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Chapter 40

❖Anna❖

I wake up with a beam of sunshine on my face. Gabriel's arms are still tightly wrapped around me, as if he hasn't moved since my nightmare last night.
I look up at his face and see that he is already looking at me.
"Buongiorno mio angelo." He says to me.
"Good morning handsome." I answer, as a yawn escapes from my mouth, making him laugh.  "What time is it?" I ask.
"It's half past seven. We have to be at the warehouse at 10 o'clock sharp."
I snuggle closer to Gabriel as I let his words sink in. "Wait... did you say... we?" I ask.
"Yes, we. I want you there with me angel. "Gabriel turns to lay on his side, so we're looking at each other. "I want my, our man, to see their queen. To know who they will be fighting for."

"Queen? Do I have to wear a crown as well?" I joke, earning a handsome smile from Gabriel.
"No, you won't have to wear a crown. It's just a title angel. I'm their boss, their king, which automatically makes you their queen. Though, if you really want to, I'm sure I can get you a crown somewhere. Would you prefer golden or silver?" Gabriel winks at me, clearly satisfied with his own joke, and I can't help but laugh.
"Will the others be okay with me being there?"
"Yes they will. Not that they have a say in it. But I did pitch the idea with them yesterday and they all thought that it was the right move to make."

I hum, laying my head back on his chest, needing some time to let it all come in and to give it a place.
After 5 more minutes of cuddling, we get out of bed and get dressed.

In the kitchen, the twins and Eliot are waiting for us with some breakfast.
"The others already have left to go to the warehouse to arrange everything for the meeting." Eliot explains. "We will go with you tow."
"If someone had woken up earlier, we could have been at the warehouse already." Aro says.
"Well, if someone had woken mé up earlier, there wouldn't have been a problem." Joel argues back.
Gabriel sighs as his brothers start to argue, but I can't help but giggle because of the silliness of the twins.

Things here sometimes seem so normal. As if this family doesn't have a dark secret at all. Sometimes, it almost feels like I have a normal life here.
Sadly, that feeling quickly disappears as Gabriel says that it is time for us to go.
We get, with the five of us, in the car and drive towards the warehouse.

Ones we arrive, I can feel my nerves starting to come up. There are so many people here and the thought of me, having to stand in front of all of them, makes me feel sick.
Gabriel takes a step closer to me and grabs my hand, giving it a soft squeeze, clearly noticing my discomfort.
I look up at him, only to find him already looking down at me. "You'll be completely safe angel." He says to me. "I'll be with you the hoke time."
I give him a small smile in return and take a deep breath, before we make our way to the front of the room.
Aro and Joel are walking in front of us, pushing everyone who doesn't move out of their way. Gabriel has his arm tightly wrapped around my waist, keeping me close to his side so I can't walk off and no one can touch me. Behind us, is Eliot, keeping a watchful eye over everything.

At the stage, we are greeted by River, Raphael and Nicolaas and together, we step onto the stage to start the meeting, As soon as Gabriel walks to his pot at the front of the stage, the whole hall quiets down.
"Good morning everyone." He says and I can feel the nerves shoot up again.
This could be the beginning of the end.

❖Gabriel❖

As soon as I step forwards, the whole hall quiets down. River and Raphael have taken a stand on the front edge of the stage, both standing on a corner, daring anyone to take a step closer to us.
Eliot and Nicolaas are standing close to the make shift stairs that lead to the stage, so no one can come up. And Anna, is standing on my left back side, flanked by both of my brothers.

"Good morning everyone." I say ones I'm sure that I have everyone's attention. "Thank you all for coming in, in such a short notice. But don't worry, ones this is all over, I will make it up to you all."
Some people laugh, but it soon turns serious again when I continued.
"We know where we can find the leader of the Bratstvo. We know how we can finally bring them down. But I need your help." I look around, making sure that everyone is listening to me. "We have one of their man, two actually, locked up in our cellars and last night, one of them finally gave us the location of Samuel's house!"
A roar erupts from the crowed as my people start to understand what we're going to do.

"Silenzio!" Raphael's voice sounds loudly over the other voices and within seconds the whole hall is silent ones more.
"I have gathered all of you here, to instruct you on the plan we've made to bring the Bratstvo down. So be quite and stay focussed because I need all of you at your best when we go out tonight. Is that clear?!"
A loud' "Yes boss." Is returned from the crowd and I continue.
"Tonight, we will surround Samuel's home and lure him out with the help of one of his own. With a little luck, your queen's father will be there too. Ones they will come outside, we will capture them both!"

A murmur moves through the crowd, sounds of surprise and anger can be heard.
"We need to kill them!" Someone yells.
"We have to make them pay!" another person screams.

"Do not question my decision! These men are going to die by our hand. But not tonight!. Tonight, we will capture them and bring them here to torture them! I want them to suffer as much as they made us suffer. And a simple shot through the head is to easy! We will make them pay for all that they've done! We will make them pay for all the blood we shot because of them! We will make them pay for all the pain and sorrow that have been thrown upon us! We will make them pay for all the deaths in our family. We will make them pay for what they did to our queen!"
I glance over at Anna before I continue
"Tonight, we will capture our enemy and bring them here to have some fun with them, and to make them bleed on our grounds. And then, when the time is right, we will bring them to their own men and show them what we can do! Who is with me?!"
Ones again, a loud roar erupts from the crowd as my man get their adrenaline pumping.

I turn back towards Anna and hold out my hand for her to grab. As soon as her fingers wrap around mine, I pull her into me and turn us towards the crowd, so they can all see her, and so she can see them all.
"These are your people angel." I whisper in her ear. "These people will fight for you tonight. They will help me to make your nightmares go away. They will do everything for you, just as I would do anything for you mio angelo.
Tonight, you will sleep in my arms, without having to fear for a new nightmare. Tonight, you will sleep in without having to worry about anything. Tonight, Anna, my angel, you will be free."
I turn her around in my arms, so that she is facing me, and seal my promise with a deep, passionate kiss.

Tonight, we will win!