Page 149 of Blood in the Water

Wynn, Ciel, and Obi walked toward the front door, stopping to gear up at the weapons closet. A few minutes later, all three left the room with more weapons than I could count.

Wynn stalked over to me, cupping my cheeks with both palms and pressing his lips to mine in a breathless kiss. “You’re a vision.”

I fanned my face. “Jeez. Seriously, you all need to cool your jets, or I’m never going to go through with this.”

They chuckled as I stood there and realized exactly what I had before me.

Friends. Family. A place to call home.

For the majority of my life, I’d been excluded and alone. Now, I had a group of men who pushed me to be better, challenged me to dream bigger, and liked me for exactly who I was. I didn’t have anything to prove besides the fact that I felt the same way about them.

“Everyone know the plan?”

“We’re ready,” Obi said, face amused. His rich voice carried the confidence I lacked in that specific moment, and it steadied my nerves.

“I’ve got our eyes and ears,” Ciel added, adjusting the sleeves of his black shirt. “We’re already locked into the cameras. We’ve got this.”

Together, all six of us piled into the elevator to head to the garage in the basement. Tonight would go perfectly with them by my side.

Club Thunder was packedfor a Friday night, which worked to our advantage and disadvantage. The club was a supposed neutral location for Konstantin and Max to meet, with plenty of civilian witnesses around if anything were to go south, but what Max didn’t know was that Ryuji owned the club and that Konstantin was on our side.

Max was walking into a trap.

I took a seat at the club’s bar to wait. All the pieces were on the board. We just had to wait for the right time to play them.

“Everyone good?” I murmured into my earpiece.

Ryuji walked through the shadows around the edge of the club, waiting for his signal. He caught my gaze and nodded.

“All clear outside,” Ciel said in my ear. He and Cas had parked his van behind the club and down a side street, close enough to assist if we needed him but far enough away to be safe and keep his digital eyes and ears on the club.

“I’ve got you,” Wynn said. I glanced up to see him in the rafters, and I winked when he gave me a little salute.

Obi had disappeared into the crowd of club patrons as soon as we arrived, but I knew he was nearby and ready.

Finally, a tall, burly man with curly blond hair sidled up next to me and took a seat. Handsome and imposing, he drew the look of more than a few men and women around us. Beneathhis jacket, I counted at least two guns and the outline of a third around his ankle.

“I’ve seen you before,” he said with a grin as he rested his elbow on the bar. “Scurrying out of Ryuji’s office like you’d been caught with your hand in the cookie jar.”

I grinned in recognition. His boyish cheeks and curly hair made him look younger than I might have expected for the head of the Russian Bratva, maybe in his early thirties.

“Konstantin Makarov,” I said as I extended my hand. “Nice to meet you.”

He lifted my hand to his lips and kissed my knuckles. “Pleasure is all mine, Leona Vero. Call me Kostya.”

“Are you ready to party?” I turned back to watch the crowds. The music pulsed through the dance floor, the crowds undulating in time just like that night at Ryuji’s other club, Dragon. They’d picked a neutral locationbecauseof these crowds, but hopefully, we’d get the civilians out before things turned too sour. When we were ready, Ryuji and his manager would make sure they evacuated.

Makarov scoffed. “I’m ready. My men are ready. I want to end this war as soon as fucking possible. I’m losing too much damned money.”

“That’s the plan.”

He smirked and cocked his head to the side. “Ryuji likes you. I think I understand why.”

“Tell that fucker to mind his own business,” Ryuji said into my earpiece. I caught his heated gaze from across the club.

“Ryuji said he’s the president of my fan club.” I blew my dragon a kiss.

Konstantin laughed, full-bodied and deep. “Yeah. You’re good for him.”