Page 49 of Queen of Diamonds

“That’s fine, Sweetheart.” His voice was cold as he got to his feet. “I really don’t care.”

I found that a little hard to believe, not missing the subtle dilation of his pupils.

Still, he’d saved me from a lie, since there was no way I’d admit to a living soul it had been easy to bring myself to climax that many times just at the very recent memory of him closing cuffs around my wrists and pinning me to the wall.

The reality had been horrifying, but in hindsight… Well, who was I to waste a good turn on?

“Kyan’s still looking into the Brotherhood situation,” he was saying. “It would be a lot easier if you told us why they’re after you. Could speed things up, get you out of here quicker.”

I didn’t answer him, trying to control the bitterness on my face as my mood instantly soured.

“No?” he asked, when I didn’t reply, and I could see a flicker of irritation. “Then we won’t bother keeping you updated.”

“So, what?” I asked. “You’ll just keep me in here forever, like a fucking—?” I cut off, unable to find the words.

“Pet?” Zed supplied, folding his arms and resting a shoulder against the wall as he peered down at me. “Our little Omega pet.” There was malice twinkling in those ice blue eyes. “Has a ring to it.”

“For how long?” I asked, mouth dry, thinking back to my nightmares. How many more of those did I have in me before I went mad? I needed outlets. “I can’t just stay in here.”

He picked at a nail. “My brother might have spoiled you, but that title you used to trample my pack holds no weight around here.” He looked up from his nails for half a moment with a curious gaze. “Quite the opposite.”

I took a breath, steadying myself at the mention of Ace. I’d reacted last night, but I couldn’t afford to again. I couldn’t afford to draw any particular attention to Ace at all. Yet, it was hard to shake the distinct impression that, despite his apparent interest in his nail, the mention of Ace was no accident.

He was much too tense for someone acting so casually.

“My title has nothing to do with it,” I forced myself to say. “You can’t keep me in this room. Not unless you intend to splash out on some expensive drugs.”

Finally, he reacted, eyes jumping to me. There was a long pause, and he looked stiff. “When’s your heat due? Your real heat.”

“A month, but trapping me in a tiny room with nothing to do isn’t exactly asking for regular behaviour.”

That was a slight lie. It was a bit less, but I planned on being far from here before two weeks was up.

And I wasn’t wrong; stress, fear, a complete lack of outlets—this heat was barrelling toward me at high speed.

“What do you usually do?” Zed asked, cocking his head and tensing like he was bracing for the answer. “We don’t have heat auctions set up?—”

“Sedation,” I said before he could make a joke of it. It was getting increasingly hard to keep the panic out of my voice.

“Partial, or the numbing?—”

“Total.” I knew some Omegas used suppressants, but my hormones weren’t stable enough, having been pushed to the edge one too many times.

His eyebrows rose. “That’s some good coverage, even for a club like that.”

I stared at him.

I didn’t have coverage like that. Instead, over a third of my income went to covering the cost of complete sedation every three months—more frequently if I was stressed.

But it was the only way I felt comfortable riding out my heats. The High Roller had ways to set them up safely, to vet the Alphas involved, but it didn’t matter. It wasn’t about the safety. I was never more vulnerable than when I was in heat. I couldn’t ensure I wouldn’t lose myself entirely, and reveal my scars to Alphas I didn’t know—not well, anyway. Not enough.

There was no enough, no amount of trust I would ever feel with an Alpha, that would make me comfortable letting them see what was carved on my back. Least of all the one staring at me now, with his messy sweep of silver hair and eyes as blue as his brother’s.

No.

It was sedation, or agony.

At the High Roller, Jade would check on me when I was on the heat drugs. I would be passed out, or almost entirely out of it, if I did wake. Even then, I was more vulnerable in that state than I’d ever dare be outside the care of the High Roller.

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