Page 92 of We Will Rise

“Oh, but we do.” I smirk as I glance over at the table and spot the blow torch.

Kovu tracks my eyeline, and the smile that tugs at his lips can only be described as completely psychopathic, but I wouldn’t have him any other way.

He reaches for the torch and moves to hand it to me, but I shake my head. “This is all you.”

He flicks the torch on, and when I turn my attention back to Caleb, there’s true panic staring back at me.

Good.

He deserves to feel every bit as scared as we have. He deserves to feel the same panic I did when we realized Camilla and Crew were missing. And he deserves to feel more pain than we all have put together.

I step back to where Camilla is tucked under Crew’s arm, and we watch Kovu work together, all the while reveling in Caleb’s screams.

“You should go back to bed, Princess,” I say quietly, my words barely audible over the screams that fill the cell.

“And miss watching my man work?” She raises a brow. “I think the fuck not.”

Crew chuckles and presses a kiss to the top of her head. “How the hell did we find the one woman who loves violence as much as we do?”

“Just lucky, I guess,” she quips.

“Don’t we know it,” I murmur and turn my attention back to what Kovu’s doing to his latest victim.

Camilla reaches for my hand, and I take it immediately, leaning into the small gesture of comfort she’s offering me.

I used to crave the violence, used to need it to sustain me, but now all I need is the woman who has proven over and over again that she has what it takes to stand by our side.

I just hope we have what it takes to stand by hers.

CHAPTER SEVENTY

CAMILLA

Ibrush my sweaty palms over the simple black dress Bishop pulled out for me this morning before we left the compound.

It’s the first time we’ve been out of the building since I came home from the hospital, and I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t anxious about being out in the open again so soon after almost dying, but that’s not what has me stress-sweating.

Crew takes one of my hands in his while Bishop grasps the other, forcing me to stop fidgeting. It’s also the first time we’ve been back to the meeting room at the Scarlet Lounge since Kovu’s car blew up and I spent twelve hours thinking he was dead, which most definitely isn’t helping my anxiety.

“It’s going to be fine, Little Menace,” Crew soothes, but I have no idea how he can sound so confident.

This meeting is going to change everything, and I don’t know how the other families are going to take the plan we’ve been working on the last few weeks.

After a week of bed rest, I was bored out of my mind, and much to the dismay of my men, I needed to do some work, which they eventually relented on after holding my laptop and phone hostage for three days.

Even though we’ve gone through every scenario, planned for every possible outcome, I can’t seem to feel any better about how the others are going to take it.

Knox Davenport is the first person through the door, his all-black suit pulled over his huge chest like it was sewn straight onto his body.

His cold blue eyes fall to mine, and he gives me a nod that I quickly return. I’m sitting at the head of the table between my men, which hasn’t always been well received in the past.

He takes a seat at the other end of the table, the same place his cousin used to occupy. He stepped into the role without hesitation or mourning, and I hear the funeral he threw for Charles was nothing short of dismal. A fitting end for a disgusting man.

Noah and Leroy Thorne are the next to arrive. The pair are undoubtedly my favorite of the other families and have long been allies of the De Marcos.

Noah’s icy eyes meet mine, and he gives me a rare smile as they take their seats to our left.

Luca is the next through the door and quickly takes his seat. He’s the only person in this room aside from the five of us that knows what this meeting is really about, and we’ve had his full support since we told him the plan.

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