Page 42 of Make Me Queen

"It's a mother's duty to teach her children that there are consequences in life, Aurora. I'm sure you’ll understand that someday." Alexander put an arm around her shoulders and she snuggled into him like we weren't all holding guns and standing in a derelict warehouse with a major arms deal about to go down outside. "And there are consequences for not having respect for your parents. There's nothing more important than that."

I was still gaping at the woman, but Cain was evidently done, because he raised his arm again and shot. His father crumpled to the ground as his mom started screaming hysterically. She pulled the gun out of Alexander's hand as he groaned on the ground and she shot at us. I ducked, nearly missing being hit in the head.

"Fuck. Come on," Cain growled as he grabbed my hand and wrenched us towards the exit to the right of us.

"I knew you wouldn't have the guts," Alexander spat after us.

"Unfortunately, I just missed," Cain snarled back as he pulled me through the door right as another shot ricocheted off the doorway. “This time.”

Everything was quiet outside.

We jogged around the side of the building right as the few dozen cars pulled in from the opposite direction. I stutter-stepped, thinking that Alexander had called in for reinforcements. But then the car opened and a gorgeous young man, looking just a few years older than us and exuding big dick authority, stepped out.

Cain nodded respectfully. "Jackal," he murmured. "I believe Alexander is still inside. Please blow the place up. And look out…my parents are both armed."

The Jackal nodded and five of his men ran inside.

Cain and the Jackal walked around to one of the trucks, and one of Cain's men lifted the door to the back, showcasing crates upon crates. The Jackal jumped up into the truck, perfectly at ease, not even bothering to watch his back, and popped open one of the crates. He lifted a gun and examined it closely for a moment, pulling out his phone and laying it over the gun for some reason. After a moment, he nodded. "Very nice. But tell me, Cain, why exactly have you decided to start working together?"

"The enemy of my enemy is my friend, Jackal. You of all people know about that."

It was a little distracting that they were both so incredibly good looking. They also were both murderers, which, depending on how you looked at it, was a detractor, but right now it was doing it for me. Maybe I could add to my little harem.

"Don't even think about it," Remington growled, yanking me close to him and wrapping his arm tightly around my waist. He bit down on my earlobe just for good measure, and I shivered.

"Stop looking at the Jackal like you want to eat him or I'm going to ruin this entire deal," Remington snarled fiercely.

I raised an eyebrow and stared at him. Remy was usually the least jealous of them all. "Sir, yes sir," I taunted, and his eyes darkened.

A second later, the door to the warehouse flew open, and the men the Jackal had sent in filed outside.

"There's no one inside, sir," one of them told Cain, and he nodded, not appearing surprised at all.

"I assumed that would be the case," he drawled.

Cain surveyed the cars that Jackal brought with him.

"There will probably be some heat for you on the way out of town."

Jackal's smile was blindingly beautiful…but also insane.

"Good," he commented with no inflection in his voice. He and his men spread out, checking the trucks.

"The money should already be in the account you sent me," Jackal said, nodding to Remington. Remington typed a few buttons and then nodded. "It's all there."

Cain nodded again and then Jackal started barking orders at his men. They hopped into the trucks and, one by one, the trucks pulled out into the street where they disappeared in the opposite direction from where we came in.

"Do let me know if you feel like stabbing your father in the back again." Jackal said smoothly, giving us a head nod before he strode back into the Bentley. Then he pulled out, joining his fleet of vehicles heading down the road.

"Well, you can't say that our lives are boring," Stellan said.

"Let’s get out of here," Cain snapped.

We got into the car and sped away.

"I have trackers on some of the guns so we can see where they end up," said Remington, but Cain just nodded.

I didn't know what he was thinking at that moment. His father's betrayal was one thing, but his mom's…I really hadn’t seen that coming, not after the dinner where she acted like the most devoted mother out of a Betty Crocker magazine. I wasn’t sure if that really existed or not.

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