Page 114 of A Queen and HER Bad Boy
Charisse raised her pistol with practiced ease. Daddy’s little girl was a serial killer in the making. “Time to earn your keep, tough guy—get us out of here.”
Achilles took a deep breath. “Well, this is sweet…” He was stalling, buying minutes, seconds, before he let Bris fall into their hands. “Is this really what all this bloodshed is about? You let some creep seduce you?”
Aggie scoffed. “Oh, Achilles, are you jealous? Did you want her?”
He glowered at the man who’d profited from their civil wars, who’d hunted down his own cousin and tried to murder her before she could claim her birthright. “Charisse is all yours! Now where do you crazy kids want me to drop you off next? Is there some innocent country you need to terrorize?”
Charisse laughed with no humor. “Cut the sanctimonious crap—you lost! Let’s go!”
The radio crackled to life. O Skia’s voice cut through the static: “Stand down, bird, my men have Phoenix in custody, and you’re completely surrounded. If you attempt takeoff, you will be shot down.”
Aggie’s smile turned predatory. “Identify yourself. Tell your father you’re taking a solo flight to an undisclosed safe house, and that you’ll report back when you’ve reached your location.”
Charisse fumbled for her phone. “Diamond Medes is one of the world’s most skilled assassins. Let me share something cute he sent me!” Her fingers slid over the screen and a familiar voice sounded through the cabin, making Achille’s insides turn cold when he recognized his sister, her words strained with fear. “Can you please tell my brother that—that… I won’t work with you! Run, Achilles!” She screamed. The transmission cut off.
Achilles picked up the radio transmitter, his fingers barely working. Every part of him felt numb. “This is Achilles to base. Taking a solo reconnaissance flight. Tell Bris…” His voice cracked with genuine emotion. “Tell her I love her.”
As soon as he released the transmit button, Aggie snarled, “No extras! We don’t want him suspicious.”
O Skia’s voice returned: “Standby for takeoff clearance. We’ll signal when ready.”
“Copy,” Achilles replied. His eyes found the spot where Bris crouched, hidden away. She’d always been tiny, but she wasn’t invisible.
Aggie’s face appeared over the seat back, his expression murderous, his thick lips trembling with rage. “Move it! He won’t shoot his own son out of the sky!”
Miraculously, Aggie retreated to the back seat without catching sight of Bris, recoiling like a deadly serpent.
Achilles swallowed, forcing himself to act calm… as much as seemed natural. “Where to? Some romantic getaway to some far—far-far away land?”Preferably one where no one had to see their ugly mugs again?
“Anywhere we want!” Aggie spat. “We have you and your sister. Get used to wriggling like a worm on a hook—I own you all!”
“You don’t own me.”
Achilles groaned as his beautiful wife emerged from her hiding spot, her black hair curling in messy disarray over a face that looked ready for a fight. Bris was spitting mad. She clutched a folded paper in her hands like it was an axe, though in this case, he wasn’t sure any weapon would be enough.
Was it too late to toss her from the helicopter?
Chapter Forty
Bris’sthrashingheartbeatcrashedagainst her ears. It was time to face down these reincarnated terrors from ancient myth. Her cousin Aggie was as terrifying as Ares himself—marble-carved features housing a war god’s bloodlust, his flame-colored hair seeming to flicker like the fire that would consume their kingdom. Next to him, in the confined space, Charisse looked as cold as Circe, her eyes glittering with themalice that had the power to reshape men into beasts. Together, they were a nightmare.
No, pure evil. Her body recoiled, but she forced herself to face them. She couldn’t let them win.
Eliminate the American ally. Her usefulness has expired. Gena will be your new bride.
The intercepted message burned in her memory, even as she roughly unfolded the crumpled paper with shaking fingers. She knew who the American was now.
“Aggie is planning to get rid of you, Charrisse. Your ‘usefulness has expired,’ honey. He’s going to kill you as soon as you reach your destination.”
The socialite’s manicured fingers trembled on her pistol until Bris was certain she was about to shoot the messenger.
“Read it yourself!” Bris cried. She desperately thrust the paper at her.
An elegant hand snatched it from her grasp. Aggie let out a shout, but instead of trying to reassure “his most beloved” of his love, he was lunging for Charisse’s weapon before she could learn the truth and use it on him.
Charisse shrieked like a banshee, and then they were grappling over the leather seats in the back, their bodies twisting in a deadly duel. Well, now Charisse believed Bris! Even while she began questioning her life choices. She’d started the Tirrojan equivalent of World War Three!
“Watch out!” Achilles threw himself protectively over Bris, his solid chest pressing against her shoulder, his familiar warmth surrounding her like armor against the chaos.
