Page 61 of Regal Queen

Sixteen

I staredacross the vast expanse of rolling hills, dotted with wild flowers and trees, my thoughts far away. My hand was tangled in the gnarled fur of Pepe, the dog laying next to me, his tail thumping happily against the ground.

Pepe loved to be pet, even more than he liked the tasty morsels that Maria, his owner, gave him every night when she fixed dinner.

We were at Knight's house in Cuba, a small, isolated place in the countryside. His family was old school mafia, back from the days when Cuba was the it place for made men. They ruled the streets both during the day and the nights back then.

It wasn’t like that anymore but he still had connections and property here. We'd chosen this place because it was unlikely that Dimitri would ever find us. And if he did, the house was on top of a hill and you could see for miles around it. We'd have a warning if anyone tried to attack.

The unease I’d felt since we’d arrived was growing. For some reason, I wasn’t afraid we were about to be attacked, but rather, that we were somehow, being watched. It was the only reason I hadn’t gone to Aster’s house directly or reached out to warn her.

Besides, I had five days. In five days, we were going to him.

We were going to try to subvert him from meeting Aster, killing him before he even had the opportunity to set eyes on her.

I had no doubt in my mind that he had intentions to kill her.

And that wasn't going to happen.

Not on my watch.

I was going to do whatever possible to keep her safe.

And that was part of the problem. Without the power of the New York outfit behind me, I didn't have much.

I did, however, now understand why powerful men liked to have ‘goons’ work for them.

Knight had been incredibly invaluable, providing all of the transportation and protection we needed to get here. He'd also hired a couple of guards, quiet local men who knew the area and could get us out if necessary. They mostly kept to themselves, except for the few times Maria, who took care of the house in Knight's absence, insisted on bringing them food.

Knight was still in the action phase, positioning all the connections he had to put together our plan. He insisted that everything would go smoothly with the meet up with Dimitri.

I'd never admit this to his face, but I wasn’t as confident as he was.

Dimitri had come with with rocket launchers and all kinds of weapons when we were at Bourbon's mom's house, and there was no way we could match that kind of firepower.

Our plan was to hire was some very good, well trained, marksmen to take them out from a distance, but I wasn't so sure it would work.

And that's the reason why I was currently chewing my lower lip raw, because I was so damn worried that I wasn't going to be able to keep Aster safe.

I almost regretted hanging up on Bourbon now.

He could fill in the gaps with the kinds of weapons we needed.

Besides that, I missed him.

I hated to admit it, but my chest ached every time I thought of him.

I missed the silent presence he was in my life. The dark, piercing looks he gave me.

The way he read my mind like he knew me better than I knew myself.

I wanted to see him again, even if it was only one last time before I marched to my death.

To tell him about all these feelings I had inside.

To show him, even if it was the worst decision I'd ever made, that I missed him.

I sighed, my thumb stroking on my phone.

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