Page 134 of Fall Before Her Throne

“Affirmative,” Obi replied. “Ciel, monitor the trajectory.”

“Copy,” my hacker acknowledged.

“We know that house inside and out,” Max said to me, reaching over to squeeze my hand quickly. “Even if she makes it there, we’ll get her back.”

I pulled my new handgun from my thigh holster and double-checked the mechanics. My knives were secure. My hair was up. I was ready for a fight. And I would kill a thousand men to get my best friend back.

When we reached Max’s neighborhood, we ended the call with the guys. Max drove through the streets slowly and carefully, so we didn’t draw attention to ourselves. The plates of our cars were registered to dummy names and addresses, so even if Greco’s men were to spot us, they wouldn’t run any information from the cars. All we could hope for was surprise, now, at least until the other guys showed up.

“They’re about ten minutes behind us,” I said. The purple dot still blipped, quickly closing in on our location.

“Do you want to wait that long?” Max found a parking spot down the street and five or six houses down. Close enough that we could see anyone who turned into the driveway, but far enough away that they wouldn’t see us easily.

“Not really,” I said. Tension rolled through my shoulders down to my fingertips. “What about you?”

“Ryu made me swear I’d keep you safe,” he said.

I glanced at him out of the side of my eye. “So that means…what, exactly?”

“It means I follow your lead,” he said. “Your call.”

My heart swelled. He didn’t know how much those words meant, and I didn’t have time to tell him. “Okay, then. We’re going.”

We quietly slipped out of our car and walked arm in arm down the street, like a couple just on an evening stroll, until we reached the privacy hedges that protected his property. In all my years visiting here, staying here, almost living here, I knew the way through these hedges. I knew the path from the street that cut between them, the right branches to push out of the way in order to make a hasty entrance or escape. Neither of us needed to go straight through the front driveway, where Greco’s forces patrolled. We were inside the property and crouching beside the bushes within two minutes.

“There,” I murmured. A white van turned into the driveway and slowly made its way toward the house. My heart raced inside my chest and my hands clenched where they were braced on my knees.

Max wordlessly put his hand on the small of my back while the two of us watched three of Greco’s men exit the house and meet the van. They opened the door and shouts met them. A female voice. It only took a second to recognize it as Chiara’s.

“Get your fucking hands off me!” she screamed when they reached inside.

I let out a little breath of relief at the fact that she was alive, but my blood boiled in my veins when they yanked her from the van and dragged her away. Her heels dug into the gravel, and she shouted over her shoulder. “Luca!”

“That’s the man who was supposed to keep her at the house,” Max whispered. “The guard who stayed with her.”

Greco’s men reached into the van and carried the limp body of a man out of it. I would have thought he was dead if it weren’t for his weak groan and slight struggle.

Chiara wrenched her arms free, and I stepped forward, but Max held me back. “Careful.”

My teeth gritted as Greco’s men struck Chiara. She shouted in pain, but struggled to get back to that man, Luca. If she cared about him that much, then we’d have to save him, too.

I pulled my gun free. “We can’t wait for the other guys, Max.”

Max pushed his hair out of his face. He hesitated, worry etched across his face. “If you get hurt…”

I let out a breath. “Here’s one thing you need to learn if you’re going to be part of this family. Keeping me safe doesn’t mean preventing me from doing things. It means supporting me while I do them. Do you understand?”

Max’s grey eyes locked on mine. A storm of emotion waited there, and his eyes twitched while what I said sank in. “I understand.”

“Good,” I said. “What’s the plan?”

“The guys can’t be very far from here,” he said. “But Chiara doesn’t have the time to wait. And, by the looks of it, neither does Luca.”

I nodded. My grip on my gun tightened. “You got my back?”

“Always. Let’s go.”

I snuck out of the bushes, and he followed right behind me. My eyes were locked on Chiara, who had now given up some of her struggle while the men tried to lead her inside. There were five of them. Two carrying Luca, one on each arm. Two with their hands on Chiara’s arms. One following her.