The Girl Behind His Throne

The GPS showed we were less than two kilometers from the exchange point.

Then the radio crackled once.

Every communication device went dead at the exact same moment.

Ice shot through my veins.

"Use the vehicles for cover!"

I kicked the door open and rolled into the sand, drawing the handgun engraved with my name.

Figures began surfacing along the dunes, one after another until the ridgeline was crawling with them.

At least forty men.

Camorra.

They knew what time we would arrive, which route we would take, even how many men I brought with me.

There was a rat.

And I already knew who it was.

Anrina.

She had sold us out from the very beginning.

She never intended to let me leave this desert alive.

Gunfire rained down from every direction. My men dropped one after another into the sand.

I took out three shooters trying to flank the right side, then rolled behind an armored vehicle to reload.

That was when a stray round punched into the fuel tank.

The armored truck jolted violently.

The explosion threw me sideways.

My abdomen slammed hard against the crash bar.

Warm liquid spilled between my legs, soaking through the fabric of my pants.

The baby.

My hand clamped over my stomach instinctively, blood seeping thick and hot through my fingers.

No.

I had not taken him home yet.

I pulled out my phone and sent a satellite message.

[Brother. Come get me.]

Another burst of gunfire tore into the sand near my feet, shards of gravel slicing across my cheek.

I grabbed an AK-47 off the ground and charged straight toward the heaviest crossfire.

Just like every other time I had risked my life for Leon.

Except this time, it was not for him.

A bullet tore through my left shoulder.

I kept moving.

Shrapnel ripped open my thigh.

I did not stop.

The blood between my legs kept pouring out, more and more with every step. My vision blurred.

Then I saw them.

The oil drums stacked outside the warehouse.

The Camorra hitmen realized my intention immediately. Bullets chased after my heels like a storm.

I pulled the trigger without hesitation.

The explosion swallowed half the desert.

Fire erupted into the night as the shockwave hurled me through the air.

I crashed into the sand, drowning in blood while flames flickered at the edges of my vision.

Slowly, I reached up and tore the Heart of Protection necklace from my throat.

Then I threw it into the fire.

Before consciousness slipped away completely, I saw helicopters descending from the sky, each one marked with my family's crest.

Through my fading vision, men in black suits poured from the cabins and dropped to one knee in the sand in perfect unison.

"Welcome home, Principessa."

A man ran toward me and pulled me into his arms.

His voice was shaking.

"Little sister, your brother's taking you home.

"No one will ever hurt you again."

I closed my eyes.

"Leon... one hundred debts.

"We're done.

"And we will never meet again."