Page 197 of Fall Before Her Throne

When I shut the door to Fallon’s sports car, Zoya and Willow rushed out of the house. I met Willow’s outstretched arms with a hug.

“Hey, Willow.”

“I’m glad you made it,” she said with a thin-lipped smile when she pulled away. Her eyes darted across my face. “You’re not hurt?”

“No,” I answered before turning for Zoya’s hug. “How’s everything here?”

“Fine,” Zoya replied. “It’s been quiet, but we’re already hearing rumors of what happened in New York.”

She pulled out her phone and showed me a breaking news story. Arrests made in attempted assassination against Mayor Josephine Zambani.

I frowned as I scrolled through the article. It didn’t list any of my men by name except for Max. The story speculated on a possible FBI case and Max’s ties to organized crime, though a representative for the agency declined to comment.

“This is bullshit,” I said. “You guys know that, right? We were saving the mayor from a fucking car bomb. Greco framed us.”

“We know,” Zoya said, squeezing my shoulder. I handed her back her phone. “I know they hit my brother’s territory, too. Kolya is still in jail.”

“Don’t worry,” I said. “By the end of this, they’ll all be out.”

“Did anyone get hurt?” Willow asked.

“Ryuji got shot in the shoulder when we were fighting Greco’s mercenaries,” I said. “Someone else got shot, too, but I don’t know who. The police radio implied everyone was fine, but I’m having trouble believing it.”

“They’re tough,” Willow said while she let out a slow breath. She wrapped an arm around my shoulder and ushered me toward the house. “Well, let’s get everyone inside. We can talk there.”

Ten minutes later, we sat around the table in Willow’s kitchen. She’d made everyone a cup of tea, and I held the mug, letting it warm up my limbs.

“So what happened?” Zoya asked. “Was my brother there?”

I gave the Bratva princess a small shake of my head. “No, we didn’t have time to call in any of our allies. Our Italian soldiers, with our capo Giulio, were tied up, too. So it was just us.”

I filled them in on everything that had happened since the morning. The mayor’s press conference, how we intercepted the info about the mayor’s assassination, how we tried to stop it, how Badawi helped me escape and brought me to Pennsylvania.

“Now it’s up to me,” I said. “I let my men get captured because Obi and Max think I can get close to Greco.”

“How?” Fallon’s eyes went sharp. “Need any help?”

The plan was masterful, I’d give them that, but it would take a lot of things going right for me to pull it off. I just prayed that I didn’t fuck it all up and let my men down.

“Yes,” I said. “You are one of my strongest allies. I’m going to need as many men as you can spare to pull this off. But I have a feeling you’re not going to like it.”

Fallon took a drink. “Why is that? Does it involve infiltrating another secret sex den? I mean, I wouldn’t mind, but that would just be boring.”

I laughed while I stared into the mug of tea. “Nope. Been there, done that.”

Zoya reached over the table and put her palm over my hand. I looked up to see a kind expression on her face. “You look like you’re about to explode with anxiety.”

I exhaled with a small smile. “Yeah. I’m fucking nervous.”

“Of course you are,” Willow said. “That’s totally understandable.”

“You’re a badass bitch, Leona,” Fallon said. “Every single woman around this table knows it.”

“None of their faith in you is misplaced,” Zoya added. “Your men know you can handle this. I don’t know them very well, but it sounds like neither Obi nor Max would have let this happen unless they trusted you.”

I nodded. “I know they believe in me, but I just can’t shake the feeling that something is going to go wrong and I won’t know what to do about it.”

Zoya shook her head. “That is not the attitude of the woman who put my brother in his place.”