Page 18 of We Will Rise

“Miss De Marco, it’s so good to see you safe and sound,” he says, barely acknowledging there are four other people in the car.

She gives him a tight, solemn smile. “Thank you for all you’ve done to pick up the pieces the last couple of weeks. I know it’s been an incredibly difficult time.”

He nods as he swallows heavily. “It has. But we’ve hired a new team of guards for the house and have increased the security systems to ensure nothing like that can happen again.”

I know very little about the man, but from my research after Camilla moved back into the estate, he’s worked for the De Marcos for decades, and he doesn’t seem to have any other criminal ties, meaning he likely isn’t used to the death and destruction that took place when Caleb broke into the estate grounds and tried to abduct Camilla.

“We’ll be having a number of people meet us here in the next hour or so. I’ll text you their names,” she tells him, and he nods.

“Chloe will be happy to see you, she’s been terribly worried about you since she returned from her spa trip.”

Camilla gives him a kind smile before he opens the gate, and Kaos pulls up toward the huge mansion. I remember as a kid when we would do jobs for the families, I would be the one to break into places just like this because I was the smallest and quietest. It’s still strange to me to walk through the front door as an invited guest.

“You’re sure this is the best place to have this meeting?” Kovu asks from the very back of the car. He’s spent most of the drive lying across the seat to remain unseen, but now that we’ve crossed back into a safe area, he’s sitting up, taking in our surroundings.

“It’s as safe here as it is anywhere else. We’ve already done checks on all our immediate staff, and Chloe will be leaving before anyone arrives. This is our best option.” Camilla turns back to look at him, and there’s a flicker of relief that I don’t think will stop appearing when she sees him anytime soon.

“Camilla’s right,” Crew agrees, finally looking up from his phone. “The Scarlet Lounge is out for the foreseeable future. We still haven’t been able to locate Caleb’s men within the casino. And I don’t want this many people to know where the compound is. They may be our allies, but they’re still criminals, and criminals will always flip given a better offer.”

I sigh and rub my hand down my face. I didn’t sleep a wink after we had our impromptu meeting in the office in the middle of the night, and the fatigue is beginning to weigh me down. “What time will everyone arrive?” I ask.

“In forty minutes. Elias and Wyatt will be here in twenty to set up the cameras, and Elias will sit in on the meeting while Wyatt monitors it from another room in case shit hits the fan.”

We pull up at the bottom of the stairs, and Kaos jumps out first as he does a once-over of the yard. Camilla taps on her phone a few times and shuts down the external cameras in time for Kovu to climb out the back and head up the steps to the house.

Once he disappears inside with Kaos, she turns the cameras back on and climbs out of the car herself, following after them.

“She’s kind of a badass, isn’t she?” I ask.

Crew chuckles. “There’s no kind of about it. That woman was born for this life.”

The reminder of our future, a future full of danger and uncertainty, crashes over me. I don’t know how we’re going to keep her safe when she’s always bound to have enemies, but I do know there’s nothing we won’t do to keep her with us.

We follow the rest of them inside, and I pause in the doorway to take a look around. It’s been a while since I’ve been here, years in fact, but it looks different now. Maybe it’s because then I was only here for business, and now I’m walking into the place where my girlfriend grew up. This is where she learned to be the Mafia queen she is today, and I see it in a whole new light.

Voices carry through the house and I follow them until I find Kovu and Kaos sitting on stools at the kitchen bench, each with a cookie in their hand, while Camilla and a woman I can only assume is Chloe talk animatedly.

The woman’s auburn hair is pulled into a high ponytail at the top of her head, while her green eyes gleam with relief at having Camilla home. From what she’s told us, Chloe was as close to a mother as she had after her own died when she was eight, and I can see the bond they have.

Crew passes me and takes a seat beside Kovu, taking a cookie from the container that’s open in front of them, and I can’t help but chuckle. There’s something about watching the most powerful men in the city do something so terribly domestic, like eat cookies in their girlfriend’s childhood kitchen.

Camilla turns to us and smiles. “Guys, this is Chloe. Chloe, this is Crew, Kovu, Kaos, and Bishop!”

Chloe gives us each a look that’s both harsh and warm at the same time. She’s only a decade older than Camilla, making her a couple of years older than me, but she really has the mom look down. “It’s nice to meet you. I trust you’re not planning on hurting my girl again?” She raises a brow at Kovu in particular.

“Not in any way she won’t like.” He shrugs as he plucks another cookie out of the container.

A bark of a laugh tears from my throat as I join the rest of them. I never thought we’d be very good at meeting the parents, but maybe it’s a good thing John De Marco never heard Kovu say something like that about his daughter.

Somehow I don’t think he would have the same amused look on his face that Chloe does.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

CAMILLA

Istare at the pink comforter on my bed, the butterflies that decorate the soft fabric seem foreign now.

It’s only been a few weeks since I’ve been here, but so much has happened since that night. I almost lost them all, and then I thought I lost Kovu. I’m not the same woman I was before, and as I look at my childhood bedroom, it all seems unfamiliar, like it never belonged to me in the first place.

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