Page 79 of Brutal Queen

I look around the kitchen and happiness radiates through me as I take in each of my men, so fucking grateful that they’re mine.

Nico grabs Benny around his waist and drags him to stand between his legs as he perches on the stool. Shuffling to get more comfortable, Benny sinks his back against Nico's chest, tilting his head into the crook of his neck. Closing his eyes and breathing in his lover’s scent, Benny looks more relaxed than I’ve seen him in days. Keeping someone with as much excessenergy as Benny relaxed has been more than a little challenging.

Sinclair takes his increasingly familiar post at their side. The caretaker of our group, ever present and always ready with whatever we need. He’s already reaching across for Benny’s bowl of fruit and yoghurt and ignores Benny when he turns up his nose, shoving the spoon in his hand.

I sidle up beside Enzo as he turfs out the last of the crispy bacon on to the serving plate. I walk my fingers along his forearm and up his sleeve to the neck on his shirt. He’s wearing a turtle-neck and I hook a finger over the top of it, trying to pull it down.

“Are you going to tell me what this neckline is about, Zo?” I say, pulling it harder and catching a glimpse of what looks like saran wrap against his skin. Well, that is intriguing.

Before I can glean any more, he bats away my hand. “Unhand me, woman, and eat your breakfast. It’s a surprise. You’ll just have to wait.” Giving in, I release him and circle the island to hop up onto the stool next to Sin and dig in to breakfast.

Sitting with them like this fills me with a joy I’ll never be able to adequately express. It’s like I’m enveloped in a layer of devotion. In my darkest hour, happiness like this was something I never had enough hope to dream of. But now that I have it, I won’t ever take it for granted.

I’ll do whatever it takes to protect them.

To keep them.

To love them.

Now and for always. They’re mine and I am theirs.

EPILOGUE

ENZO

The fire crackles and throws out a warm glow that feathers its heat across my skin. I take a deep breath to prepare and steady my nerves. It wasn’t easy asking Sin for help to make this happen. It took more courage than I’d expected. He wasn’t the only one I’d had to enlist either. Nico and I had been up since well before sunrise, working on the first part of it.

I should’ve known they wouldn’t look at me any differently. Wouldn’t judge me.

I’d taken Nico aside earlier in the week and asked him to tattoo me. His eyes had practically jumped out of his skull when I explained what I wanted. I’d felt my cheeks flush, but he quickly put me at ease.

“I’m not shocked about what you want, Zo. It's that you’d let me get my hands on your virgin skin. I’ve been itching to dirty you up for years.” His words eased my nerves, and wearranged to set everything up in the med-room while Aurora was having her meeting with Stefano.

With every scratch of the needle, an overwhelming feeling of rightness settled into my soul. The longer it took, the more I sank into a feeling of peace, to the point that I’d almost drifted off. Nico had to jostle my shoulder when I wouldn’t roll over for him.

Aurora nearly ruined the surprise during breakfast, and I had to avoid her wandering hands throughout the day. The more I distanced myself, the more eager she was to touch me.

This next part has been equally nerve-wracking. I’m not sure how I was going to react to anyone other than Aurora binding me, but this is a tie that I’m not able to complete alone, and one of her favourites. Mine too. I cornered Sinclair in his office yesterday, asking him to help me surprise her, and he agreed without question.

Nico and Benny are keeping her out of the way, joining her to meet with Gabriella to go over the latest intel on the people making moves to become the next big pains in our asses. She complained that she didn’t need a babysitter and eyed Sinclair and I suspiciously, before giving in and playing along.

We’re set up in the living room and I take a deep breath as I strip off my shirt and kneel in the centre of the room.

“If you feel uncomfortable at any time, use the traffic lights,” he says in a hushed, gentle tone that goes a long way to put me at ease.

Despite my prior concerns, I didn’t feel vulnerable exposing this part of myself like I thought I would. The moment he drapes the rope across my shoulder, an electric shiver dances across my skin and I close my eyes to savour it.

When the pads of his fingers brush over my shoulder blades, I’m bombarded with worries that I’m too different to Sinclair, Nico, and Benny. Maybe I’m not dominant enough tobe a part of what they share with Aurora, but as Sinclair continues to bind and tie, the more I drift away from my negative thoughts. The more I feel at ease.

This is my way of becoming a part of what they all seem to be able to share between them. Nothing about Sin’s touch triggers memories of the cruelty I suffered at Max’s hand, but it also doesn’t feel like it does with Aurora.

It’s not sexual, it’s supportive and inspires a sense of safety and calm. Dropping my chin to my chest, I slip into a headspace I’m surprised I’m able to achieve with him.

I couldn’t tell you when Sinclair left, but I’m pulled back to the present the minute I hear Aurora enter the room.

Her sharp intake of breath brings a smile to my face and my skin catches fire under her gaze as she takes in every inch of me—tracking the intricately wound diamond lattice and moaning when she reaches the new tattoo around my neck. Nico did a phenomenal job. It’s a rope inked in black, exquisitely drawn down to the intricate fibres that twine around each other, creating a continuous cord now indelibly etched into my skin.

Aurora stalks across the rug towards me and drops to her knees so that she can study it.

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