Page 71 of Cruel Crown

Roman smiled. “Who is a man.”

I was surrounded by idiots. This was why the world should not be led by men—they weren’t very bright.

“Sit,” Roman said as he pushed Gideon aside and forced me to sit on the edge of the bed. He checked me over and then pulled a lollipop out of his pocket and thrust it in my mouth.

The taste of cannabis hit my taste buds. I pulled the lollipop out of my mouth, swallowing the flavor it had left. “How many times have I told you I don’t do drugs?”

I was about to throw the lollipop away, but Gideon snatched it out of my hold and put it in his mouth.

We all looked at him, and he just shrugged. “I don’t know how you all survive this shitshow sober.”

He had a point there. Roman checked me out while Bas and Gideon talked. I was in too much pain to put together all the pieces that had been staring at me. Things didn’t make sense, but for the first time in a long time, I felt like I didn’t have to carry the burden all on my own.

***

The next day when I woke up, Gideon was already getting dressed. Since there was no need to hide from Damian, he had stayed with me. Sleep came easier than I would have thought after Roman brought me a sleeping tea. I was going to need all my energy today.

“Rest some more. I’m going to get our shit ready.” Gideon walked over and touched my face, his finger tracing the bruise. He crouched so we were eye level. “You going to ride bitch this time?”

I glared at him, and he smirked.

“Grab my snowmobile. It says AIRS in gold.”

He gave me a questioning look but didn’t say anything; he just nodded, kissed me briefly, and walked out.

While he was gone, I didn’t rest; instead, I got ready. I had to bring my weapons that carried less weight.

After that, I pulled my laptop open and pulled up the feed to my safe house. Cam was already up, and she was training. I had watched her come far, but also didn’t let myself get too close to her. I knew once she was strong enough, her past would come back and haunt her, and then she would be at a crossroads. She was trained as much as I let myself prepare her.

Gideon walked in, eating a bagel, and saw what I was looking at. “Ah, it’s the little psycho bitch.”

“Excuse me?” I asked him.

“She’s the girl we rescued in London; Bas was watching her the other day.”

That little dipshit.

“Yeah, she’s healing. She wants me to give her a hit, but I don’t think she’s ready.”

“I’m sure you will figure it out,” he said as he walked to get my bags and carry them out.

Once Gideon left, I grabbed my satellite phone. When I talked to Franco, I, too, had to give him something in return for his help. He wanted one of his men inside, and I had to betray what I believed for the greater good.

The phone rang, and the voice that answered was smooth and deep. “I was beginning to think you backed out.”

“I need you to do me a favor.”

He chuckled. “I think it was you who wanted a favor from us.”

Ignoring him, I spoke again. “Go to the coordinates I’m going to send you and change the servers.”

Just as I hung up on him, Bas walked in ready to go as well. He was going to have to ignore me in the wild, so I had banked on him showing up. He was already in his snow gear.

I flipped the laptop so he could look at it. His eyes grew wide, but his stare got hard.

“By the time we come back, the feed will be changed.”

He just glared.

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