Page 18 of Regal Queen

We'd marked the locations of Dimitri’s usual shipping routes, as well as where Nero's security was usually located. If we took this chance, Nero could be on us within about an hour.

We were taking a great risk and I didn't like it.

Not only did it put our futures at risk, Rose and Coulter's future, but all these men who'd come to rely on me the past few months.

I wasn't sure we were ready.

Just as I opened my mouth to say something, Torian's face snapped to the phone in his hand. "We have a code Flynn.”

Everyone in the room reacted, leaping from their seats. ‘Flynn’ meant that the motion sensors had gone off and, from the cameras we’d set up, that there was an enemy on the property.

Yeah, maybe I'd named our code after the so called ‘good’ guy in Tangled, so shoot me.

We'd made up the protocol just in case, but I'd been so confident that they wouldn't find us here.

In fact, it was almost impossible.

There was no paper trail tying me to this place. I'd been careful every time I visited, making sure that no one trailed me. I’d even paid men to pose as me for my weekend tumble in the sheets, in case anyone ever bothered to verify my plans.

Which they didn't.

No one cared about some rich bachelor having a weekend long, fuck fest at some hotel.

There was no way I would’ve ever be found, unless...

My heart thudded, pounding loudly in my ears.

Unless Nero knew about this place all along.

I jumped to my feet, joining in as everyone scrambled to either defend the house, a house not meant to be used as a defensive hold, or get the hell out of here.

Torian grabbed all of the papers he could find. He shoved them into a large metal trash can. After pouring a liberal amount of lighter fluid, he threw a lit match. It lit up immediately.

Everyone else was destroying the laptops and anything else important.

For the very first time in my life, I felt lost.

No. Fucking no. This was my mom's place, the only place in the world I'd ever felt truly safe. We had memories here. Bittersweet memories but they were mine all the same.

And now, I'd destroyed that all in one swoop, all because I thought I was too invincible to be discovered.

"Bourbon." Rose soft voice filtered through my conflicted thoughts and I turned to look at her. Her face was full of concern. She tugged on the sleeve of my Armani suit, pulling me to her. "Are you okay?"

I hated, hated that look in her eyes. The concern, the worry, the way the world around us was crashing in on us, and all she cared about was me.

"Bourbon." Coulter's voice was more stern and I shifted my gaze to him. "Snap the fuck out of it, man. We need to go."

He was standing behind Rose but his attention was focused fully on me.

Not waiting for me to react, he grabbed my arm, dragging me from the room. "We need to get to the helicopter before they destroy it.”

From here, I could already hear the blades warming up.

Everyone was moving now, heading towards the the closest exit. My feet stumbled, but both Rose and Coulter kept me upright. They pulled me with the crowd rushing the back door.

My eyes searched the room frantically, wanting to commit everything to memory. Who knew if I'd ever be able to come here again?

I took in the pale yellow curtains, the blue velvet sofa cushions. My eyes landed on the small, ceramic elephant. Elephants were mom’s favorite. As we rushed by it, I grabbed it, shoving it in my pocket.

---