Page 60 of Fall Before Her Throne

She wrapped her arms around my neck and pulled me in for a tight hug.

A few hours later, the whole family gathered around the kitchen table for debriefing. Cas and Ryu had searched everywhere around the perimeter, and even taken a car out to case the new neighborhood, but nothing looked like our location was compromised.

On paper, we were still safe.

The anxiety in my chest still hadn’t lessened.

“So, what does this mean?” Ryu asked. “Our hacker got hacked?”

I let out a breath and tried to stop my leg from bouncing. I failed, and the bouncing continued.

“It means they’re coming after us,” I said. “They probably won’t stop. I need to rebuild everything from scratch and completely reconfigure our internet.”

“What about our devices?” Obi asked.

“Stay off the internet for now,” I answered. “Pretend we don’t have it until I can make sure it’s secure.”

Cas and Ryuji exchanged a glance. “If we’re not on the internet, we’ll have to be in the field more. Check in with our men in person. Are we good with that?”

I looked at Obi for confirmation, and he nodded. “We’ll have to, but exercise extreme caution. Get all our men new burner phones. Only leave the new house in pairs and always watch each other’s backs.”

“We should go after them,” Wynn said from behind me. His palm rubbed my back. “Greco might have said he was giving us three days for an answer, but he’s clearly not waiting to attack us.”

“I agree,” Cas said. “Max already told us where their guns are. If it’s still on schedule, a new shipment should arrive at the warehouse tomorrow. We should steal it.”

All eyes went to Max. He pursed his lips. “We won’t know unless our men stake it out. Or we do.”

“Our men?” Ryu crossed his arms over his chest.

Max’s jaw worked. “Your men. Can you have your men head to the ports, look for their ship, and follow the shipment to the warehouses? If it arrives, we can break in and steal it.”

Now, all heads turned to Obi and Leona.

“Yes. We’ll take the guns for our own,” Obi said after exchanging a look with her. “I want his men dead. As many as we can take out. Ciel, you stay here and start work rebuilding our systems.”

“Are you sure?” I asked. “I could help in the field.”

“I know, but you can support us from here as well. Get everything we need back up and running as soon as possible. Meanwhile, we’ll coordinate with our men to start our assault on the smuggling operations. The ripple effects will force Greco to regroup.”

“Got it.”

Leona’s lips pressed together. “Three fucking days. What a joke. I want those guns, and I want him to know that we took them.”

Obi’s palm gripped the back of her neck. “I want this to be a simultaneous attack. While we’re hitting the warehouse, have some of our men go after his elsewhere. Tell Makarov to go on the offensive, Ryu. Spill as much Italian blood as we can.”

They talked through plans for another thirty minutes, but my leg kept bouncing. I could barely focus. All I could think about was creating stronger defenses and keeping everyone safe. They needed my technical support in the field, so I couldn’t be out of commission for long.

Lucia was still steps ahead of me, but now the gears in my head were turning.

If she could attack me, I could attack her.

I’d had the idea for a virus in the back of my head for quite a while. Maybe now was the right time to develop it.

As I walked back to my room to get to work, a weight pressed against my shoulders. The tone inside the house had changed. Things were real now.

The war had officially begun.

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