CHAPTER FOUR

“ G ood.”

It was all he could say upon hearing Brianna was leaving. Yet, as the words left his mouth, he felt sick.

“Willow and I will take her to the airport in a few hours. While I’m out, I want you to check in with the team in Italy.”

Three of their operatives had been in Italy for the past three weeks. During their last check-in less than forty-eight hours ago, they’d advised Regan’s females had been located, and Craig had given them the authority to extract them.

He nodded, but his mind was still on the sexy redhead. “She flying home on her own?”

“Who?”

“Who do you think?” he snapped and snarled at the smirk on the prince’s face. “Fuck off, Moretti. I’m just looking out for you. If something happens to Brianna, your mate will be pissed.”

Brayden barked out a laugh.

“She’s flying on our private jet, so I’m sure she’ll survive, Craig, the luxurious experience. Unless you want to personally escort her home?”

Hell no!

Even though he knew Brayden was joking, he imagined sitting on an aircraft with her for five long hours, his cock hard and her ignoring him. No, thank you very much.

He held up his hands. “All good. I’ll get our guys on a call then telepath you an update.”

Telepathy was a skill all vampires had. It allowed them to speak to those they’d swapped blood with. There was a physical distance limit, but it was a case of miles, not just feet.

They turned as Lance stepped into the room, running a hand through his hair.

“What’s up?”

Lance was one of four senior lieutenant commanders—or the SLCs, as they called them—who reported directly to Craig. They each had a team, and so on. It was structured much like a human army, and their numbers totaled in the multiple thousands around the world. They spent much of their time guarding Moretti properties or protecting the royal family and their teams.

Lance leaned against the wall and crossed his arms. “Bloody Russo’s. We need to separate them. Every time Marco starts talking, that little fucker Luca shuts him down.”

The three Russo brothers had breached the castle security and threatened the royals a couple weeks ago. Luca and Marco were currently holidaying in the castle prison, while their older brother and known leader of the rebellion, Stefano, had escaped during the coup.

The rebellion had existed for hundreds of years. The Moretti’s considered it a natural part of being a race to have those who disagreed with its structure and rules. But one only had to look at the other intelligent life on the planet to see how that was playing out.

“Place one of the LCs undercover as a standard guard and let’s see what they let slip.”

Brayden nodded in agreement. “I saw some cracks in the relationship between Marco and Stefano during the coup. Either Marco has just figured out he’s been used, or the guy has discovered he has a conscience. Actually, scrap that. I’m fairly sure he’s missing a few crayons.”

Craig snorted. Yeah, the male was a bit slow, but he’d underestimated people before, and he wouldn’t make that mistake again.

“Let’s go, Craig. We’ve got a meeting with the king. I’m done pussyfooting around with these assholes.”

Craig grinned.

About fucking time.

“Then I’m taking your girlfriend home.”

His grin vanished.