Page 85 of Where the Wicked Reign

I went to reach up to tug him down to me, but then an arm wrapped around my waist, yanking me back.

Nico snarled and started toward me, but Emilio slammed his hand into his chest with all that hulk-like power, knocking him back several steps.

“No,” he told Nico. “We’re on-mission.”

“Love the wiggling,” Julian spoke at my ear, before releasing me abruptly when Emilio glared at him. He held up his hands. “Got it, on-mission, big boy.”

Nico’s sapphire eyes were smoldering as he told me, “We’re picking this up again later.”

“I’d expect nothing less,” I returned, evenly, grinning slyly.

He smirked, then blinked hard and sucked in a breath to re-center himself. Then he told us, all business again, “Let’s get to it.”

As he turned with Julian following beside him, bouncing along and getting excited by a whole load of things—the mission, the sexuality in the air—Emilio fell into step next to me. “Thank you,” he spoke, surprising me.

I arched an eyebrow. “What for?”

“He won’t hold back now. In fact, now you’ve told him all of that, he’ll go all-out. Our enemy targets don’t stand a chance.”

“Glad I could help. Not just dangerous to him after all, am I?”

“What he did that night wasn’t sanctioned. He put himself in a very dangerous situation by putting down those sick fuckers. And it was all for you. You compromise his rational thought and good judgment.”

“I’m sure you and Julian do the same to him once in a while, too.”

He flinched.

“Something to chew on, no?” I pressed, highlighting the fact, because the obvious truth was that this was about me being an outsider and the negative effects of that to him, the negative being the only thing he could see about it.

Honestly, that was how I’d seen things at first too, as an infringement on me and my way of life.

But the last few days had altered that, along with Nico’s rationale, and the other sides of himself that he’d begun to show me, that he’driskedshowing me. There was a big picture element to it far beyond the immediate that had needed to be considered, and that big picture part would be beneficial to us all, namely, through weakening the hold the current status quo of the three families’ arrangement had upon us all.

Not just weakening it, but upending the entire system if we played our cards right.

Before Emilio could get another word out, I walked away and joined Nico and Julian.

No more talking or heavy words being had.

This immediate mission was what mattered right now.

The time had cometo decimate my father’s human trafficking operation.

Before he was able to cement it and turn it into a major and far-reaching enterprise.

A despicable enterprise.

God,he made me sick.

I watched from the edge of the tree line as Julian appeared on the roof at the rear of the house. He’d disappeared mere moments ago around the back and already managed to scale it and take position. He was damned good.

I could feel Emilio’s overbearing watchful gaze on me as he stood just a few feet to the side from Nico and me who had our guns trained in firing position, silencers attached, awaiting any movement from the house in anticipation of Julian’s movements being detected.

I eyed the four guards we’d dropped a couple of minutes ago with a fatal headshot each from Nico and me working in tandem.

Moments passed, and nothing happened.

We were clear.

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