Their Queenpin (The Ridge MC #6)

Chapter 46 Adelina

The shower had been a quiet, shared space where the water washed away the blood and the grime of the day. It flowed over us like a baptism, cleansing us from the violence, the betrayal, the choices we couldn’t take back.

Now, in the stillness of my suite with the lights dim, I lay in the center of the king-sized bed, the soft sheets cool against my skin. This room—my room—felt more like mine now, though part of me was already planning to move us into the suite Wilde had been staying in.

That was on the family floor, down the hall from where Mamà and Caterina lived. But with four of us here from time to time, we would need a suite to ourselves. Wilde’s would be ours, something new.

Massimo’s suite still carried the weight of my mother’s presence, her history with him—something I wasn’t ready to claim yet. But this space on the floor below was enough for now.

We had a long road ahead. Now that Sas, Graff, Rafe, and I had cemented our bond, we would need to help the MC.

Wilde and Bou were constantly on my mind, the worry gnawing at me.

Bou was out there somewhere, and Wilde... he was ready to tear the world apart to get her back. I wanted that for him, but we had a plan.

Angel had texted the men earlier, telling them we would head out in the morning. There was no sense rushing in, half-cocked and sleep deprived. But that didn’t stop the gnawing in my gut.

We needed this rest. I needed it.

We couldn’t save anyone without it.

Rafe, Graff, and Sas stood around the bed, each of them moving in their own way, undressing with slow, deliberate motions. Their bodies, familiar and solid, strong still in the light of everything we’d been through.

They didn’t rush, didn’t speak, but there was an unspoken connection between us, joyful with the love we made, but heavy with what came next.

Sas was the first to come to me. He moved slowly, thoughtfully, which was strange for him. His hands were clean now, no longer stained with the blood of the day, but his amber eyes held the same darkness. He kneeled beside the bed, looking at me as he reached out and placed his left hand gently over my heart.

His touch was grounding, heavy with meaning. His gaze met mine, and there was no need for words. He knew, and I knew, what this meant.

Rafe followed, stepping to the other side of the bed, his rough hands sliding over my skin until his palm rested above Sas’s, over my heart. There was a gentleness in his touch, but the tension in his jaw said everything. This was a vow, a promise.

Graff was the last. He moved slower than the others, his eyes scanning mine, as if he was searching for the answer to an impossible question. He crawled onto the end of the bed and laid his head on my stomach. Then, his hand, steady and sure, found its place over Rafe’s and Sas’s, completing the circle around me.

They were mine, and I was theirs. Together.

I raised my left hand, my fingers brushing over their knuckles, and felt the three rings resting there, one for each of them. They matched the ones I’d given to them, each band a vow.

They represented our unity, our strength.

This was how it had to be.

And probably how it was always meant to be.

“Are you really taking over?” Sas asked, his voice quiet but steady.

He climbed onto the bed, making it dip with his weight. His eyes searched mine for something—reassurance, maybe. The doubt lingered in the air, unspoken but present.

“Yes,” I replied without hesitation. My voice felt stronger than I expected. “For once, I want to say my family—, la mia famiglia as well as La Famiglia —won’t be responsible for some of the shit we’ve done in the past.”

Rafe’s hand tightened slightly, the heat of his body so close to mine. They were waiting for me to lead them, to guide them into this next chapter of our lives.

“But can you be ruthless when needed?” Sas’s question was quiet, maybe even a challenge.

I didn’t answer right away. I knew what it meant to be ruthless. I’d seen it in my father, in the way he moved through life, unyielding and calculating. Could I be like that when the time came? I didn’t know, not for certain.

I let the silence stretch a moment longer, my eyes moving from Sas to Graff, to Rafe. They were waiting for the answer. And I was waiting for it too, waiting for the truth to rise up inside me.

When I finally spoke, my voice was quiet but sure. “When it means protecting those I love,” I said, “I think so.”

The words were heavy, but they were as honest as I could be.

My men understood. The world we lived in, and the one I now ruled, wasn’t one of softness or half-measures. I would do whatever I had to for them, and they knew it.

Graff drew unseen pictures on my upper thigh, his breath warm on my stomach. “We’re with you, Adelina. Always.”

I smiled, small but real, and more for me than for them.

Rafe’s hand slid from my heart to the side of my face, cupping my cheek as he crawled in beside me. Sas pressed a kiss to my temple, and for a moment, I let myself sink into the warmth of them, the unity of us together.

My body ached from being hung by my wrists and then making the best kind of love possible, and I felt certain I would sleep like the dead.

No matter what came next, we had each other. And my men were absolutely everything I needed.