Page 51 of The Queen's Vow (Ruthless Games 2)

AFTER WE FINISHED EATING, we returned to the motel room. Folding my new clothes, I stared at myself in the mirror by the bed. Seeing my reflection, so many thoughts ran through my mind. With decent clothes on my body and my stomach settled, my brain sharpened.

I sat on the edge of the bed and said, “What are your instincts telling you about who’s after me?”

Julian stared at me for a moment and said, “I’m sorry. It has to be your father’s partners.”

I shuddered at how easily his words spilled out. “Why?”

“Your father didn’t get death threats. Those animals he did business with knew not to fuck with him. Now a month into your reign and someone’s paying top dollar to take you out?”

“So what should I do? I can’t live like this. I run a company. I can’t go into hiding every six weeks. I can’t always feel afraid like this.”

“You don’t have to,” he replied, his voice getting low. “Your dad’s partners are old-school. They don’t want to answer to a woman.”

“I have three men who respect my power.” I glared at Julian, willing the doubt to not show on my face. “It turns them on.”

Julian fidgeted, irritation pinching his eyes. “I still don’t trust they are being sincere with you. I’m sure they’re attracted to your power which you have undeniably earned. They are giving you what you want for now, but it won’t last. They are using you. Maybe not Sebastien.”

I hated how he made sense. I trusted so deeply in Anthony’s love. I believed that Giancarlo committed to me and didn't need his sex club anymore. But their fathers terminated the drug deal too easily. What if Anthony Sr., Richard, and Patrick played dirty with their sons and made them choose? Me, or their families?

Their power rested in the positions they held in their companies. My father never thought he could rule alone. He knew he needed Messina, Daria, and Byrne’s support.

Did I get in over my head?

Maybe not Sebastien.

Would he stand by me if it meant Messina and Byrne would be against us? Standing with the others meant he would never rule. Standing with me if I agreed to cede power for my safety, meant he could rule as my king.

“Becca, I’m sorry to make you doubt your reality. I see the looks on people’s faces all the time when I show them evidence that proves they were living a lie. I usually don’t give a fuck. But you...”

“What about me?”

The air changed around us and as if the time worn on him as well, he confessed, “I’m crazy about you. I admit, you’ve been a fantasy of mine for a long time. Watching you from the shadows. But think... What if you were just the CEO of Domenico Holdings? Just the legit business.”

A memory flashed me, the day I found out Sebastien and Anthony were secret lovers.

If you know what’s good for you, Becca, you’ll give us that evidence and let us figure out who will take over the shady part of your father’s world. You can still run his company.

But I’d stood my ground, my father’s network held after he fled the country. There’d been no reason for me not to step into his role as head of the city. Then my men joined me. It’d only been a couple of weeks, but had I done such a horrible job?

Dragging in a breath, I said, “Go on.”

Julian took my hand. “We can go to parties. We can take walks. Hold hands. Kiss.” He pressed his lips against mine as my head reeled with confusion. But Julian kissed so damn good. “We could take vacations. And...”

“Yeah?” I felt on the edge of my seat listening to a life I never imagined.

“There are places I can give you the kind of fantasies...” His voice turned low and dark.

I jerked my hand away. “No. They're not fantasies. My alliance is—”

“Listen to you.” Julian dumped his butt in a chair near the door. “Love is not an alliance. Love is love.”

I tensed up, wondering if he would tell me he loved me. Impossible.

In sweatpants and shirtless, he looked lethal with those rippling abs. His cock was so big that even half erect the outline made my heart pound. His power as a Fed turned me on. Even his alpha possession not wanting me with anyone else made my core throb.

“I don't want to talk about this anymore.” I lowered my head and gripped my hands around the back of my neck. “Once we find out who wants me dead, I’ll consider what I need to do as far as my business and that includes the underground networks.” This threat and the possibility of more credible ones could plague me in the future. I hadn’t expected someone would want me dead so soon.

My mother just buried her husband. She couldn’t also bury her daughter.

So what if...

What if I was just Rebecca again? Not queen.

My heart sank, feeling like a quitter.

Clearing my throat, I said, “Jules, where are they now? Anthony, Sebastien, and Giancarlo. Please just tell me that?”

Julian’s face turned dark. “Giancarlo has been in Ireland,” he said low and controlled and in a way that told me he’d known this for a while. “All week. He just got back.”

Why didn’t he tell me this? “What?”

“His father’s cousin died. She lived in a town outside Dublin.”

“Ireland,” I whispered, soaking in the raw reminder that Giancarlo lived in two worlds, Italian crime families and Irish thugs.

“Patrick sent him.”

I shuddered, putting it all together. “To get him out of the way.”

“I’ll give credit where credit is due.” Julian lowered his elbows to his knees, his forearm muscles bulging. “Giancarlo is a cyber master. He may very well find the new hitman before my team. And that’s because he isn’t restrained by protocols or afraid to gather info that would be inadmissible in court. Giancarlo doesn’t prosecute his enemies. He kills them.”

“So his father sent him to a funeral. In Ireland. And you think it was to slow down Gian finding the hitman?” I stood up and paced. “Let’s put Patrick Byrne aside for a moment. I don’t believe Richard Daria would have me killed. There’s nothing in it for him.”

“I agree. Let’s eliminate him. Messina?”

“He expects me to marry Anthony. If I turn up dead...” My stomach rolled over.

“With you dead, Messina taking control by force would start a war I’m not sure he wants on his hands. That leaves Byrne.” Julian chomped down on his lower lip. “He has an army in New York and Boston prepared for a war. The biggest mistake you and your men made was thinking the mantle would be passed to you and all would be the same. The transfer of power is when kingdoms are most vulnerable.”

If Julian knew this, how could my men not?

Maybe we were all so caught up in each other.

I glanced at Julian sitting there, so much raw sexuality. My mind felt fractured and my body screamed with need. Maybe a side effect of feeling so out of control again. God, I was just as ruthless as my men. Needing sex to calm down.

Ambling toward Julian, his jaw twitched. I stood before him and he leaned back in the chair. Lowering myself, I brushed my fingers across his bare chest. Golden. Soft coils of hair across his pecs. The rest smooth.

“Rebecca, I will take this as an invitation to fuck you again.” He leaned forward and stroked my lower lip. “I put my cards on the table. I showed you a way out. I know it seems like you’re giving something up.”

“Not something.” I dug my nails into his arm. “Men I love.”

“I can take care of you better than three men.”

I laughed out loud.

“You don’t believe me?” He stood up and pushed his sweatpants down.

“That is one formidable cock.” I clenched my jaw and my pussy throbbed, remembering how he felt inside me. God, he was making me question everything. And seeing him as the option I needed to get out of this mess I found myself in.

“Right. One cock. Women were not meant to be gang raped.”

“It’s not rape,” I snapped, wondering when I’d have to stop defending myself.

“Gang banged. Tell me they don’t fuck you raw? I know these guys. I watched them. Anthony is a fucking machine. Giancarlo is a sadist. And Sebastien is just an animal.”

That made my throat go tight. The vision I couldn’t ever bear. Sebastien with other women these past five years.

“How can you enjoy getting fucked so hard again and again?”

“Um...” I stared at Julian’s cock and my breath caught in my throat unable to answer. As anger fired through me, my body heated and I felt so out of control. I didn’t know what I needed at the moment.

“You know I can fuck you hard too. And then I’ll draw you a hot bath. Not in a shit hole like this either. I have a sweet apartment. I can give you a nice life.” He lifted my tee-shirt up. “I will worship you. You’ll always be my queen. Just me.”

“Make all this go away, Julian.” The ache felt utterly unbearable. I didn’t know what to think.

“Stand up, gorgeous. Let me look at you, worship you,” Julian whispered his request, but it bordered on a command that made my core tighten.

My head was spinning while he undressed me, kissing each inch of skin he exposed. Something happened. Had I agreed to his suggestion? To step down? To walk away from my old life? With my guys?

Julian kissed me fiercely and, in this moment, it was just he and I. It had to be. If I wanted to get out of this situation alive, scrape and claw to keep the life I had, he and I needed to bond. When I’d slept with Giancarlo and then Anthony, I gave myself to each man alone. So when Sebastien had broken down and joined us, we were solid.

Julian and I needed to be solid too. The doubts left me and I felt free to enjoy Julian. All I felt was pleasure and peace. He broke the kiss and bore into my eyes and I licked my lips in anticipation of what was next.

Julian’s hungry eyes watched me as he roughly stepped out of those sweats. I ached to taste the cock that jutted from his body. A body of taut abs, cut waist, a pushed-out belly button. But he lifted me and threw me on the bed.

“No. I’d rather do this.” He entered me in one hard thrust.

And didn’t stop...

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