. “We should call Doc Em.” His shoulders slump and I see the worry etched across his face.

Sinking onto the couch, I enjoy it a moment before leaning forward, resting my elbows on my knees, and hang my head in my hands. This feeling is alien to me, feeling like I’m not in control of the situation. Not only that, but I roil at causing whatever this is. I’m the leader. I’m supposed to protect the people I’m responsible for, not harm them. In my periphery, I hear Sinclair on the phone, see Nico hovering by the counter, and Benedict sitting by her side, holding her hand. But I’m frozen.

Sin crosses to me and leans down, close enough so that only I can hear him. “Doc Em says she can’t get here, but that her vitals are fine and to call her if anything changes. We’ll watch her. Go upstairs, shower, and be back here in twenty.” His words are deferential, yet I’m under no illusion that they are anything other than an order.

While his influence in this situation seems to help me, it’s also unsettling. I’m the boss, so why am I doing nothing?

I nod and retreat out of the room before casting a quick glance back at Aurora. What the fuck did I do?

When I return, I’ve wrestled my unease back to a manageable level and to my surprise Aurora is sitting, reclined in the hospital bed talking in hushed tones with Benny, who’s perched on the edge of her bed. I freeze in the doorway, stunned. Aurora’s presence is like an aura that surrounds us all, both a distraction and a driving force at the same time. She makes my heart race yet takes my breath away.

“I-I… You’re awake?” I stammer.

She looks at me and blushes, “Yeah, about that. I probably should have given you a heads up.” She smiles meekly, her body language sheepish and demure—I don’t like it. “I—uh, have a habit of phasing out when something triggers me.”

I don’t know what to say. I’m reeling at the thought that I did something that scared her that much. “What did I?—”

“It wasn’t you,” she quickly interrupts. “Honestly, Enzo. You didn’t know. I still can’t believe you saying it triggered me at all.” She takes several deep breaths and refuses to look any of us in the eye. In the smallest voice I’ve ever heard her use, she says, “Please, don’t call me princess.”

Shit. Okay, so yeah, I couldn't have known she'd react to that, but equally I'm filling with rage. My mind running wild, torturing me with images of all the things he might or might not have done to her, calling her princess as he hurt her. I’m grinding my teeth, but I don’t realise I’m growling until Nico comes over and nudges me with his shoulder.

“Sorry,” I mutter, unable to find more words than that.

“You couldn’t have known, Enzo,” she reassures me, finally glancing up to meet my eyes and giving me a wan smile.

Finally snapping out of it, I walk over and lean in to say, “Like I said, it will take time, guerrierotta.” My tone is faint enough that only she hears my words.

She doesn’t have to explain any further. We can all determine why she hates the moniker. Every cell in my body yearns to wring the life out of Max De Luca for everything he has done to her—for all the ways he’s tried to break her. I would never rob her of the satisfaction, though. Vengeance is hers to seek. But I will make damn sure that I do anything in my power to make sure that we exact her retribution.

If she wanted his head on a platter, it would be my pleasure to serve it to her. Admittedly, I’d probably get Nico to plate it up. He’d enjoy that. I hear a cough behind me, and I turn to see Sin is raising an eyebrow at me, a not-so-subtle reminder to get me to focus and get on with it.

“So, we should get started then…” I look around at my men as they give me their undivided attention. “We’ve been playing catch up from the minute Max brought us in and made us a part of whatever the fuck is going on. It’s time to figure out how fucked we are and what we are going to do next. First up, Sin. What do we know?”

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

SINCLAIR

Earlier, I walked them through everything I had. There’s been no unusual chatter in the regular channels. My snitches had nothing for me, but the wiretaps—that’s where shit got real interesting.

About a month ago, communications on the De Luca side started being encrypted between a select few of the De Luca capos, Salvatore, and Max. Once I identified the days where they were talking on encrypted channels or sending encrypted data, I took a look at the Bianchi side of The Syndicate. What I found was enough to make me want to channel my inner Nico and go on a murderous rampage.

Out of eight Bianchi capos, three of them are communicating with the De Lucas outside of standard channels. That’s three rats that betrayed Mateo. Three dogs I’m going to take enormous pleasure in putting down.

While I was running everyone through my intel, I monitored Aurora. When I began, her expression had been that of embarrassment at her reaction to Enzo. All parted lips and pink tinged cheeks. But the more information I revealed, the straighter she sat, a veneer of brazen fury falling over her features. Like witnessing the inception of a super villain—you could see her thirst for vengeance awaken, and it was simply breathtaking. Any hint of weakness receded as she absorbed the names of the men who had betrayed her father. Had betrayed her. She didn’t let this information destroy her. She took it into her soul and let it fuel her.

Conversely, when I revealed the names, one person in the room crumbled. I had checked and double checked, but no matter how many times I went through the call logs, one name always floated to the top. Marco fucking Romano—Benny’s father. When I said his name out loud, it detonated like a bomb, decimating Benny to the core. Nico took him out of the room, shell-shocked and silent.

Now I’m sitting on the couch, looking into the murderous gazes of Enzo and Aurora. I realise I need to let them process what I’ve said, regardless of how much I wish it weren’t true.

“So, you’re telling me, three people who’ve watched me grow up—who I’ve trusted with my life—plotted with the De Lucas to not only kill me but also my father?” she spits, her tone laced with incredulity.

“I’m telling you, they’re communicating with Max and Salvatore, yes.”

Aurora’s scowl deepens and her eyes darken until they look almost as black as her pupils. Her head turns to Zo. So slowly, it looks almost otherworldly, like her head works independently from her body. He’s staring at me with so much intensity he doesn’t hear what she’s saying.

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