Page 32 of Reign of the Queen
"I'm not naïve either; an offering made by a snake will only lead one way," I hiss back at him.
"A snake, huh? I wish I was a snake; that way I could coil myself around you, slither my body all over yours and then squeeze the life out of you, preferably with my cock bottomed out deep inside of you." He moves back slightly so he can see my reaction to his words.
I let a feral smile cross my face, but inside alarm bells are blaring the trombone on my anxiety, and my nerves can't stop screaming,run, run right fucking now!
"Where?" I question nonchalantly, like his words and proximity aren't affecting me. Raegan moves closer out of the corner of my eye and I give a slight shake of my head, warning her to stay where she is. I don’t need saving.I can’t afford to look weak to the vultures watching.
"Tonight, the café in town, just you and us, six o'clock, unless, of course, you're afraid? He raises an eyebrow.
"I'm not afraid of you or your lackeys, Carter Pemberton. If you aren't afraid of me yet, you have a death wish. I'm also not stupid enough to go anywhere alone with you four, either. You're predators that haven't figured out you're no longer at the top of the food chain...but you will. You four want to talk? Raegan will be joining us, she can sit at another table if needed, but a queen does not go into battle alone."
Leaning forward, I trail my red fingernail down the center of his chest, feeling the intake of his breath and his abs contracting. Reaching behind me I slam my locker closed, pivoting away from him, and effectively dismissing him. Once I reach Raegan's side, I wrap my arm through her arm crook and lead us down the hall, ignoring the vultures watching.
"What the ever-loving lord was that about?" Raegan asks the minute we have cleared the hallway.
"The kings apparently have a proposition they would like to discuss this evening at the café." I quirk my lips. The situation isn't funny, but I can't help myself; they sent Carter out of all of them to entice me...brave idiots.
The day passes by slowly; in and out of classes, the kings and I ignore each other entirely. Melinda pathetically tries to get their attention in the hallways and at lunch, but they ignore her. Maria is gone, so all she has left is Susan, and she looks like she might faint if I even look in her direction.
When the last bell of the day finally rings, I'm out the door of political science immediately, not bothering to wait to see what the kings will do. Raegan and I head directly for my Range, bypassing our lockers and getting the hell off school grounds. The minute we are a safe distance from the school, I let out a massive scream of frustration and repeatedly hit the steering wheel with the palm of my hand.
"Girl, chill...you are scaring me right now." Raegan holds on to the "oh shit" handle above her door. The Range accelerates in speed with my pent-up rage; houses and retail shops blur by us on either side of the highway.
"Why do they keep pushing me?" I scream. All the frustration and fury bubbling inside of me, threatening to either suffocate me or explode like a damn volcano.
"Did you really think they would just lay down for you so easily?" She turns her body in my direction on the seat, sympathy plain to see on her face.
"No, I knew they wouldn't. FUCKING HELL! I just hoped, you know, that maybe I didn't have to keep tearing people apart to make a point to them." I stare out at the tree lined highway rushing by us that leads to the oceanfront and my glass and steel fortress. The need to get behind my walls and to safety, filling my body.
"They haven't felt any of the pain themselves, Amelia. So what, you destroyed Maria and her family. She's no great loss to the kings; another willing hoe will appear to suck their dicks regardless of what you did to her. They also don’t care that everyone else is afraid of you. Everyone is still afraid of them, too. They’re not feeling any of the fire personally at this point." She looks out at the highway with a grimace. We pass small outlying ranch and farmhouses and cattle grazing in pastures.The sight usually relaxes me, but not today.
"I know. I need a little more time; I'm working on how to demolish each of them individually." I let out a huge sigh.
"Perhaps in the meantime, hear them out, play their game. Maybe the pricks will let down their guard." She shrugs her dainty shoulder.
I don't comment back. I am not convinced that it would ever be that easy with the kings. Especially Theo, that asshole will never let down his guard around me. His walls are impenetrable as I’m finding out trying to look for anything to help me ruin him.
We finally reach the gate to my house, and after entering the access code and my biometrics, the electric security gate opens wide to allow the Range access. As I pull forward, heading for the garage, I see my mom's silver Porsche Taycan is parked in her spot.
Fucking great.I haven't seen my mom in over a week. I’ve been purposely going out of my way not to run into her. I know she's still ticked that the house is only in my name, and she knows I went back to Manhattan to see grandmother last weekend without even asking her. Those two are like nuclear bombs waiting to go off when they are anywhere near each other, and the problem with bombs is they take everyone near them down with them.
"You may have married my son and convinced him that you loved him, but I know better, Catherine." Stella snarls. "I am not as easily convinced by a conniving, money-hungry slut."
"Stella, you know I loved him. I loved Jared. Why are you doing this?" Tears cascade down Catherine's face.
"You loved what he could do for you and Amelia. He saved you both from that horrible, destitute life you were living. You didn't actually love my son, not the way he loved you and Amelia. Not the way Amelia fully loved him."
"Amelia is my daughter!" Catherine screams, her arms wrapped tightly around herself, legs trembling and threatening to give out below her.
Stella lets out a rough sarcastic laugh. "Amelia is not Amelia anymore; she is not your daughter alone. My son claimed her as Stratford, she carries only our name now, and she will be treated and continue to be raised as one. She is a Stratford princess now, not some child from a backward hobble of a town in the south. You know that very well; after all, you eagerly signed the paperwork when Jared presented it to you. You, Catherine, however, stopped being a Stratford the minute I entombed my son in that mausoleum." Stella sneers, her forehead furrowed and jaw clenched.
"Have some decency and mercy, Stella. I lost him too; he was my husband." Catherine takes a shaking breath, swaying.
"Mom? Grandmother? What is going on here?" I walk into the room and stare at each of them. My grandmother's face is so full of rage; her skin is molten, color high on her cheeks and neck. Her eyes are two shiny blue disks, fists clenched with restraint, and I can see my mom crying, her shaky inhale of breath causing her shoulders to stoop and shake.
"Mia darling, everything is fine, nothing for you to concern yourself with, my love. Your mother is just being her over-dramatic self." Grandmother walks over and squeezes my hand, the picture of refined elegance in her stance and a two-thousand-dollar pale-blue Chanel suit.
"Over dramatic, yes, of course. I am over-dramatic when you have just announced that you have given a barely eighteen-year-old girl, who is still in high school I might add, the deed to a five-million-dollar house and stripped me of my access to my husband's funds." Catherine swipes angrily at the tears on her face and glares at Stella.
