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“We’re good,” she replies.

Kellan looks over at me to confirm, and with a nod of my head, I touch my ear and hear the earbud crackle to life again.

Bree’s leader voice is back, sounding as stern as ever. “Team A is in position. Team B?”

One by one, all the little sub-teams we have set up announce they’re in position. This is the biggest operation we’ve ever run. We have at least twenty teams set up at the locations of the auction winners, ready to take back the Lots that were won the night I got Teigan.

We also have several other teams who are moving on audience members we located that evening, not to mention the last minute teams we had to put together after the recon teams spotted more. There are far more perverts walking around than we would like to admit.

It took us a while to set up the teams, but ultimately we’re using it as a way for the smaller families and gangs to show theirloyalty to us. Everyone who is leading a raid has pledged their allegiance to us, and this is their test.

“Finally, Team Z?” Bree asks.

Liam’s deep, rumbly voice is quick to respond. “Team Z is in position and awaiting further instructions.”

Liam, Kian, Bree, and Finn are Team Z, and they are positioned around the corner from Club Crimson. Their job, once they’ve been given the all clear from Kellan, will be to break into the back rooms and rescue all the people who are being held captive there.

Once they’ve freed all the captives, they will then move into the main room of the club with us, and we will free all the people that are working tonight, as well as capturing the sick fuckers who have paid for the performance.

We have a lot of extra manpower on standby nearby at all the locations we have deemed to be unstable, but they will only come in to help if absolutely necessary. The last thing we want is for any of these raids to turn into a shootout, while innocent people are stuck in the middle.

At the same time, we know we will have an awful lot of prisoners who will need to be captured and assessed. Once we’ve determined how much of a threat they are, they will either be handed over to the police, along with all the evidence they need to send them down, or we will take care of them in a way the police cannot.

The clean up will in a way take longer than this. But Bree, Kian, and his security team have a new safe location that they’ve been preparing. It has essentially been remodelled into a prison, and we will be holding everyone we capture there until we make a decision on what to do with them.

Bree clears her throat, grabbing everyone’s attention. “Now that everyone is in place, we’re ready. Evan, Tee, and Kel, are you ready to get the ball rolling?” she asks.

I look up at the beautiful girl in front of me. All the nerves I saw on her face just moments ago are gone, and now she just looks like the fierce badass I know she can be.

“We’re ready,” I reply, tapping my communications device so they can’t hear me again.

Taking Teigan’s hand, I step out of the back of the ambulance with her, while Kellan grabs the last of the things he needs, before making sure all his computers are silenced, but on the right settings.

To be honest, I have no idea what the fuck he’s doing, but I would imagine he’s setting them to record, whilst also silencing them, so none of our broadcasts can be heard, given nobody will be in the van.

While he’s messing around, it gives me a few seconds alone with Teigan, without the microphones listening.

“Angel, you’ve got this. I’m so proud of you for being strong and doing this,” I tell her, as I press my lips against hers in a short, sweet kiss.

As I pull back, Teigan gives me a bright smile that makes my heart skip. “Thank you. You make me feel strong enough to take on the world sometimes,” she replies quietly.

“Even when I was a teenager, I knew there was no other girl I wanted by my side, but now that I’m doing the job, I’ve never been more certain. Being the heir to the Doughty family is brutal, and sometimes it requires me to be a person I don’t like. I always thought I’d have to rule alone, as nobody would have what it takes to stand by my side. Until I met you.

“You are far too good and kind, but there’s a passion and fierceness to you that makes you perfect for this job. I can’t imagine ruling without you. You are my queen, and together we will reign,” I state, each word coming out with more passion than the one before.

Teigan’s eyes widen, but so does her smile. This time, when she captures my lips, there’s nothing short or sweet about it. She kisses me like she wants to devour me, her tongue battling with mine as we taste each other.

“You’re mine,” she breathes against my lips when she finally pulls back.

“I’m yours, and you are mine,” I reply, my voice deep and husky as I try to convey all the feelings I’m unable to put into words. I know this is the moment I should tell her I love her. Because, of course I do, I don’t think I ever stopped.

Yet, I always imagined that when I do tell her how I feel all over again, it has to be just as special, if not more so than the way I told her the first time.

We were under the stars after watching the sunset. I took her in my arms, and told her that I wanted to watch every sunset with her by my side, and wake up to every sunrise with her still there. I told her she made my life better, and that loving her wasn’t even a choice. I feel like I was made just to love her.

That’s one hell of a memory to top, but I want to do it, and this is not the time. Not when I can see Kellan in the background, smirking at me as he watches us.

“Sorry to break up the romance, but it’s time to go,” he says, throwing his cocky smirk our way. I still want to punch him for ruining the moment, but at least he stopped me from letting the emotions of the situation get to me.