13. Chapter 13
Queen Adanna
The oak-paneled doors to my private office clicked shut, sealing off the noise of the compound.
Chief Idris wore her crisp, pressed uniform. She had taken it upon herself to stop by the estate—partly for an official status update, but mostly because she wanted to check on me while avoiding her own life.
She walked over to the floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the rear courtyard with her hands clasped behind her back. She turned her gaze onto me.
"How are you holding up?" she asked.
"I'm functional," I replied flatly, walking behind my desk. "Same as always."
Chief tilted her head. "And the shipping container at the docks?"
"I took care of the traitors."
"Just you?" Chief matched my cold, unblinking stare, reading right through my clipped response. Her jaw tightened up instantly. "Are you traumatizing that man, Adanna?"
I gave a casual shrug, setting my glass down on the table. "It's not like he can't take it."
Chief rolled her eyes hard, letting out a weary sigh. "Well... I made sure the container is gone. Cleaned, cleared, and dismantled without a forensic trace."
I gave her a quiet nod, accepting the update without missing a beat.
Chief stood there for two long seconds. "You can't say thank you?"
I caught that intense glare she was throwing at me and it started pissing me off, but I kept my temper locked down.
"Thank you, Auntie," I muttered, dropping the military title.
Chief nodded, satisfied with the respect, and turned her gaze back out the window toward the skyline. The silence between us stretched with history.
"Is the baby his?" Chief asked, breaking the quiet. "Because if Brooklyn is carrying his blood, that complicates things."
I knew that shit better than anyone in this house. "The doctor said they’re trying to get the prenatal DNA test done quickly, but tribal law also dictates Brooklyn has to actually go into the clinic willingly for the draw."
Chief’s lips pressed into a fine, hard line as she nodded. "I'll see if she wants a military escort to take the next step.”
A tiny twitch pulled at the corner of my lip, and I gave her another nod.
We sat in silence after that. Beneath my cold exterior, I genuinely appreciated my auntie having my back. I knew she was disappointed in my messy methods, but I loved how she remained loyal no matter what.
When my mother’s life ended, her dying demand was that I be raised by Chief. It was the single best thing that could have ever happened to me. Who knows where I would’ve ended up without her.
“Where’s the King?”
“He’s just…sleeping off the medication.”
I looked at her as she adjusted her collar, noticing the faint exhaustion around her eyes.
"What medication, Adanna?" Chief repeated. "Did you drug that man?"
I rolled my eyes, leaning my hip against the edge of my desk. I crossed my arms over my chest, keeping my tone as indifferent as possible. "I didn't mean to. His system had a reaction to the shot—"
"You drugged him?!" Idris erupted.
Her chest heaved, and she slammed both of her palms against my desk. The force rattled the crystal decanters.
"You're running around this city doing reckless, amateur shit!" Idris shouted. "Did you completely forget your fucking position, Adanna?!"
I tilted my head slowly, locking my eyes onto hers. My pulse didn't spike; my voice stayed lower than the floorboards. "Did you?"
Idris stood up straight, towering over the desk, her nostrils flaring as her face flushed with dark rage. I pushed off the wood and stepped around the desk, stopping mere inches from her chest.
As I stared down at her, I caught the cracks in her armor. I saw the deep lines of exhaustion around her jaw, the bloodshot rim around her irises, and the sheer, unfiltered frustration that had been mounting for months.
"This is the exact same path your mother walked!" Idris spat. "The exact same arrogant, sociopathic, self-destructive—"
"I am not her!" I roared. My jaw throbbed from how hard I was grinding my teeth. "And I am getting real fucking sick and tired of you bringing her up every time I don't run a mission the way you want it run!"
"I wouldn't have to bring her up if you just acted with a shred of sanity!"
"Act like what, Idris?! Act normal?!" I threw my hands up, laughing in her face. "You want me to act like some soft, emotional, predictable bitch while different people keep trying to strip the skin off my back and take my shit?!"
"I want you to act like a damn Queen!" Idris countered, stepping so close her uniform button brushed my chest. She didn't step back and neither did I.
She had built the killer standing in front of her, and she looked at me like she regretted me.
"Look at the mess you've made in less than a month!
How in the fuck did Brooklyn even get past compound security in the first place, Adanna?
! Answer me that! She is a weak, desperate, bottom-feeding follower, and you let her slide straight into your home! "
"Because you made us follow the damn rules!
" I snarled, leaning in until our foreheads collided.
"Because you insisted on playing clean politics with the tribal council!
While you were sitting on your hands, that snake slithered right through the front gate!
Your precious protocol tied my hands and left the door wide open! "
"I do my damn job regardless of your fucking feelings—the ones you love to claim you don't even possess!" Chief bellowed back. "Brooklyn is scum under the ground, yes! But keeping your enemy close was the only thing keeping the council from revoking your freedom of decisions!"
"Well, your brilliant strategy failed!" I screamed. "You want to talk about Brooklyn?! You want to talk about security breaches?! You are the reason my husband was drugged and raped in his own home! All this unnecessary shit is your fault!
The air in the room died instantly.
Idris froze. The color drained from her face, and a crimson red flushed down her neck.
"How dare you..." she whispered. Her voice trembled so intensely, it barely sounded like her own. "How dare you put that sickening shit on my shoulders?!"
"I put it where it belongs!" I pushed. "If you had cleared her out, she wouldn't have been anywhere near him!"
"I have been busting my ass, pulling every string I own, covering your tracks, and protecting that boy's life while you run around acting like your John Wick!" Idris yelled.
"Oh, I'm better than him!" I barked back.
"Adanna!"
"Idris!"
The silence between us was suffocating. Idris stared at me, processing the disrespect.
"Listen to me very carefully," Idris cautioned.
"If you kill him... if you push that boy until his mind snaps completely, I will not stand behind you.
I will step aside and let the tribal Elders tear you apart.
I will let you break your grandmother's heart.
You are profoundly, disgustingly ungrateful for the blood spilled just so you could sit in this chair and if you ever talk to me like that again—"
"Auntie, get the fuck out," I said.
I stepped forward and shoved her shoulder.
"That's an official order!" I cautioned. "Get out of my house before I call my unit and have you escorted off the property!"
Idris looked at me. In that quiet second, I saw hatred mixed with heartbreak. The woman who wiped my mother's blood off my face and placed my first Desert Eagle in my hands was looking at me as if she was seeing me for the first time.
A sickening feeling hit the pit of my stomach. My mask cracked, and the weight of what I had just done came crashing down on my shoulders.
Chief did not say another word when she stepped back.
I opened my mouth, but my pride slammed my teeth shut. I stood frozen as Idris turned on her heel and marched out.
The door slammed shut behind her, leaving me alone in the silence of my office.