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LEONA

S omething dripped on my face.

My eyelids fluttered.

Drip. Drip.

What was that? Where was I?

Dim, flickering light filtered into my vision. Dust swirled in the shadows, filling my nose and irritating my eyes. I went to rub them, but I hit a hard plane of resistance.

“Hey, little vixen,” a strained voice said from above me. “There you are.”

I blinked the dust from my eyes. My hand bumped against the resistance again while a sneeze tickled my nose. My muscles burned. My head swam. What was going on?

The last thing I remembered was fighting with Max at Ryuji’s club. He had pissed me off after talking shit about Cas, so I had punched him in the face. A gunshot had echoed. Heat and pain had flashed.

“Are you with me?” the voice whispered. I shifted but bumped against more things. “You have to stop hitting my ribs or I’m going to collapse. Fuck.”

“What’s going on?” My voice came out strangled, a strange sound even to my ears. Before I could say anything else, I inhaled a puff of dust, and a coughing fit racked my body. Drip. Drip . “What’s on my face?”

“Probably my blood.”

Blood.

Club.

Ryuji .

Everything came rushing back. The fight with Max. The bomb going off, decimating the club. My body slamming against something, my leg going numb. The ceiling collapse. Ryuji’s arms before the world went dark.

“Ryuji!” I tried to sit up, but my legs were trapped. I couldn’t move. I sucked in a long breath until my lungs tightened. Another violent cough left me as more dust swirled around us. “What’s happening?”

“Shh, calm down,” he murmured in a soothing voice. “Don’t panic. The more you move, the worse it gets. Breathe. Yes, that’s it.”

In the flickering light, I could barely make out how our legs were pinned together as his body hunched over mine. Rocks, rebar, debris surrounded us with momentary light filtering in through tiny holes before disappearing.

Drip .

I caught a glimpse of Ryuji’s face. Blood leaked from a massive cut on his forehead, so much so that darkness drenched his skin.

He groaned, shifting his back. I strained my neck to use whatever light I could to see what was going on.

“Are you…” I gulped. “Are you holding up the rubble? For how long?”

His body caged mine, with the massive weight of the ceiling right above us both. My hands fisted at my sides, my throat tightening, as I realized he had protected us from being crushed, but where was everyone else?

“Few minutes maybe. I got this. No big deal.” His arms strained on either side of my head. Drip. “Don’t move. The rubble has been shifting. They’re coming for us.”

My breaths came hard and fast. “Where is everyone? Did they get out okay? How do you know?”

I tried to move again, but my knees knocked against his, and he swore. I froze, but the adrenaline running through my veins made my body tremble.

“Breathe. Slow.” He inhaled deeply, then waited for me to take a few deep breaths with him. “Everyone got out except us.”

“Are you sure?” His blood dripped down the side of my face into the shell of my ear. I squeezed my eyes to stop myself from absolutely freaking the fuck out. Everyone was fine. He said everyone got out. If we were trapped in here, they had to be losing their minds. “How’s Cas?”

“Fuck if I know. I’d be much more worried about us.”

He had to be all right. They all had to be.

I inhaled through my nose and exhaled through my mouth. One breath at a time . We could get through this. He said they were coming. Everything would be fine.

“What are we supposed to do?”

“I’m holding this for as long as I can and praying to the great cosmic void my brothers get here in time.” A small rock fell from beside his shoulder to land next to mine. The sound echoed in my ear.

“What can I do?”

“Stay still.”

I clamped my arms to my side, staring up at his body. Seconds ticked by, but every sound of shifting rock or Ryuji breathing was like nails grating on a chalkboard. My fingers dug into the ground. Shit, I wanted to be brave, but this was torture. Terror flooded my body with chills. At any moment, the whole thing could come crumbling down. Ryuji could get hurt even worse.

Tears pricked my eyes. Max had outsmarted me, again. I’d royally fucked up. How was I supposed to make good on my promises to these men, build our own empire, if I couldn’t see more than one step ahead at a time? Couldn’t kill one fucking guy?

“I’m sorry, Ryuji,” I whispered. This was my fault. I had lost my temper. I had punched Max. We could have overtaken him.

“Don’t. We don’t let setbacks break us. We never give up. You want to be a queen? Act like one.”

I swallowed back my tears. “How am I supposed to be this mafia queen if I can’t see simple shit like this coming?”

He was silent for a few breaths. “You want to know what I think?”

“Yes.”

“I’m so damn proud of you, vixen,” he whispered. I searched his face in the darkness. Drip . Drip . “Punching that asshat in the face? My dick went rock-hard.”

Despite the blood and the ceiling slowly crushing us, I laughed. “That messed everything up. We had this whole plan to force him to comply, but my temper couldn’t handle it.”

“If you wouldn’t have done it, I would have had a knife in his neck within seconds.”

“You should have. That would have solved a lot of our problems.”

“Nah. I preferred watching you do it. Now I see why Wynn is so obsessed with training you.” His voice went low. “Count me in next. I’ll make you so damn powerful, the entire world will bow at your feet.”

His eyes burned into mine in the dim light, sending a shockwave of heat through me in spite of our condition. God, that was just like Ryuji. Even in life-or-death situations, he found ways to turn me on.

“You’re ridiculous.”

“Excuse me,” he huffed. “I’m keeping us alive right now.”

“You have my infinite gratitude.”

“You owe me. One favor. Redeemable at my choice.”

“Oh, we’re bargaining now?” I scoffed.

“Yes. One favor, Leona.”

I rolled my eyes. “Fine.”

He grinned. “Inevitable, Leona dear.” Those words he said to me only a few days ago echoed in my ears. It’s inevitable that I’ll be buried inside your pussy with you screaming my name as you come.

My cheeks flushed. “You never stop, do you?”

“Never.”

Shouts came through the rock and debris. “Ryuji! Leona!”

I sucked in a breath, only to inhale another cloud of dust.

“Over here!” Ryuji shouted with a groan. I struggled to get my lungs under control. “Only a little longer, vixen. You’re doing great.”

Had he just been teasing me to distract me?

“Leona!” My eyes darted to where Cas’s deep, yet frantic voice came through the rubble to my left. I barely resisted the urge to reach for him.

“Cas! We’re here!” Thank God. I’d just go ahead and add buried alive to my list of greatest fears.

Moments later, the rubble above Ryuji lifted and fell to the side. He sagged against me, face going to the crook of my neck while my arms went around his waist.

“Oh, my God, we’re alive.” More rock fell away from our sides, with light and sound following, but all I could focus on was my dragon’s heavy weight pressing into my chest and his breaths tickling my neck. “Ryuji?” I pulled at his shirt. “Ryuji, talk to me, you ass.”

“Always so spicy,” he murmured into the dip of my collarbone. “Let me rest here for a moment.”

A tear finally escaped my eye and rolled down my cheek. He was alive. We were getting out of here. “Thanks for the distraction. Thanks for saving us.”

“One favor. Don’t forget.”

The rest of the rubble fell away. The claustrophobia dissipated and I could breathe again, despite Ryuji’s weight.

Four figures stared down at us, completely frozen. Wynn, his platinum hair shadowed by dust and darkness. Ciel, blue eyes piercing through everything. Obi, his massive body still like a shield. And Cas, a crazed look in his eyes as his chest heaved.

Cas’s fingertips were stained red with blood. His injuries . Shit . All my men gusted heavy breaths from strain.

“Get the fuck off her,” Cas growled. He leaned down to grab Ryuji’s arm.

“Hey—” Ryu groaned.

“ Caspian .” My hands tightened around Ryuji’s body. “Back up.”

He stared down at me like it was causing him physical harm to not yank me out of this pile of debris, but I didn’t budge. Terror and relief and all sorts of emotions at once threatened to burst out of his skin, but Ryuji had saved our lives.

Finally, he stepped back, murder still written across his face.

“Obi, help Ryuji, please.”

“No.” Ryuji buried his head deeper into my neck. “Let me sleep.”

Sirens wailed in the distance. Ciel and Wynn both pulled guns from the waistbands of their dark tactical pants.

“Time to get up.” I pat Ryuji’s back. “Obi?”

Obi wound his hands around Ryuji’s arms and pulled him up. “Wynn.” His resonate voice only had to say the one word before Wynn tucked his gun away and joined at Ryuji’s other side. Together, they looped his arms around their shoulders.

“We need—” Ciel started, swallowing. He stared at the collapsed wall at the back of the club. “We need to get out of here.”

How long had we been stuck? Where were Fallon and her men? The rest of the Italians?

I opened my mouth to ask, but a wave of dizziness came over me so strong, I turned to the side and vomited. “Shit.”

“Fuck, princess.” Cas leapt to my side. He moved to scoop his arms under my legs, but I placed my hands on his forearms to stop him. He wasn’t healed yet. His fingers were wrecked. Willow hadn’t cleared him for heavy lifting, and that included me. “Let me carry you.”

I wiped my mouth with the back of my arm, then spit up more phlegm to get the taste out of my mouth. “No, Cas, I’m all right.”

“Princess—”

“I swear to God, if you hurt yourself trying to save me, I’ll never kiss you again.” I bit my cheek against the sob threatening to burst from my throat. I would not let him hurt himself. Not for me. Especially not after I caused this mess.

He gaped, but that shut him up.

Ryuji snorted. Wynn exchanged a glance with Obi.

Cas would make me pay for that later, but right now, we had to get out of here without things getting worse.

“I’m okay.” I sighed. “Just help me up. Ciel?”

Cas and Ciel pulled me to my feet, and I swayed. My leg screamed, but it didn’t seem broken. My head still swam, so I had to lean against Cas’s body to stay upright. The others led us through the rubble of Club Thunder. The entire structure was blown out, with the back wall gone. Chairs and furniture were overturned and destroyed. The bar where Konstantin Makarov, the head of the Bratva, and I had sat only an hour ago was split in two. How the hell had we survived at all? And how had Max? Was he somewhere underneath the wreckage?

My gut said no, but a girl could hope.

“Where’s Makarov?”

“Went after Volpe,” Ciel responded, voice clipped.

They practically drug us out what used to be the back door, all the way to Ciel’s van. We piled into the back while Obi slipped into the driver’s seat to start the engine. Ciel sank into his computer chair, furiously typing.

“Ciel?” Obi asked as he threw the van into drive. Wynn climbed into the passenger seat. Ryuji leaned against the wall with his eyes closed, blood trickling down his face. Cas held me so tightly I almost couldn’t breathe, but his touch spread calm through my veins.

“Can’t go the normal route. Take 10th south instead.”

“Done.” The van squealed around a corner.

“Where is Max?” I grimaced when we hit a bump that caused me to fall against Cas’s chest. His good arm tightened around me, and I hated the sight of his wrecked fingernails.

Ciel tapped on his phone before holding it up to his ear. “Makarov? Any update?” He paused, listening. “ Fuck . O—okay.” His fingers flew across the keyboard. “Shit. No, I see you.” A grainy image of the big blond came up on Ciel’s screen before he switched windows. “It’s fine. All right, I’ll let them know.” He pressed the end button, then dropped the phone into his lap with a scowl.

“What is it?” I asked.

“Makarov tracked him a few streets away, but then lost the trail. The footage disappears,” Ciel said. He took a second to rub his eyes, then got back to work. He clicked through so many different tabs and windows, I could barely keep track. How the hell was he making sense of anything? “But I’m working on it. He won’t get far.”

“Find him,” Cas grumbled, voice rumbling against my back.

“I know ,” Ciel snapped.

I squeezed Cas’s wrist in warning.

“Give him a break,” Ryuji said, wrapping a makeshift bandage around his head.

“If we lose him, he’ll disappear,” Cas replied. “He’ll go underground. We’ll never find him again.”

“I said, I’ll fucking find him,” Ciel hissed.

My eyes went wide at my shy hacker’s tone. I’d never heard him so upset.

Fuck, this was not going well. First, our plans went to shit, and now the guys were at each other’s throats. What was I supposed to do? Step in? Let them figure it out?

“He couldn’t have gotten far,” I offered, trying to keep the peace despite the growing tension. “Keep driving. We can catch him.”

Obi’s eyes met mine in the rearview in the same moment another wave of nausea rolled through my body. I pressed my hand against my mouth to keep from throwing up all over the van. Add that to my growing list of fears, because that would leave me even more mortified, and I’d never be able to look these guys in the eyes again.

Obi’s hand clenched on the wheel. “We’re going home.”

“No.” I breathed through my nose to tamp down a gag. “We can’t let him get away.”

“Leona.”

Our eyes locked in the mirror, his deep brown staring straight into my soul. In them, I saw pity and concern. The prideful side of me wanted to rage at that look—like he felt sorry for me. My eyes glinted, doing my goddamn best to convey strength even as every bone in my body felt like a freight train had hit it.

Everyone stared as Obi and I went through some sort of power play. Who was really in charge here?

“We should go home, darling.” Wynn turned in his seat. Dust and ash still covered his hair. “Ciel has never let us down before. He’ll find him.”

“And I’m not going to fucking jail.” Ryuji scowled. “The cops are going to be on high alert. One of my patrons must have called in the gunshots and explosion. We pay them a fortune to look the other way, but this? We’d have to spend at least a night before we could bail out, and that’ll ruin my complexion.”

I met Obi’s eyes again in the mirror.

“We’re going home.” This time, his voice carried a finality that felt impossible to fight. His accusatory gaze said it all. I didn’t know what I was doing.

I didn’t have the energy to argue. I sank against Cas’s chest, gulping down shame and disappointment.

He was right. I should never have punched Max. I should never have catapulted us into this mess. I’d lost some of their respect tonight.

I couldn’t afford any more fuckups. Failure meant death—and now it meant the death of five other men, too. I couldn’t let that happen. I couldn’t fail again.

What a great fucking start to our empire.