Her Crimson Reign

by Tristina Brockway

  When he said her name in his sleep, it wasn’t that I thought he was seeing someone else that bothered me. It was that I thought he might still be in love with her, and he was under the impression his precious Mila was the light to his dark. Bullshit. She wasn’t light or dark. She was insignificant. A good actress at best, and I hated he was hurting because I wasn’t telling him the whole truth. I can only blame myself.

  After several more sleepless nights I finally hear back from Piero with a solid lead on the person responsible for the threats against me.

  I was at Reign when Giovanni and Piero decided to stop by to fill me in. I bring them up to the throne room to talk and Gio’s expression is hard to read. I can usually read him but tonight he’s like an impenetrable vault.

  Piero decides to break the awkward tension in the room by getting straight to the point. “The Mexican Cartel is who’s responsible. Ricardo Diaz.”

  I sit back in my chair while trying to process what I’ve just been told. I’m having a hard time making sense of it. I’ve taken jobs from their organization before but it’s been almost a year since I’ve heard anything from him or his men.

  “Hold the fuck up. Most of the men Gio and I have put down have been Russian. Are they full of snakes now? What the hell is my uncle doing over there that he can’t keep his own men in line?”

  Gio blanches at the bombshell I’ve just dropped. I think he suspected I was tied to the Russian’s but wasn’t one hundred percent on just how high up my affiliations went.

  Piero looks as frustrated as I amthat we don’t know why Ricardo would want to take me out, and even if he had a good reason, what made him think he could succeed? Most importantly, does he honestly think he’s going to survive my wrath?

  The following day we meet back at Reign early in the afternoon before the club is set to open. We’ve been talking strategy for a while now, and Piero thinks it would be a good idea to bring my father into the fold to see if he has any insight to what’s going on. I call out to Damon to let him know my father’s on his way and to let him in when he arrives. Gio’s already giving him what I call the look of death as soon as he sees Damon in the club. At first I thought it was some sort of jealousy thing. Him wanting to stake his claim and all that egotistical manly shit that men seem to do. Maybe he picked up on the fact that Damon and I had slept together somehow. But I’m starting to think it’s more than that. I make a mental note to go back and check into it later.

  Once my father arrives, I wave him over to our table and Piero gives him the new information we’ve discovered. I don’t think I’ve ever seen my father’s face go pale before. He’s usually as good as any of us at masking his emotions and tells, but there’s no covering up the look of fear in his eyes at this very moment. He finally gathers himself and takes a deep breath before explaining a huge piece of the puzzle we’ve been missing.

  “You already know your brother wasn’t biologically mine. What I’ve never told anyone before today, is that Ricardo Diaz was your brother's biological father.”

  Not only am I pissed off that I didn’t know this before today, I’m also furious with myself for not even thinking to look into this years ago. I should have known better. There’s only one reason I can think of to explain why he would want my head and that would be because he’s finally figured out I’m responsible for ending Adrian’s life. And the one person that would willingly tell him this would be my mother.

  “That manipulative bitch!” I try to reel my anger back in but I’m barely holding on. “I love you Papa but you know she’s just signed her death warrant and this time she’s going in the ground. Not even you can save her from this.” I can’t help but lose myself to the rage the minute it all sinks in.

  This woman has spent her entire life hating me, even before I killed Adrian, and I don’t know why. I’ve always wondered if it wasn’t for her if my soul would have been a little less stained. I guess we’ll never know and I’m perfectly fine with that.

  Chapter 25

  Giovanni

  I’m sitting at a table in Reign with my father and Victor watching Six lose her shit. Tables are getting overturned. Liquor bottles are being thrown. Mirrors are being broken. She can do this all day long, but we all know there’s only one thing that will tame the demons inside her and that’s spilling blood.

  My father keeps looking at me as if he’s disappointed and I finally snap at him. “What?” I know better than to speak to him that way but I’m trying my best not to join Six in her need to break shit. I’m holding on by a thread.

  “You need to forgive her.” Because of course my father knows Six killed Mila. Sometimes I think they’re closer than he and I are.

  “I know I do.”

  Victor speaks in a hushed tone, “She’ll never admit it. But she needs you. She’s always talked of you, even when you were kids. I’d always hear about ‘her best friend’.” Victor and my dad laugh and look at me like I’m the crazy one for not realizing our connection sooner.

  I’ve explained to them how I feel about her, but I see it now. Six and I were inevitable. She knew it even at eight years old. We recognized something in each other hardly anyone finds in a lifetime and the minute I saw her again I knew I would make her mine and that’s exactly what I’m going to do. But right now my girl needs to feed her blood lust.

  I’m finally able to get her attention and I suggest that we go hunting. She’s resistant until I bribe her with the one thing I know will work. “I’ll show you my hit list.” I say to her with a smug grin.

  Her eyes snap to mine. “Deal. Take me to my place so I can change and get my toys.” I can’t help but laugh as we head towards the door leaving our father’s behind.

  We usually do our hunting at night but given the dire circumstances we make an exception. In the span of six hours she’s crossed off three people from my list. If there’s one thing I can say for sure it’s that my girl’s got stamina.

  After letting her demons run wild we go back to her house to take a shower. Kat has been spending more time with Chance lately so it’s just the two of us. Once we’re both inside the shower I push Six into the wall and start kissing her neck and continue to make my way down her body to tease her nipple, drawing it into my mouth. I hear her breathing pick up and lower myself to my knees. After sliding two fingers inside her I bring my mouth to her clit continuing to lick and bite while I toss her leg up over my shoulder. “Come for me, baby,” I say in a raspy voice. Hearing her moan, I can tell she’s about to come so I suck hard on her bundle of nerves, pushing her over the edge as she orgasms, letting out a scream of ecstasy. I stand and kiss her letting her taste herself on my tongue and then we continue to wash each other before getting out and drying off.

  We climb into bed and she throws a leg over mine and lays with her head and palm on my chest. I press my lips to the top of her head, giving her a kiss goodnight. I hear her breathing start to even out and just as I’m about to fall asleep, her phone starts to ring and I have a gut feeling this isn’t going to be as peaceful of a night as we’d hoped.

  Six reaches over to grab her phone and sees it’s my father calling. It’s almost midnight so we know it must be urgent if he’s calling. After she answers, she’s quiet for a few minutes.

  “No. He’s not dead,” she whispers into the phone. Immediately I’m on high alert and wondering what the fuck is going on. The way her body tenses up is an obvious sign that something is wrong. I wait patiently, not wanting to press her for details while she’s still on the phone. I hate I don’t know what’s happening right now but the look on her face—her eyes pinched and biting her bottom lip—this is the first time I've seen her so vulnerable. I text Chance and tell him to get Kat home asap. He keeps asking what’s wrong and I don’t know how to explain to him that I just know Six is going to need her best friend. Her family.

  After a few minutes, she hangs up the phone and just stares at the comforter like she doesn’t know what to do with herself. I sit there s
ilently knowing she’ll talk when she’s ready. Almost thirty minutes goes by and she finally looks me in the eyes. “My papa was killed tonight. Shot in the head at point blank range. A cop on your dad’s payroll told him that my mother said it was a home invasion. But nothing was stolen.”

  I can’t even believe what she’s saying right now. We just sat and spoke with her father this afternoon. “This is my fault. She killed him. I know she did. And it’s because I killed my brother. My papa paid for my sins.” I try to reassure her nothing is her fault. She’s not responsible for killing her brother. She was defending herself plain and simple. But she’s not hearing me right now. So, I explain to her Chance is bringing Kat home, and then we wait.

  Shortly after Kat arrives, she comes into the bedroom and crawls into bed with us with a bottle of whiskey. I give Six a kiss and tell her I’ll be in the guest room if she needs me. I know she has a hard time feeling different emotions but I can tell this one has hit her where it hurts.

  I go to the other room and call my dad to try to get more details from Victor’s murder and work on a plan to help Six. My girl’s going to be out for blood and I’ll set the world on fire to help her avenge her father and put both her mother and Ricardo Diaz in the ground.

  Chapter 26

  Six

  It’s been a little over a week since my father was killed. After the initial shock wore off, Gio took me hunting again. I love that he knows what I need and there’s not many people that will take you on a killing spree to cheer you up. What else did we do? We binge watched Making A Murderer on Netflix, because when you’re an assassin and a soon to be mob boss, it’s your go-to for comedic relief. The Best Boyfriend Award goes to Giovanni Moretti. It’s decided. He wanted the boyfriend status so I gave it to him. It’s the least I can do. I did kill his ex-fiancé after all, so I probably won’t be getting a Best Girlfriend award any time soon. But thankfully, he’s found a way to forgive me.

  We’re lounging on the couch at Gio’s when we get the call from Piero. He puts it on speaker phone and I listen in. “We have intel that Ricardo Diaz was just spotted at the Petrova estate with Irina.”

  I’m shaking with rage when I hear this. “Not only did my mother kill my father but a week later she has her fucking dead son’s biological father, the man my mother deemed was a bad man and couldn’t know about Adrian, in my father’s house.”

  I’m ready to bathe in blood, drop bodies, and blow some shit up. Thankfully, this week I’ve called my uncle in Russia and told him about his men that have been coming after me, and he decided to send some backup to help me out. Not that I need it, but the more the merrier. Gio’s decided he’ll be going in too, along with some of his men.

  Later that night, we're ready to roll out. Everyone's fitted in Kevlar and strapped with weapons from head to toe. I'm wearing my black leather pants and leather cropped top with combat boots. And because I'm a little extra, and dramatic as fuck, I throw on my black crown.

  When it's time to go, we jump into the vehicle with Gio behind the wheel and I put on some music to get in the right headspace. “You Should See Me in a Crown” by Billie Eilish is blasting through the speakers and I can feel my blood coursing through my veins with the hum of rage vibrating to the surface.

  I don't think I've ever been more grateful to drive an armored vehicle. My mother honestly has no clue who the fuck she's dealing with anymore. Not only do I drive a Conquest Knight XV, but we have five more following behind us in a fleet, which is why we drive straight to the front gate and never ease up, ramming through and leveling the gates, leaving nothing but destruction in our path.

  It's easy to see Ricardo has guards posted around the house. There were ten around the perimeter but we were able to take them out before we drove through. As we exit the vehicle and approach the front entrance, I reach down and pull a throwing star from my straps on each side of my legs and immediately throw both straight ahead taking out two men posted on the front door.

  As Gio and I step into the house, we're met with five more guards that come rushing towards us. I spin my Karambit knives around on my fingers, then slash two of the guards throats simultaneously.

  I signal to Gio I'm headed to the wall beside the staircase to enter the panic room. He relays that message to the men that came with us. Gio knows that the plan is for our guys to take out their muscle while I head straight to the source of our problems. My mother and Ricardo. Walking down the hall, I spot two more men, throwing a knife at one and stabbing a knife through the other’s throat in an upward motion. By the time I make it to the panic room, I know they've seen me on camera, so I give a malicious grin and wiggle my fingers saying hello to the surveillance feed. Gio finally reaches me, which means we're at the gates of hell and I’m ready to be done with this bitch once and for all.

  "Ready for breach," I announce over coms, to let our team know our progress, as I pull the hand printed glove out and slip it on. "Ready or not. Here. I. Come." Just as the doors open I roll forward and to the side, allowing Gio to come through. My mother, Irina, stands behind Ricardo while he attempts to shoot at us both. We evade the line of fire long enough for me to pin down my mother. Giovanni made his way into the room behind me and shot Ricardo in his kneecap and shoulder, not wanting to kill him, but slow him down.

  “Really mother? Did you think you could send someone to take me out? And after all this time? That’s just poor planning and rather anticlimactic if you ask me.”

  “Well I didn’t ask you! Did I?” my mother shouts up at me with false bravado in her tone.

  In the most innocent voice I can conjure up, which isn’t much, I reprimand her. “Now, now, Mommy. I didn’t ask you a question, and I haven’t started playing with you yet, so let’s be a good girl and keep your fucking mouth shut until I say otherwise. Mmkay?” I can’t help but laugh when I see the look in her eyes. The only thing I see is fear. Her mouth was always bigger than her balls. This would almost be disappointing if I didn’t know I would be killing her at the end of all of this.

  Taking my knife I slice her skin from her eye, across her cheek, down to her mouth. Watching the blood seep out from her wounds is mildly satisfying. Though I’m sure it’s not the relief I’ll feel once her heart stops pumping. Every breath she takes is like nails on a chalkboard to my ears. It pains me to know that she’s breathing while my father is not.

  “You know, Ricardo, I can only assume you’re so determined to kill me because I killed Adrian all those years ago. I mean, that is why you’re so determined. Is it not?”

  “You killed my son! A quick death wouldn’t be enough for you. But I’m willing to make it quick. So long as it’s a life for a life,” he says.

  “Let me tell you about your precious son, Ricardo. He was so special Irina didn’t even plan to tell you about him. The only reason she did now is because she wants me gone. Are you as sick as your son was? He had a tendency to force himself on little girls. Six year old little girls. Six year old little sisters that knew something was wrong, so she defended herself, as she should have. But she didn’t tell you about that. Did she? I may not know a lot about you Ricardo, but I know enough I can honestly say I don’t think you would have kept your son alive long either if he had a preference for young children.”

  Ricardo appears shocked by this news but attempts to hide his emotions from me so that he doesn’t look weak. It does not surprise me that she didn’t elaborate on the details of my brother’s sins when she went begging for my death. She thinks I don’t know what she had hoped for through him but I do.

  “I’ll let you in on a little secret, Ricardo. She thinks I’m too blind to see what she had planned. She thinks you're too blind. Tell me. What would happen if Adrian took over the Russian Mafia and then you found out he was your heir, heir to the Mexican Cartel?”

  “Shut up you psychotic brat! She’s manipulating you, Ricardo. It’s what she does,” my mother says. I can’t help but laugh. The woman who first manipulated me at such a you
ng age was trying to feed me to the lions, or so she thought.

  Our team had neutralized the majority of men guarding the compound. But there were a few left who rushed in after hearing Irina’s desperate pleas. Ricardo holds them off for us to finish this conversation.

  “Well, here’s the dilemma we find ourselves in. I would have been willing to have a little chat with you to clear this all up and call a truce. But then you went and killed my papa. I can count on one hand the number of people I give a fuck about and he was one of them. But now he’s no longer breathing. So, it’s only fair that you are afforded the same luxury.”

  I look at Giovanni and he understands my next move just by looking into my eyes. He turns and shoots the three men that came into the room with us while I stab my mother in the stomach with one knife to hold her in place, and use my other hand to stab Rico in both eyes and then slash his throat. I then grab his hair and hold him over my mother watching his blood drain onto her face. She begins to scream again and spits when it starts trickling into her mouth. Apparently the bitch doesn’t like getting her hands dirty, or face. After throwing Ricardo off of her I let Gio reach down and smear the blood over her face. I can’t help but take joy in hearing her plead for her life but decide it’s time to shut her up for good. I start by cutting out her tongue and then gut her from head to toe.

  Gio leans over and presses his lips to mine in a tender kiss while I revel in this moment and commit it to memory. The site of Irina bleeding out will get me through even the coldest night. Every bad thing in my life came from her. My brother, the abuse, the neglect, the manipulation, my father dying.

  “Let’s head out,” Gio says.

  “Go ahead. Clear everyone out. I’m going out with a bang,” I tell him as he’s walking out. I can hear him laugh as he shakes his head. Once I get everything set, I run for the front door, making my way out to the car with my head held high and my crown still in place. I check the coms to make sure our people are outside and clear of the house. Once I have the go ahead I turn and press the button on the detonator.