Page 13 of Sovereign Oaths

Javi chuckled. “You can do anything you put your mind to, but keeping your claws to yourself? I have my doubts.”

She laughed with us. “Yeah. Slight problem. I’m not sure I could explain away my teeth extending or my claws sneaking out to Alessio and his people more than a few times before they caught on.”

“And you couldn’t just go around killing any witnesses,” Cruz played along.

“Not more than a few times,” she repeated, and we chuckled.

This felt right. All we needed was each other. We’d find a way to give her the freedom she dreamed of, somehow.

CHAPTER 4

Emilia

The guys were already in planning mode by the time I woke up to a room too bright for morning. It must have been close to noon.

“Did you hear back from Rod?” Javi whispered. He wore a pair of running shorts and a tight black shirt with his light brown hair wet and messy.

They shifted back but were still in the bed with me, each on a phone or laptop.

“Yeah, the gamma team is already en route,” Derek confirmed next to me. He was shirtless, leaving his tight abs on display. His heat drew me in, and I rested my cheek against his arm.

“Morning, sleepyhead.” Cruz winked from his spot at the foot of the bed. He was also dressed in workout gear.Dark, damp strands flecked his normally sandy hair.

I stretched out my arms and sat up. “Morning.”

“The tail on Brazzi confirmed visual,” Marco read off his phone, running a hand through his almost black hair. His chiseled chest was bare, and I was surprised to find him still in bed next to me. He usually liked to get up early.

“Good. I want to know every move he makes today,” Javi replied.

“What’s going on?”I asked.

Javi leaned over Derek’s legs and kissed my cheek. “The five of us are going to lie low for a while. We’re on surveillance only.”

And they were okay with that?

“Who’s running lead?”

“The beta team,” Marco explained. “They stepped up in our place, monitoring things since we left for Cuba.”

“But Alessio isn’t even here.”

“That doesn’t mean his business stops. He’s been in touch with his men and issued orders to take out Brazzi in retaliation.” His eyes darted to Cruz.

“What?” I looked between them.

Cruz rolled his shoulders. “This thing between them heated up overnight. We think Dias is taking his frustration about you leaving out on Brazzi and his men.”

Derek smirked. “Which is fair. He did attack.”

Cruz grimaced. “Right, but so far, there’s seven dead in fifteen hours.”

Seven? Already? Heating up felt like an understatement. This was a full-on war.

“So we let them go at it.” Any fighting that came up naturally was less work for us.

Derek gave a firm nod and went back to typing on his laptop. “Let them kill each other. Makes our lives easier.”

“Is that what Rod said to do?” I shouldn’t be questioning them, but after the past few days, I was struggling to go with the flow.

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