82 - Ready or Not

**Jason POV**

I am leaning back in my overpriced, oversized, over-luxurious black leather office chair, my hands busy polishing my two favorite guns. Gifts from my late grandfather, their pearl handles no longer shining from the constant touch of my calloused hands.

I'm listening to Charlie and Kai instruct our top soldiers on our mission plan. They will be the 2nd commanders of the squads. We may be mafia, but we train our men like the military. Our top men go through training more advanced and lethal than the Special Forces and Black Ops. Our men are deadly, and we pay them very well for their skills and loyalty.

"Remember, once we cross the threshold of 5000 meters, we will have no means of contacting each other until we reach the main house. Ben is still working on trying to infiltrate that system. Kill on site. We don't want any for interrogation. If you come across any innocents especially the slaved women and children when you do your sweep, secure the area first, and then show them how to get to safety if you can before moving on to your assigned positions. Our mission is your queen. She is your priority. I don't want any casualties on our side, gentlemen. Use your training. We keep our eyes and ears open. Your targets are trained and lethal too. Don’t underestimate them. Understood?" Barks Kai. He is on the edge of madness. He barely eats and sleeps, consumed with penetrating the Marco Fortress and getting Aurora back.

"Yes, Boss" the men shout out in response.

"Go inform your teams. Pack up and be ready to move in 1 hour!" Charlie commands. The guys scurry out, grabbing their gear and the last one out closing the door behind him.

I watch my best friends as they collect their thoughts and Charlie walks over to the bar and pours himself some scotch from the crystal decanter on the shelf. He walks to the black leather sofa opposite our drinking cabinet and hands an identical glass to Kai, they both sit down and let out a tired breath.

I can't help but exhale too. I didn't realize what I was missing in my life until I saw Aurora. Being with her is like breathing in fresh summer air. She makes my heart beat. She is a little minx and drives me absolutely mad, but she makes me want to come home each day. Her perfect body sings for me and I want nothing but to slam my shaft inside her wet folds every second of the day, claiming her as mine. We all know she was inexperienced and her flower was still whole. She wanted to go slow and we were trying our hardest to honor her wishes. She is such a fast learner; a perfect submissive and a little pain slut. She was perfect. She was ours.

Since she's been gone, we are all on edge. Our tempers are shorter than usual. I have had a weird pain in my chest lately when I think of her, so pretty much every damn minute of the day.

She was willing to give us a chance even after we kidnapped her. You don't realize just how amazing something is until it's gone. Our amazing something is Aurora. We don't deserve her but damn it, we want her, and she belongs with us. She makes us better. We will do anything for her and when she comes home, we will find a way to make sure she knows just how special she is every damn day.

We used to lust over her, wanting her for her body and the challenge she gave us, but now I do believe that I love her and want her heart and soul. I want to grow old with her. I will be better for Aurora. She has made me want to be a better man. I take out that little velvet box hiding in my desk again and hold it in my hands tightly. Charlie and Kai give me a knowing look.

I sigh and put the box back. I finished polishing my guns, loaded the bullets and grabbed the extra magazines. I stood and looked at my best friends, my brothers. I cracked my neck and stretched lightly.

"You ready to go get our girl?" I said with a cocky grin. I am so looking forward to this.

"Fuck yes!" Said Kai, jumping up to his feet, and placing the empty liquor glass on the glass coffee table. The table gives a "zing" sound at the impact. Kai grabs his coat off the nearby chair and swiftly exits the office, Charlie just smiles and follows him after placing his glass on the table too. I am right on their heels, and I head to the house and then to my room to change.

Before long, we are standing in the airplane hangar with 50 of our strongest, bravest, and most elite fighters. All of us are dressed in matching black from head to toe, a slick Kevlar bulletproof vest sits proudly against our chests under the specialized warm insulated jacket and army pants that Ben's team created. It looks like a thin windbreaker but once zipped up, it can heat up to the equivalent of ten wool coats. It also holds a few special electronic features making us James Bond worthy. Among these other gadgets of Ben's, we have our guns and our plan.

Ben was there too, wanting to see us off. He is still moving slowly, visible pain etched on his face in a scowl when he moves too much. He is using a cane for support. Grammy tried to lend him her bedazzled one, but he opted for the sleek black one instead.

"Bring our baby back safely," he says to us. "Come back in one piece," he adds while embracing each of us in a bear hug. Since he was just shot a few weeks ago, we knew keeping him home to rest was the better idea. He can monitor from his cave and help us in the safety of our home. We nod and smile at each other, our silent bro-code.

We all pile in the airplane and the pilot wastes no time peeling off, leaving a trail of picked-up dust floating in our absence as we take to the skies. We put in our earpieces and get to work.


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**Brianna POV**

I was sharpening my set of throwing knives at the counter in the training room while the men set up the targets for me. I could hear their muffled screams through the gags that were placed in their mouths and tried to block them out.

I was feeling conflicted. Dimitry has made sure the last few weeks I was either busy watching over the shipments or sent out to the other properties to inspect them. Usually, he does it but he said he needed to remain in the compound to protect Aurora.

I hated myself for so long for leading her on. It started small; He is thirteen years older than me. He was all I had growing up after our father died. My real mom was a slave, my father’s mistress and after I was born, he killed her. I was five when he paid a family to be my caretakers and moved me to another city. He enrolled me in a school and told me to find a girl named Aurora and to be her friend. I thought at first he found me a friend. I remember when I first met her. She was so frail and shy.

Dimitry would call me every night and I would tell him about me and Aurora. I would tell him everything about her; everything she confided in me, I told him. When I turned thirteen, he brought me back here to the main compound for the summer and told me everything about our family and business. He started my training and told me that I had to protect Aurora for she was really special for our family. That one day she was going to be my sister and I needed to do anything and everything to make sure she was safe and stayed pure for him. I would spend my free time training and my summers were with my brother. He taught me everything I know.

So over the years, Aurora and I became closer. She is my best friend. When she got taken by the O’Donnell gang, I was shocked and saddened. When they came after her escape attempt, I thought I had everything figured out and could bring her to my brother, but they snatched up both of us before I could make it to a safe house. They were cruel in their tortures. Not as cruel as my brother. I have had many worse beatings from him, but they didn’t hold back.

Thankfully Thomas was there to help keep the ruse. He did shoot me in the head but he was a great shot. Took almost six months for me to recover and then Dimitry upped my training.

I saw Stephen walk into the training center, breaking me from my trance; his face had been extra solemn the last few days.

“Hey Steve, everything okay?” I asked him out of curiosity. Thy guy was like a surrogate dad to everyone.

“Not really Bri,” he said, sighing heavily. “Dimitry had Aurora taken to the black room three days ago.”

If I was a bomb, I would have detonated by now. “Are you fucking serious? The black room? What the hell!” The black room was Dimitry’s personal chamber of hell. He loved to play mind games and then he would torture his victims until they broke completely before he killed them. I know he won’t kill Aurora, but he is certainly going to break her in every way possible.

“Yeah… but she is going to be okay. I know it.” He said with a little more conviction. He looked at his watch and then got up quickly. “I got to go. Got someone to meet.” He patted my shoulder and then left out the other door.

I grabbed my knives and in my anger started throwing them against the struggling targets, their blood and life force slowly seeping out of their mangled bodies. That son of a bitch promised me he wouldn’t severely hurt her. The bastard!