𝐊𝐑𝐈𝐒
Kings & Queens - Ava Max
"To all of the queens who are fighting alone, Baby you're not dancing on your own"

   I could barely focus on the meeting, the events of last night and this morning replaying in my mind at the most inconvenient of times. I supposed she would have met Liz by now, and getting a rundown of what her training would consist of. As a leader, I had to treat everyone equally, no favouritism. And yet... I found myself worrying about the brunette, her hazel eyes haunting me. I wondered if her wound was better, worried if she was in a good enough condition to start training, even though I've made my men train with worse wounds.

   "Jamie, I believe I asked you to take the prick down, care to explain why he is still swaggering around the bloody place without so much as a scratch on him?" I spoke up finally, cutting off his excuses.

   "That's what I was explaining, boss-"

   "No, you weren't explaining, you were giving shitty excuses." Everyone in the room tensed at the sharpness of my tone. Pity and apprehension for Jamie shone in everyone's eyes. I hated it when rookies did this. When they thought they were going to get hurt.

   "Sorry, boss," Jamie murmured.

   I sighed, getting to my feet. I walked over to where he was standing, head hung low. I grabbed his chin, tight, but not enough to hurt him, forcing him to meet my eyes. Fear shone in them as he reluctantly met my eyes.

   "Don't be sorry for being human," I said softly. "I know it is hard, taking another's life. But the longer that man stays alive, the more people get hurt. People like your sister. All we needed was the right order from the right person, and now we have it."

   The fear ebbed away as he took in what I was saying, realising I wasn't going to hurt him.

   "You chose this path, Jamie. And I'm afraid there's no way back, now. And if you want to survive, stay here with these people who have come to think of you as family... it's either kill or be killed. You will have to harm other people to make sure you and everyone else stay safe." I gripped his shoulders.

   "Do it for Laura. Do it because no one else is willing to make him pay for what he's done. If you can't do this, can't take the shot... then I'll have to take you off the mission and have someone else do it instead. If you don't have the stomach to face blood, then I will find some other means of work within my organisation for you." My tone was much too harsh, but it couldn't be helped. Nothing else would work on him.

And it did. His shoulders set in a firm and determined manner, eyes glaring. "I'll do it." His voice was low. "I'll kill the bastard. Properly, this time."

I sat back down in my chair, holding his gaze with a small smile. "Good."

   To be completely honest, I had a splitting headache, having not slept a wink last night, what with the nightmares and the foreign feeling of having someone sleep next to me. I hoped that Allison at least, had sufficient rest before Liz comes down on her.

   Sighing as the men left the room, I slumped back in my chair. Images of the nightmare I had last night replaying in my head. It was the same one, one I hadn't had in weeks. Maybe Allison showing up at my door in such a bad shape triggered something.

   It scared me, I admitted as much to myself. She was the daughter of someone who had meant a lot to me, one of the only people I could rely on, truly trust. He'd never introduced me to her, not in person. He'd shown me pictures, promising me one day that he would. Not that I blamed him for not keeping that promise, who would want their only daughter to get involved in a mafia organisation, even if it was one that he considered family?

   And yet, fate had bestowed such a cruel irony on him. My fists clenched painfully at the memory of his stone cold body, anger simmering in my veins as I remembered my own promise. To find the bastard that killed him and to tear him apart with my bare hands.

   My vengeful thoughts were interrupted by the sound of my phone ringing. Raising my eyebrows at the caller ID, a relaxed calm settling to give way to amusement, I answered.

   "I hope you didn't terrorise Liz too much," I said by way of greeting.

   "I thought you mafia lot would be made of sterner stuff," came Allison's wry reply.

   "You threw Penny at my face!" I heard Liz yell.

   "You said I had to be resourceful when I'm wounded!" Allison protested, bringing a startled laugh out of me.

   "You threw my cat at her?"

   "Penny's perfectly fine, I think she might've even liked it."

   "I have no doubt of that. It's not Penny I'm worried about, it's Liz. She's had it out for her ever since she spiked her milk with vinegar."

   Allison gasped, outraged. I heard her yell at Liz, "You monster, how could you?! To such a poor thing?!"

"Kris, I quit! You can train this hobgoblin by yourself!"

"I was going to call you back here anyways." I blurted out, having made a decision in a split second.

"You were?" Liz sounded surprised.

   "I'll take on Allison's training. She might prove useful to track down whoever went after Bill." Even I couldn't believe the words leaving my mouth, the rash decision I was making.

"Kris-"

   "Drop it, Liz," I warned. "I know you're worried about the boys, but-"

   "What? No!" I heard a scuffle, guessing that Liz had snatched the phone away from Allison. "It's not the boys I'm worried about. I know you have this stupid ass idea that they'd be upset if you showed favouritism but I'm willing to bet that they wouldn't give a fuck."

   "Liz-" But this time, it was she who interrupted me.

   "Bill was close to all of us. He's left Allison in our care, don't think that we wouldn't protect her to our last breath. I've always told you, Kris, just be who you are, be free. That's why we all follow you without question. Now shut up and let me handle the spitfire until you get back so we can talk properly."

   "Wait!" I yelped, stopping her from hanging up. "Give the damn phone back to Allison. I wanna talk to her."

   "What?" Allison grumbled.

   "I assume there's a reason you called, and you haven't told me what it is yet."

   "Oh, it doesn't matter now. I was going to ask for one on one lessons, but you said you'll train me personally so alls good." She sounded relieved, voice straining a bit.

   After a moment of silence, I spoke, surprised by my own voice, at how gentle I sounded. "You know something? Lilo-"

   That was my mistake, I was too distracted. Too distracted to notice the figure that had crept up behind me until it was too late. Pain flared in my side as something stabbed through the skin and muscle. I gave a yell of pain, dropping the phone.

"Kris? Kris! What's going on?!"

I barely had time to keep my footing as my attacker sent blow after blow at me. I didn't dare take the knife out, knowing that it was the only thing keep most of my blood in, but it was a damned inconvenient thing to fight with, especially as each blow sent a flare of pain through the wound.

I halted the descent of another knife, aimed at my chest, before it could reach its aim, twisting it out of the assailant's hand. Gasping as I pushed down the pain, senses sharpening as adrenaline took over, I tried to twist their hand over their back, but they slipped out of my grasp, sending a kick to my ribs. My back hit the table quite hard, a grunt escaping my lips as I quickly rose back to my feet, fists clenching.

"Who sent you?" I demanded quietly.

"An old friend." The voice was decidedly masculine and the damned bastard was covered from head to foot save for his eyes, preventing me from gleaning nothing but his height and build.

I moved first, landing a blow to his chest, followed by a kick to his side. While he faltered, I sent another kick to his head, knocking him against the wall. He lay there groaning as I went over to him, ready to pull off his face mask. But too late, I realised his facade as he snapped his head towards me, effectively stunning me.

"Today was just a warning... and a demonstration."

I didn't remember much after that, having blacked out. Next when I woke up was in the infirmary, Mary glaring at me disapprovingly as I slowly came to.

"You're lucky you're not dead, young lady." Her thick accent dissipated the slight ringing in my ears.

"You say that every time, Mary."

"Yeah, because every time I see you, you're bleeding to death. At least you didn't pull out the knife this time."

I gave her a tired grin. "I do listen when you're lecturing me, you know, harsh as you tend to sound."

She gave a resigned sigh, turning to the monitor. "Your vitals are stable, nothing important was punctured, but that stab wound is gonna hurt like hell for at least a couple of months since it did go in quite deep. You wanna tell me who you pissed off this time?"

"No idea," I grunted, trying to lift myself, Mary grabbing my arm to help me. "And given the current situation with Allison-"

   "Oh, I almost forgot! The kid's been pacing as hard she's almost worn the floor down to a trench."

   "She's here?" I demanded. "Who the hell brought her here?! She's barely healed from her own wound-"

   "Which you've stitched up quite well, I noticed. To be honest I'd imagined you patching anyone up would be like Maze patching up that guy with a button in Lucifer."

   "Stop interrupting me!" I whined, glaring at her.

She held up her hands in surrender, going out with a grin. Moments later, a hyperactive kid was fussing all over me with no regard to her out wound.

"You scared me! I heard yelling and fighting and I didn't know what the hell was happening-"

"What the hell happened? Did you find out who it was? How did our security get breached?" Liz talked over the kid. "Where-"

"Will everyone just shut up?!" I yelled, the noise beginning to overwhelm me. Immediately, they quietened, looking at me with wide eyes.

   "I don't have any fucking clue as to what the hell happened and how the hell it happened in my own fucking turf, in my fucking headquarters. And now I fucking bed ridden because if I so much as suggest leaving before I'm stable, Mary will kill me before whoever's out to get me first."

   I take a huge breath, trying to calm down. "First, we need to analyse what happened the last time and the connection between that and this. It can't be a coincidence that Lees got attacked last night and now I've been targeted-"

   "Wait, Lees?" Liz frowned, ignoring my glare for having interrupted me.

   "She means me," Allison snapped, making me grin. She seemed a bit different, contrary to the lost, nervous girl I met last night. Her eyes were sharp, focused on my face and hanging on every word, trying to analyse everything and see if she finds something we don't.

   "Anyway, Liam gave me a report saying that the attackers were covered from head to foot, just like the bastard that attacked me. The question is... why would they send ten men to Allison's house and just one to overpower me? How did he sneak up-" I broke off, a possibility dawning on me the same time it struck Allison.

   "Unless, it was an inside job." She realised, looking at me with wide eyes.

"Well, isn't that a surprise." I gave a wry smile. "Especially considering my gorgeous looks and excellent personality."