Page 59 of These Sinful Kingdoms

“I want you to wear a bulletproof vest when we go and to stay by me at all times.” Kingston said softly and Aurora sighed.

“I will make sure you all have cameras on too. I don’t want anyone to be without extra eyes there.” I said, hating the reminder that I should have been Luca’s eyes.

“We have a trace on Rocco. He is on his way to the farm with a selection of men. They are not from the Italian family. These are hired mercenaries.” Mikhail said.

“That doesn’t make sense. Why would he be using outside men? What is his end game here?” Benjamin said as he ran a hand through his hair.

“He is not interested in just taking the Italian seat. He is working with people who are looking to take down each family and install their own puppet.” Katerina said from behind him as she came back into the room.

“This is to do with the Redvue company, isn’t it?” Benjamin said with a glare, and she nodded.

“Yes. They are not a small band of chaotic misfits. They go deeper than that. We do not know who the head is, but we have managed to infiltrate their lower ranks and find enough information to gauge their short-term plans.” She continued and we all waited for her to keep elaborating but she didn’t.

“That is all you need to know. This is in the hands of our team now. I suggest you all get yourselves ready.” She waved a hand at us before Anatoly began ushering the others from the room.

“Come here, Kenji. We will stay in this room and get everything set up since my office is a bit cramped.” Declan said as Theo came into the room with an arm full of computers and cables.

“You sit here, yes? I have watched your work. You are good but have the potential to be great. You watch and learn. I will teach you.” Mikhail gestured to the seat next to him as Declan shrugged with a smile.

“Hey. Don’t take this personally. You are not responsible for Lucas. Being behind the screen is harder than people realize, and it can leave you feeling hopeless at times when you can only watch what is happening. Lucas is strong. He will be okay.” He said with a smile as Theo reached out to squeeze my shoulder.

I dragged my laptop over, watching as the body cams came online one by one. It was hard not to see this as my first real failure, to second-guess everything I did. Maybe I wasn’t cut out for this world as I thought. I should have left it to the experts and now I was being sidelined to observe.

“You are not a failure. I see your mind ticking. We all learn, and we all have tough days. I watched my best friend die on camera. He died because I was looking at the other screen to direct the second team and did not see someone come up behind him until it was too late.” Mikhail said, leaving me shocked. He smiled sadly.

“I blamed myself for a long time. It was his brother who reminded me that I am human and cannot do it all.” He turned back to the screen and began typing away, the camera angles for the traffic cams flicking over the screen.

“Do you still talk to his brother now? He didn’t blame you?” I asked quietly, my biggest fear was that once this was over, I would lose the family I had found.

“He did not blame me, and we are very close. It was Anatoly’s brother.” He said, a look in his eyes that said it was the end of that discussion.

I turned to Declan and Theo, glad to see the same expression of shock and interest in their own eyes as I felt.

“Now. I will show you this program I created. We can access satellites. I will teach you and leave the program when I leave.” He pointed to the screen and began going over the codes he used to create it and as I listened, I felt just a little bit calmer that maybe, just maybe I could be a part of this world without guilt after all.

Chapter thirty-two

Aurora

Itookadeepbreath, looking out at the horizon to see the rising sun peeking over the trees. We watched the SUVs pull into the driveway and I tensed as I saw Rocco get out of the front car.

“Remember, Rocco must be kept alive.” Katerina’s voice came through the Bluetooth in my ear. I grit my teeth at the idea of letting that man live, thought looking at Anatoly, I had a feeling he was probably going to regret the last few days of his life.

“We wait for them to go in and get comfortable. I will be on the ridge here, taking them out. Mikhail will be my eyes inside.” Anatoly said as he set up his sniper. Dante and Alejandro signaled they were heading to the back of the building and Benjamin, Connor, and Alfie went to the left side.

Liam had gone to the station to field any calls and delay the emergency callouts as long as possible, giving us enough time to get in and get out.

“Let’s go.” Kingston said to me and the few men we had with us. We were going right through the front door, relying on the distractions from the others to keep the men inside busy.

As we approached the front door, two men raised their guns and I watched in slow motion as first one, then the other dropped to the ground, blood spraying the building behind them as Anatoly took them out.

Commotion came from the rear of the building as the others began their distractions, drawing the men inside to their presence.

Kingston kicked in the front door, and I took a deep breath, gun in hand before following him inside. It looked like a simple farmhouse, somewhere a family would live and enjoy their time with old furniture in the living room and a simple dining table in the kitchen.

I pressed against the doorframe, glancing around the corner as gunshots and shouts echoed outside. When I saw no one, I made my way through the kitchen to the back room that we had been assured had a door leading down to an old cellar.

“Hello, Aurora.” A voice came from my left before my gun was knocked from my hand and I was spun around, gun pressed to my head and back against a man’s chest.

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