Page 16 of Queen of Diamonds

Why was she so goddamned beautiful, too?

That just wasn’t fair—especially in a dress that showed off her incredible curves. Her wavy black hair was loose, she wore thigh high boots with heels and the outfit was topped with pretty diamond stud earrings that flashed with extra contrast against her rich skin.

Stubborn, fierce, and an absolute goddess with that dark cream cardamom scent that I’d thought I remembered in my dreams. I realised now they’d never been comparable to the real thing.

If only she wasn’t a snake—one that had left us bleeding out.

I understood Zed’s bone-deep reaction not to leave her for dead—instincts howling because she was more than just an Omega in danger.

She was ours.

Our girl. A dream once upon a time. A dream she had crushed beneath her selfish mafia princess heels. We would get her out then dump her on the side of the road for good.

I’d convince Zed to move to a new city because there was no way in hell Kyan would survive now he knew where she was. We could barely control him as things were.

He’d taken what she’d done harder than any of us. It had split his already unstable mind in two, and I didn’t like how he was looking at her. He was made of pure instincts—rutting more often than any Alpha I knew.

When we found a place to dump her, I’d be checking our rear view for a literal straw man to make sure he hadn’t bundled her into the trunk so he could keep her in the basement or something.

He would, too—I could literally picture him making a Glade scarecrow just for that.

And then she’d gut him to escape, and Zed would have to put a bullet in her skull.

Nope.

No scarecrow Omegas.

And no fucking keeping her—not under any goddamned circumstances.

We were going to make sure our scent match didn’t die because we weren’t fucking monsters. That was all she got from us—and she didn’t even deserve that.

I couldn’t help the part of me that thought it seemed really, really obscene to commit to only this when she was currently slung over my shoulder with her biteable ass about an inch from my canines.

But we’d done it, because like this, she just looked like a sack of Omega and not the single bartender these fuckers were looking for—whoever they were. I didn’t buy her drug dealer story for a second. I’d already eyed a few Alphas I thought looked suspicious. She’d also had to hiss at one of the bouncers to leave us be, since this behaviour might be a little low class for this kind of club.

By how tense she was, I could feel her irritation at our chosen method for extraction.

At least it was pleasant for me.

We reached the second floor back hallway that led to the stairs and heard a commotion. I turned my head before remembering it landed me a pleasant face full of Glade peach.

She was a real piece of work, but I’d loved her once. And that sweet, sweet ass.

I felt a sharp prick of pain up my side, reminding me again of who she truly was.

“Knight!” I heard her hiss as Zed spoke to the bouncer who’d been on his way up the stairs.

Right.

Mafia princesses and the spikes they carried everywhere.

I grinned with unexpected playfulness, clapping her on the ass to a wriggle and snarl of derision. “Go on, Princess, dig those claws in, see what happens.”

We were saving her.

I could give her a nip and she couldn’t complain. Really, really tempting. Especially since I could feel the slightest trickle of blood down my shirt where she’d nicked me.

Damn. I’d forgotten how hot she was.

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