Page 29 of Midnight Queen

He runs a hand, still stained in blood, over his face. “I just want to make sure you’re comfortable. I don’t know how—” he pauses, dropping his hand, “I don’t know how tofixthis, Quincey. My only concern for the past twenty-four hours was getting you back. I couldn’t think past that—I couldn’tallowmyself to think of anything else. The thought consumed me so much I never once considered what I would do once you were returned to me. How do I make up for the things that happened to you? Clearly, I’m at a loss since I just offered to find you a fucking robe.” Midnight-black eyes collide with mine. “I should be offering you the goddamn sun right now.”

In this moment, Silas Laurent seems so human it’s almost heartbreaking.

“I don’t want the sun and I don’t need a robe,” I assure him. Lifting my hand from the soapy water, I reach out to him like he’s my life raft in a turbulent sea. “I just need you.”

The sharp angles of his face turn serious as he vows, “You have me.” Without hesitation, he takes my hand and allows me to pull him closer to the bathtub.

“I know.” I smile softly. “Will you please just hold me for a little while longer. At least until the water runs cold.”

His hand squeezes mine once before he drops it and in quick moments, he removes the articles of ruined clothes. He doesn’t know it, but I plan on having a bonfire soon where I’ll burn those clothes along with the ruined lace pantie set I’d been wearing. I don’t want a reminder of this day.

Despite his large size, he moves with such graceful and agile movements as he climbs into the tub behind me. Sitting between his strong thighs, his arms gather me up and he pulls me against his chest.

It takes a few minutes, but eventually I feel the marble-like muscles of his body relax against me. Or they relax as much as he’s capable of. I’m not sure Silas has ever fully relaxed a day in his life, and the more that I experience of his world, I’m starting to realize why. How can he relax when there are men like Gideon out there scheming on how to hurt him?

Brushing the wet strands of my clean hair off my forehead, he presses a long kiss to my temple. “You are my heart, Quincey Page.”

She fell asleep in my arms before the water had a chance to run cold. Not once did she flinch or stir when I carried her out of the tub and wrapped her in a towel. Still, she remained sound asleep in my arms as I brought her down the hallway to my bedroom.

One of the first things I noticed about Quincey is she always smiles in her sleep. Something at the time, I found confusing, given her turbulent upbringing, but now it’s something I want to protect. I’d wish on every star in the sky if it meant her dreams remain pure and happy. Even despite what she’s endured with Gideon. I never want my dark world to infect the innocent escape she finds in her dreams.

When I’d carefully placed her in my bed, a place I had vowed to never allow a woman to reside in, she’d snuggled herself farther under the dark-maroon bedding. I stood over her, waiting,needingto see for myself that Gideon hadn’t robbed her of this as well. It took only minutes, but eventually her bruised and cracked lips lifted in the faintest smile, and I felt her peace settle in my chest, calming the last of the chaotic winds inside. True to the name I’d donned her, the sun can always cast away the most violent of storms.

Sliding beneath the covers beside her, I’d carefully pulled her closer to my side and wrapped my arms protectively around her. Even with the guards stationed around the estate, the need to shield her with my own body was impossible to ignore. Plus, I wanted to feel her heartbeat against me. I’ve never been more thankful to hear a heartbeat in my entire life. Each steady beat, and each breath she takes, is an invaluable gift to me.

Counting each beat, I fell into a restless sleep beside her. Every time she stirred or made any noise in her sleep, my eyes snapped open, searching her face for any signs of distress or pain, but each time she remained fast asleep.

Even when my phone started to buzz across my nightstand around sundown, and I’d reluctantly removed myself from the bed, Quincey remained asleep. Her mind needs just as much healing as her body does right now, if she needs to sleep for the next week to make that happen, I will let her. I will wait patiently at her bedside while her sleepy smiles keep me company.

Tying the black towel around my hips, I step out of the shower, but instantly I’m halting in place at the notable silence. My blood runs cold as concern grips my chest and unease settles in my bones.

She’s not in my room.

The rhythmic sound of her heart is no longer filling the dark bedroom and the sweet scent of her shampoo isn’t as strong as it should be.

Storming out of the en suite bathroom, my stomach drops when I confirm my bed is now empty and the door to my bedroom is cracked open, a thin stream of light coming from the hallway casting onto the dark hardwood floors.

Flashbacks of finding her missing just two nights prior play in my mind as I frantically follow her scent through the hallways of the house. I go flying by the now vacant room, but skid to a stop just past the doorway when I catch the dark silhouette standing in the middle of the room.

Steeling myself, I slowly enter the shadowy room. The last time both of us were in this room, we were welcomed with a horrifying sight. It’s one I wish I could take from her, so she didn’t have to feel the weight of it.

Without a word, I flip the light switch she didn’t bother to turn on when she entered. Dressed in the T-shirt I’d left for her on the bench at the end of my bed, Quincey’s head slowly turns in my direction. The sight of her powder-blue eyes full of tears is like a sucker punch to the gut.

“Quincey…” I just barely get her name out when she begins to whisper.

“It’s like he was never here.” Her bottom lip wobbles. “All of his stuff—it’s justgone. Just like that, it’sallgone.”

For months this room was unbearably hot with the ever-present fire burning in the hearth, but now it feels as cold as it was before Ira moved into it. The heavy curtains he always wanted open so he could see outside are pulled tight, hindering any moonlight from entering now. The place where his hospital bed once sat has been replaced with a queen-size sleigh bed. Where the team of cleaners had found the piece of furniture, I do not know. I pay them a lot of money, so I don’t have to worry about things of that nature. The blood that had been spilled has been cleaned from the hardwood floors, and the rug that had been stained has been replaced.

“Even his chess board is gone.” She points at the empty coffee table in front of the cream love seat. Wiping her face, Quincey croaks, “And his glasses are gone. Why—why would they take his glasses?”

“We were worried the gunfire from that night may have caught the attention of the authorities. Most of them know better than to come here or ask questions, but in my line of work, you can never be too careful.” The police chief and I have an understanding, and for a long time, he’s kept his men in line, but there’s always at least one brave detective that believes they can be the one to take my empire down. They’re too confident for their own good and in the end, they always learn the hard way that they’re wrong. “I couldn’t risk there still being evidence of what happened, and I couldn’t very well just leave him in here while I searched for you.”

Swiping more of the tears that fall, she turns her body toward me. “Where is he now? Did you already get rid of him too?”

Caught off by the harshness of her words, I narrow my eyes at her. She’s thrown words at me before like they were daggers, but never have I witnessed the icy ruthlessness in her eyes. Like a camera flash, it’s there only briefly before the usual warmth returns to them. “Do you really think I would do that to Ira? That I would simply ‘get rid’of him like he was yesterday’s trash?”

Cheeks red and eyes now flustered, she waves her hands around the space, now devoid of any personal touches. “You got rid of his things like they meant nothing!” she shouts, her voice cracking with the emotion she’s barely keeping back.

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