Page 89 of Runaway Queen

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It was nearlydaybreak when we finally reached New Jersey and the quiet little neighborhood that housed Casa Nera. In a lot of ways, my time in that house had defined me. It had left a lasting mark. In a dark and twisted way, it was like coming home.

We stopped at a location I had pinned on my phone. Getting out on the dark street, Angelo looked around.

“Are you sure this is the right place?”

“Sure.”

Sofia’s former bodyguard went to the trunk and strapped on an arsenal. Angelo hadn’t come to play. He finished strapping a knife to his thigh, just as a shiny black SUV pulled up behind us.

“Are you sure about this plan?”

“No, but we’re going with it. We have no choice. Remember, Antonio doesn’t want to hurt anyone except me.”

“Hurting Leo would hurt you,” Angelo rightly pointed out.

“He won’t get the chance.” I offered my old friend my hand to shake. “Good luck, just in case I don’t see you again.”

“Christ, don’t say that.” Nonetheless, he held out his hand to shake mine.

Three shadowed figures got out of the car down the street. They started toward us.

“Thank you. I never had a chance to say it until now. Thank you for being there for Sofia and Leo while I was inside, and before. You’ve always watched over her.”

“She’s more like a little sister to me than anything else. She’d be hurt if you died, so try not to.”

I laughed. “At least it’s not doing nothing. If I should die… make sure Leo gets what he needs from me. Kidneys have an expiry of twenty-four to thirty-six hours for extraction.”

“You didn’t seriously just ask me to harvest your kidneys to give to your son, did you?”

I chuckled. “Of course not. Ask a doctor to do it.” I slapped Angelo on the shoulder. I turned to the figure whose silhouette was as familiar as my own.

“You’re cutting it a little close, aren’t you? Now’s not the time to be fashionably late.”

Kirill cut me a terse smile. “Are you sure about this? We can still change the plan and take every single Chernov in there, guns blazing.”

“Would you do that if Ruslan and Kira were inside?”

He let out a long breath. Beside him, his right-hand men shifted. Max and Ivan were bratva and had been by my brother’s side since I could remember. The fact that they were here meant that they understood how important this was. It wasn’t just business. It was personal. Despite never meeting him, my brother was ready to protect his nephew at all costs. I didn’t know how to feel about that.

The three men were armed to the hilt and ready to go. How much stronger I’d feel walking into the compound with that might and muscle at my back, but the plan didn’t work that way.

I had to go alone.

I took a step away from them along the dark road, heading into the middle of the quiet, residential street. Dawn was only just spreading her pale tendrils across the sky, and the air was fresh. “Time to go. Once more unto the breach.”

Angelo saluted me, his expression torn between worry and determination. Kirill only nodded. Max and Ivan were expressionless. We all knew what was at stake. Not everyone could laugh in the face of death. Not everyone was as intimately acquainted with it as I was.

With a parting grin, I turned on my heel and left my allies to the dark and difficult journey through the secret tunnels to Casa Nera, the one that only Renato De Sanctis remembered the way through. Thankfully, he’d been willing to share.

I headed toward the main gates.

The compound was bustling. Every light was blazing in the place, and men with machine guns patrolled the gates. I strolled toward them.

As soon as they caught sight of me, they leveled their guns, shouting instructions at me. I raised my hands slowly. The men surrounded me, looking behind me cautiously. Clearly, they hadn’t expected me to be ambling into their clutches without a fight. Antonio had probably expected my brother to be by my side, and the might of the Chernov bratva descending on Casa Nera.

Antonio lacked originality in every way. He was stunningly mediocre. How he had managed to spawn a fascinating woman like Sofia was a miracle.

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