Page 56 of Consort of the Crime Queen

Let her be okay. Let her come back to me.

CHAPTER 27

Hadria

The mansion is silent as I stalk the shadowed corridors, senses heightened. My footfalls make no sound, the only light coming from the occasional window casting moonlight across my path. For a moment I wonder if the usual shutters would have made any difference on the assault.

No.

We were vulnerable not because of a lack of defenses, but because of the lack of confidence some of the Syndicate had in me. Perhaps if I'd encouraged loyalty and unity from the start, instead of emphasizing money…

Well, no point worrying about that now. I can have a million regrets once the final head falls.

Tightening my grip on the knife in one hand, gun in the other, I sweep through the upper story of the mansion methodically, clearing each room. All I find are corpses, but I know Nero lurks here still.

He always did prefer to bring up the rear, swaggering into the battle only after his grunts had done the dirty work, surveying the carnage with that triumphant smirk. I've watched him over the years without him knowing, analyzing his tactics. Always likes to play the conquering hero come to claim his prize, the last man standing.

Not this time. His bullshit ends tonight.

Nearing Aurora's original bedroom, I nudge the half-closed door inward, body coiled tight. The sight within makes me cold with anger. She's been staying in my room since her return, but hasn't moved all her things in. Now the belongings that remained here are strewn across the carpet, dresser drawers ransacked, bedsheets torn off—even the bed and pillows slit open as if the man holding the knife wished he could do the same to her.

It has all the hallmarks of a Nero tantrum. And the message is loud and clear. While he lives, Aurora is not safe from him.

I picture wrapping my hands around his throat and squeezing until his eyes bulge. I want to charge blindly to defend her honor, scream out his name and challenge him to come and face me. But I've learned strategy and patience in my rise to power. I won't be so easily manipulated my emotions.

I move on. I already know where he'll be: my bedroom, lurking there in the most insolent power play possible.

I reach the doors to my master suite and kick them open, sliding to the side to avoid any immediate gunshots. But he doesn't want to kill me quite so quickly, it seems. Just as expected, there he waits, lounging by the cold hearth in the chair Aurora likes to curl up in herself, like he owns Elysium. He's arranged himself in exaggerated leisure as if he hasn't a care in the world. As if this is all merely foreplay before the real fun begins.

And there's not a goddamn scratch on him.

Coward.

That infuriating smirk tugs his lips when he sees me enter, sheer amusement flickering there. Like my disgust in him is the most hilarious joke.

"Hey, big sister. So glad you could join me." He spreads his hands, encompassing the room's dark opulence. "Welcome to my humble abode."

"Would you prefer to die there, or will you stand up and face me?"

He grins wider. "You girls sure like your toys, huh? I went looking around a little while I waited for you."

I certainly don't intend to let him bait me into reacting blindly, despite the rage building up in me. Play it smart, I remind myself. Nero has always been ruled by ego and impulse, so of course he tries to goad others that way.

Use it against him.

"You're free to take one, if you like," I tell him. "Perhaps for once it will help you satisfy a woman."

He growls, literally growls, like an angry dog.

"Unfortunately you won't have time to try it out," I go on. "Your men are all dead, and now I have come to kill you. You'd better stand up, little brother. I'm sure you'd rather die on your feet."

He stays sitting where he is, and I try hard to see if he has a gun on him, or only the knife I see glinting against his thigh.

"You should have known better than to walk into the lion's den," I say, moving to the side.

At that, Nero barks out a harsh laugh and unfolds from the chair at last, prowling closer. He does have a gun, I think, tucked into the back of his jeans like the fool he is.

"This is no lion's den. It's just a filthy rat's nest." He's near enough now for me to smell the sickly sweet stench of wine on his breath. See the malevolent hatred in his dark eyes. "And I'm here as the exterminator, to cleanse the Imperioli name of your taint."

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