Page 28 of Broken Queen
She tilted her head, but it was obvious that I was right. She liked fucking with me just as much as she liked fucking me.
“Why won’t I?” she asked.
“Because I’m valuable to you.”
“Hmm,” she said, her lips curling in subtle delight. “You are useful.”
She pulled out her phone, then spoke off to the side of the room. I picked up her crumpled dress, blood stains marking the fabric.
“Clean-up crew is on the way,” she said. Before she stretched the dress out to put it on, I stopped her. Covered in blood and muck and come, her makeup dripping down her face, Zira wasn’t the queen kept up in a tower anymore. She was almost vulnerable, and it made my dick hard all over again.
“Who did you hire?” I asked, making conversation simply to keep her naked for a few seconds longer.
“Someone who owes me,” she said, a playful tone in her voice. “Like I owe you now. Don’t worry, I know how much I’m indebted to you.”
Curiosity won me over, so I let her get dressed and began buttoning up my shirt as I followed Zira around the room.
“But who?”
“This assassin. I helped his wife save his life.”
I laughed. “You? Save a life?”
“I know. Hilarious.” She pursed her lips together. “In my own way, of course.”
Once the clean-up crew came, Zira freshened herself up in the bathroom, then the two of us walked out to the front yard. The stars shone above us, but excitement tumbled inside of me like moths flying towards their bright and fiery death. I had parked a few houses down, near a mansion that seemed unoccupied, but I lingered, waiting for her.
“Come back to the estate,” she said.
My queen gave orders, and I listened. I winked. “Of course,” I said.
Inside of the main building, Zira led me to her bedroom. It was as big as Daddy Bloom’s, but on the opposite side of the floor plan. A giant vanity mirror was situated next to a wardrobe, and a long balcony overlooked the garden and the pond. Pastel sheer drapes hung from the bedposts, like a fairy princess’s bed. A mannequin wearing a dress stood in the corner, and a jewelry display showed off her gold, silver, and diamonds. And yet, my queen had no crowns. I’d have to fix that. I needed time to work on Daddy Bloom’s scepter and crown first.
“I’d take you to the sitting room, but if we go anywhere else, the staff might be listening,” she said.
I knew that myself now. The cardstock note I had found in my lunch bag was folded, still placed in my wallet. Zira knows what happened to Gabby. I still didn’t know who had put it there, but perhaps that was the nature of this secret society bullshit. Someone was always watching and listening. Someone was always trying to get ahead of someone else.
And besides, I didn’t need an excuse to be trapped in Zira’s bedroom, alone with her.
“What happens next, then?” I asked. “What do you need to get on the board?”
She gave a side-smile. “You certainly like to jump into the action.”
“I know what my queen wants.”
She licked her lips, then opened a door, revealing a walk-in closet as big as my motel room. It was plush with lit shelves and velvet-lined drawers. Even furniture for lounging as she tried each fashionable dress. I followed her inside.
“There’s no guarantee that my father will let me take over Logan’s spot, especially since he was my husband. He might even think that I killed him, heaven forbid.” She rolled her eyes, then grabbed one of the dresses off of the hanger. “Now, if Carter Care—that assassin’s company that’s doing cleanup work for me—does exactly as I explained, no one will know that Logan is missing for a while. They’ll think he went on a business trip or a quick vacation with his mistress.”
“What happens when his mistress comes asking about him?” I asked.
Zira lifted her shoulders. “Not my concern.”
“She’ll be the first to smell something fishy.”
“Don’t care, honestly.” She pulled off her blood-stained dress then switched it for a new one, this one in a sheer pale purple that complimented her tan skin; it fit tight around her chest and flowed out with the skirt. “Anyway, if we get rid of the other board member—Ernest Dumas—there will be two open spots. And with the deaths of the existing board members, my father will have to move into action. Right away this time. Everyone’s getting tired of his procrastinating habits, and no one likes getting picked for the third draft.”
Get rid of the other board member? I liked the sound of that.
