Page 44 of His Queen

“No, Maximo. You relax,” I yell, trying my best not to cry. “I couldn’t have the perfect wedding, so I will damn well do my best to give some other bride her perfect wedding.”

He gestures toward the road that leads to the large security gate that can’t be seen from where we are. “And you’re planning on walking there?”

“I called an Uber.”

“Uber?” he recoils. “You’re kidding.”

“I’m not.” I turn and start walking, ignoring my brother, who repeatedly tells me to stop.

“Mira, you’re not going in a fucking Uber.”

“Watch me.”

“Take her.”

I stop when I hear Nicoli’s voice behind me. “Take your sister to the wedding.”

I turn to face him, my heart constricting when I see him standing on top of the stairs of the porch. Even when I’m furious with him, he’s the most beautiful creature I’ve ever laid eyes on. His Italian heritage is etched all over his features. His chiseled jawline and sharp nose are like two perfect pieces of a sculpture carved from marble. Black hair fans above his dark eyebrows, every line on his handsome face accentuated by the soft sunlight breaking through the clouds of the looming storm. With his hands in his pants pockets and shoulders squared under his slate gray suit, he’s a regal force even from afar.

Nicoli descends the porch, his gait steady and determined. The azure glimmer in his eyes captivates me, but it doesn’t erase the hurt.

“Take her to the wedding,” he says to Maximo. “Let her do what needs to be done. Bring her home safely.”

There’s a finality in his words that echoes with demand so loudly it's unmistakable, yet Maximo merely stares at Nicoli.

“I said take her,” Nicoli repeats firmly to Maximo, who then reluctantly nods before gesturing for me to follow him toward his car parked in front of the house.

I swallow hard while Nicoli and I keep our gazes locked, a thousand words being spoken through the silence stretched taut between us. There’s a gentleness in the way he looks at me as if staring at me too hard will cause me to break. It’s hard to think that the man standing in front of me with so much affection in his eyes is the same man who will make me bleed in the heat of passion.

My pulse quickens as I step up to him, my arm gently touching against his. “Thank you,” I murmur and suck in a breath when he lightly brushes his pinky against mine. It’s the subtlest touch, but it sends a thousand volts of electricity through my soul.

Maximo opens the car door of his black SUV, and I slide into the leather seat. In the side window, I watch as Maximo and Nicoli exchange words, probably more security detail that will surround me while I’m at this wedding, trying to salvage what I can.

Maximo slips in behind the wheel, and the seatbelt clicks into place over my chest, keeping me safely strapped in while we drive away from the estate.

We’re barely out of the gates when Maximo says, “He’s only trying to protect you.”

“I know.”

“Then why are you giving him a hard time about it?”

I’m staring down at my hands, flicking my nails, my chest tight with the remnants of my fight with Nicoli. “It’s not about the fact that he’s protecting me. It’s the way he goes about doing it.”

Maximo sighs as he takes a turn to the right. “I know Nicoli isn’t the easiest person in the world to deal with, but his heart is in the right place. All he’s ever done is protect you, Mira.”

I don’t respond but simply cast my gaze out the side window. People on the streets don’t have faces. The buildings are just tall blocks of concrete. It’s all a lifeless blur that flashes by us as we speed through the city.

“Why is there nothing about our parents on the internet?”

His silence is deafening.

I shift in my seat, turning to face Maximo. His eyes are fixed on the road ahead of us, and though I can’t see his expression clearly from this angle, something about the tic in his jaw tells me that he’s not happy with my question.

“It’s like they never existed,” I continue softly. “There’s nothing about them at all.”

“There could be any number of reasons for that,” Maximo replies evenly.

“They were brutally murdered. Our father was a notorious drug boss, Maximo. And you want to tell me the internet has no information about them?”

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