Page 75 of Regal Queen

My throat was full.

I proposed to her.

I hadn’t meant to do it. It spilled out, along with my declaration of my love for her, but I did not regret it.

I meant every single word.

Her throat bobbed, not responding.

Finally, she leaned down to brush her lips across mine. “Maybe one day you’ll consider me a Queen, instead of a King." When she pulled back her eyes were filled with humor. Grinning mischievously, she climbed off me, bouncing off the bed and across the room. “Let's get ready."

Swallowing down my disappointment, I stood and followed behind her and within the hour, we were both ready to go.

The car ride to the airport was silent, but she held my hand, filling me with a hope that I clung to.

We arrived at the private airport approximately the same time as everyone else, and Coulter climbed out of his black Range Rover SUV with a grim look. Behind him was Knight and Dante, and Rose immediately let go of my hand to leap across the parking lot to talk to Knight, a nervous smile on her face.

“Bourbon.” Coulter acknowledged me. He looked so serious, so grown up. Gone was the cocky swagger, the immature indifference, replaced with a graveness that made my heart clench. My whole life, I’d tried to protect him from this life, the violence and pain, and now I was dragging him directly into it.

Ignoring the ache in my chest, I nodded in return then turned and strode towards where Torian was already stationed. He was with the group of men who had worked so hard for us all throughout Russia, Connecticut at my mother's house, and New York.

They were good men, and I regretted bringing them into this, knowing that it was likely that some of them would die today.

“Give me the update,” I told Torian.

We spent the next hour going over our plans one last time, plus any contingencies. Then, we all got into place, and waited.

Right on time, Dimitri's plane came into view.

Knight had paid off one of his contacts at the airport to lead the plane into an unused part of the airport.

We weren't even going to give the fucker a chance to step foot on Cuban soil.

We weren't going to wait for him to come to us. We were going to attack him outright, before he could leave that tin can he'd flown in on.

I held Rose to my side, my fingers clenching with hers tight.

Usually I faced down death with silence.

Calmness.

I'd made peace with the fact that i would die an early death a long time ago, and so facing it didn't intimidate me.

This time was different.

I had a reason for living now.

I wanted to wake up next to Rose for the rest of my damn life.

He arrived in an old Russian cargo plane, and we waited patiently as it made it’s way slowly up the runway, stopping as close to us as possible. As soon as it had stilled, the men guiding it ran off, leaving us alone with the plane.

An eerie silence fell over the area, with only the background noise of the airport, a comfort that the rest of the world was still turning. My heart pounded and I drew Rose in closer to me, my eyes locked on the door to the plane but my face buried into her hair. I inhaled a deep breath, breathing the smell of her into me, watching, waiting.

Then the door began to move, the stairs dropping, and my heart lurched.

“Looks like they’re coming out,” Torian's voice filled my ear. Pressing my lips to the crown of Rose’s head, I whispered the words I hoped I would say for the rest of my life. “I love you.”

Then I stepped away from her and made my way wordlessly down the tarmac with Coulter and several men beside me. There were a few seemingly-random placed trucks and vans we’d set up to provide cover, and I met Torian behind the large box truck closest to the plane. Coulter lead his group of men, spreading out as much as possible.