CH.61

"Drive!”

Dimitri immediately sprang into action, sliding behind the steering wheel in one fluid motion.

He roared the engine to life and the powerful car shot forward, leaving the wreckage in its wake.

Knox's intense gaze remained fixed on Serena the entire time they sped away. She looked so fragile like she might shatter into pieces if he so much as exerted the slightest force on her.

But Knox knew better than that. Beneath her delicate exterior beat the heart of a true fighter, a survivor.

Serena had been through her own personal hell at the hands of the people she trusted and called family and had emerged stronger than ever, ready to swing back at the world with everything she had. Just like Knox had after being forged in the same brutal fire.

The ride came to an abrupt halt a few miles later, ultimately jolting Knox from his brooding thoughts.

The rear passenger door flew open and Killian slid into the driver's seat, his expression thunderous. The big man's hands were clenched into tight fists, the muscles in his arms corded and straining against his shirt sleeves. A thick vein pulsed angrily in his taut neck.

Seven slammed the front passenger door behind him with enough force to rattle the tinted windows as he took shotgun. Rage was etched into every harsh line of his face, his dark eyes glittering with barely restrained violence.

The two men looked like they had just stepped off an active battlefield.

They had given chase after the team of assassins who tried to eliminate Serena with that car bomb, intending to snuff out her life without leaving any chance of survival.

Killian and Seven both knew those Hitmen weren't just ordinary street muscles. Every single vehicle in Knox's fleet was specially reinforced and built to withstand explosive attacks like that.

The assassins had immediately tried to take the coward's way out and commit suicide once they realized they couldn't escape being apprehended. Unfortunately for them, Seven was gifted with the unique ability to delve into the minds—particularly dead ones and extract information. No permission required.

"It's confirmed, boss," Killian growled, twisting around to face Knox in the backseat. "That hit on sister-in-law was ordered directly by Princess Dorothy."

Knox went utterly and terrifyingly still with the cold fury settling in the pit of his stomach. He could feel every muscle in his body tense and coil tighter than an over-wound spring as icy tendrils of rage slithered through his veins.

"What did you just say?" he asked in a dangerously low rasp, the words a menacing growl that seemed to reverberate throughout the confined space.

Seven turned to meet his boss's eyes without an ounce of fear. The man knew better than anyone just how dangerous Knox could be when properly motivated by rage. "You heard him," Seven stated flatly. "Your dear fiancée tried to take out Donna."

A muscle ticked spasmodically in Knox's tightly clenched jaw as molten rage pulsed through him, scorching everything in its path. He wanted to wrap his hands around Dorothy's slender throat and squeeze until he felt the treacherous life finally drain from her scheming, deceitful eyes.

"Drive!" he ordered.

Killian didn't need to be told twice. He mashed his foot down on the accelerator and the powerful engine roared as they tore away from the curb. The car weaved in and out of traffic with reckless abandon, blowing through red lights and narrowly avoiding collisions as other vehicles swerved wildly out of their path.

Knox barely registered any of it. His mind was completely consumed with visions of revenge against Dorothy for daring to make a move against what was his.

His grip tightened around Serena's unconscious form until his knuckles turned white, cradling her protectively against his chest as if she were the most precious and fragile thing in existence.

'That filth will regret this,' a cold voice vowed from somewhere deep inside him. 'I'll make damn sure she doesn't know what hit her.'

Seven glanced over his shoulder with a grim expression. "What's the plan, boss? You want me to put together a crew, pay that bitch a little visit?" His tone made it clear he was itching for a fight.

The corner of Knox's mouth curved into a wolfish smile that sent an involuntary shiver down even Seven's battle-hardened spine. Oh, they were going to do so much better than just pay Dorothy a little 'visit.' This was going to be an outright war. And that spoiled filth was going to be the first casualty.

Knox looked down at Serena, his gaze softening ever so slightly as he traced the delicate curve of her cheekbone with one bony finger.

"How the fuck did that dick-eating whore find out about Donna?" Killian growled, barely containing his fury as he expertly navigated the city streets. "I had everything on lockdown, tighter than a maximum security prison, just like you instructed. No one outside the family was supposed to know she even existed."

"We're already working on tracking down that leak," Seven stated, his tone all business. "But our priority right now is getting Donna back to the villa safe and secure under heavy guard."

Knox gave a terse nod. "Double the security at the villa.”

“Roger that, boss. In fact, I will triple it. I will make every single entrance and exit covered by our best men, with a rotating patrol schedule and overlapping shifts. If so much as a fucking mouse tries to get inside those walls, it will get shot on sight. No exceptions."

A tense silence fell over the occupants of the luxury sedan, broken only by the low purr of the powerful engine and the soft sounds of Serena's steady breathing.

Knox stared down at her, wondering how losing her…

He shoved that thought aside, not allowing himself to dwell on the horrific possibilities.

He had a long overdue score to settle with his traitorous extended family. And that damn princess had no idea the kind of unrelenting hell she had just unleashed by daring to make a move against his mate. He would take great pleasure in opening her eyes, in showing her exactly what happened to those who were foolish enough to cross him and his inner circle.

Knox leaned back into the plush leather seat, one hand continued its soothing caress of Serena's silken hair while the other remained clenched.

His mind was already meticulously plotting out exquisitely painful ways to make Dorothy pay dearly for her transgressions. By the time he was finally done with her, she would be broken, begging and pleading for the cold embrace of death long before he finally allowed it to claim her.

Knox could already picture it so vividly - watching the life drain from Dorothy's eyes as realization finally hit that she had made the last mistake she would ever make.

He would savor every flicker of fear, every agonized scream, and let it fuel him as he took his time and made her suffer a fate worse than death for daring to make an attempt on his world, on his future. On his mate!