Queen of Wild Cards novel Chapter 500

"Serena, stay here. These men will protect you and get you safely back to Veridia. You don't need to follow me anymore. I have unfinished business inside the compound."

"Ms. Todd... will I ever see you again?" Serena desperately hoped she could stay in contact with the woman who had saved her life.

"If it's meant to be, we'll meet again. My real name is Stella Hawthorne. Don't forget it." With that, Stella turned and walked straight toward the barricaded compound.

"Marsh, stay with the extraction team and guard Tiger personally. I'm going with my wife," Julius ordered, immediately following Stella's path.

"Copy that, Boss."

Marsh rubbed the back of his neck. His boss was completely whipped.

Weren't you supposed to stop your wife from walking into a highly volatile warzone?

Did he not realize how dangerous it was in there?

"Stella, wait for me!" Fenton barked, chasing right after them.

Luke and Adrian exchanged a glance and immediately fell in line. Mr. Blackwood and Ms. Hawthorne were family to Mr. Vaughn; it was their sworn duty to protect them.

Serena watched the four formidable men march in perfect unison behind Stella. Her awe reached entirely new heights.

To command the loyalty of men willing to charge into a firefight for her—she was truly unstoppable.

"You guys really don't need to follow me. I'm just going to clear a path for the tactical teams. I'll be out in no time."

She knew the layout of this compound flawlessly. Walking in under the guise of Tiger's woman would let her bypass the chaos and help extract the hostages infinitely faster.

There were still a lot of innocent people trapped inside.

"Not a chance. I'm protecting you," Julius said, flatly refusing to leave her side.

"Absolutely not. I'm your mentor. I need to supervise you," Fenton countered, mostly to make sure she didn't accidentally level the entire building.

"We have our orders. Don't mind us, Ms. Hawthorne," Luke added.

Stella looked at the four stubborn men trailing her.

Whatever. Suit yourselves.

Alden was already on-site, coordinating with the assault teams.

"What's the situation?"

"Boss, the hostiles are heavily armed with assault rifles. Exact weapon count is unconfirmed. They have roughly forty to fifty civilian hostages. They just issued a ten-minute ultimatum: provide transport and cash, or they start executing hostages."

Alden quickly briefed Julius on the grim reality.

Stella listened intently.

"Let me go in. I know how to handle the holdouts."

She had walked the floors of this sector constantly. She knew exactly what they were dealing with. There were forty-eight trafficked victims being held at gunpoint. Tiger had ten enforcers running this specific wing.

The ringleader was a man named Hawke. He had seven armed guards and two "instructors" who trained the captives on how to run the scams.

The assault rifle claim was likely a bluff or an exaggeration; she had never seen them carry heavy artillery on the floor.

Taking down ten men wouldn't be impossible—as long as she could get Hawke to lower his guard.