Page 200 of Fall Before Her Throne

The taser barbs were fucking lightning in my veins. I fell to my knees, letting the current flow for two more seconds before I yanked the barbs out. It hurt like a motherfucker, but it wasn’t even close to the worst pain I’d felt. I lay flat on my chest, waiting patiently while the guards dug their knees into my back and zip-tied my hands together. The rest of the guys did the same. None of us struggled.

We were done here.

“Throw them in solitary!” a captain screamed in my ear.

I grinned. Mission accomplished.

64

LEONA

Igave Fallon, Willow, and Zoya enormous hugs as soon as my ride arrived.

“See you soon,” I said to Fallon. “I’ll let you know where we’re meeting.”

She held my shoulders. “Give me the day and we’ll have as many men as you need.”

Anton Felix waited in an idling box truck, just outside Willow’s house. The truck had a huge vegetable and meat display painted on the side—a perfect way to sneak me back into the city without knowing. Even if Greco was aware of Giulio and our Italian soldiers, Obi, Max, and I guessed he knew little of our LA reinforcements, especially since Ciel had taken control of Lucia’s computers.

Felix was no less intense than normal. He stared out the window at my girls while I gave final waves. I hopped into the box truck, and he put it into gear.

“Thanks for coming to get me, Felix.”

“Who are those women?” He still stared out the window, watching them.

“Oh,” I said, looking back at my queens. “I should have introduced you. That’s Fallon Byrne, Willow Pembroke—she’s Wynn’s sister—and Zoya Makarova. She’s Konstantin Makarov’s little sister. They’re my friends.”

His hand tightened on the gearshift. I couldn’t tell who he was staring at, but one of them seemed to have captured his attention.

“Everything okay?” I could probably wave my hand in front of his face, and it wouldn’t even faze him.

He blinked, and the action seemed to spur him back to life. The truck jolted with a start as he drove away. “Yes. Apologies, Miss Vero.”

Yeah, Felix was intense. I knew it wasn’t just because of me.

“I appreciate the ride,” I said after a few minutes of tense quiet.

He nodded. “How are you? You’re not hurt?”

“I’m good.”

“We saw the news,” he said. “Fucking bastard cops. Fucking asshole Greco.”

I snorted. “You’re telling me. But it’s okay. We knew what we were doing when we went to save the mayor’s life.”

“I hope she knows she owes you a life debt,” Felix said while maneuvering the massive truck back toward New York City.

“I doubt she’ll see it that way,” I said with a sigh. “It’s fine. We would have saved her, regardless.”

Felix glanced at me from the corner of his eye. “I owe you a life debt.”

My eyebrows raised. “You think so?”

I remembered the night we met—when Kofler, the old arms dealer in LA, rejected our deal in favor of Max and the connections they had. We had killed Kofler because he betrayed our location to Max, and then we installed Felix as the new leader of the organization. I wouldn’t have said he owed me a life debt. He basically volunteered to swear his loyalty to me.

His jaw clenched as he focused on the road. “Your men would have killed me if you weren’t there.”

“Yeah, but I didn’t save your life,” I said. “You saved it yourself. And you’ve been an excellent partner to us ever since.”