He answered even though it was the middle of the night. “What is it?” His voice was quiet and his footsteps were audible, as if he were trying to vacate the room before Raven woke up.

“Gilbert is dead.”

He was silent, waiting for an explanation.

“We have a snitch. The Renaldi Brothers hit the palace in my absence.”

He released a loud breath that came out as a snarl.

“By the time I returned, all of my men were dead. Gilbert had been hit with a shotgun. Nothing I could do for him.”

“And Melanie?”

“Unharmed.”

“Are you okay?”

“Physically, yes.” If I hadn’t returned when I had, Melanie would have been taken. Used for ransom, but they wouldn’t have hesitated to hurt her until I’d negotiated her release. They came into my home, killed my butler, tried to take my woman, and to say I was livid was an understatement.

“We rejected their partnership. This is a bad way to change your mind.”

“They never intended to change my mind. If I’d wanted Melanie to be free, I’d have had to offer my own life instead—and I would have. They would have killed me, taken over the empire, and then killed you if you resisted.”

He digested that in silence for a while. “You know where they are?”

“Yes.”

“What can I do?”

“Kill the snitch. When they realized I was gone from the palace, they called it in. It has to be Jeremy.” Based on the timeline of everything that happened, it had to be him. “Must have been paid a fortune. Enough to take care of his family when he’s executed.”

“You’re certain it’s him?”

“Yes.”

“I’ll take care of it.”

They were in their private plane on the tarmac, taxiing to the runway.

We hopped out of our SUVs, and in the third one was the rocket launcher. I carried it out, loaded it, and took a knee on the ground with the weapon in place. My eyes watched the plane move, waited for the perfect moment, gauged the distance and the speed, and then fired.

It hit its mark perfectly—setting fire to the left wing and toppling the plane over.

We got back into the SUVs and drove to where the plane burned on the asphalt.

No one at the private airport came out to intercede. Police weren’t dispatched. They stayed inside and knew this wasn’t their concern.

I hopped out and nodded to my men.

They climbed up onto the plane, pulled the door open, and then dropped inside.

I stood there and waited, my knife held at the ready.

Victor Renaldi was pulled out of the plane in an unconscious state. He was carried down until he was dropped on the concrete.

I nodded to another one of my men.