Page 55 of His Queen

I glance at his guard, who’s clearly more like Nunzio’s fucking lapdog. The way he glowers at Nunzio, then shifts his focus to me—he’s hungry. He wants his own piece of flesh to choke on.

“Rest, birdie,” Nunzio says. “You’re going to need it.”

There’s a loud click, and it’s instant darkness around me. Or maybe I closed my eyes. I’m not sure. But even in the dark, I still feel his touch. It’s like it’s branded into my skin, and all I can do is lie there until sleep claims me—until I pass out.

I bring my knees up to my chest, wrapping my arms around them, my teeth clattering from the cold. There’s no sense of time in the dark, no way of knowing how long I’ve been here.

Three times.

Three times he raped me.

Three times he made me scream my throat raw.

He’s not even here, and I can still feel him inside me. He’s nowhere close, and I can still hear his vile grunts, feel his slimy touch on my ice-cold skin. He’s everywhere.

My eyes start to burn, and I close them. I think they’re closed. It’s hard to know when it makes no difference whether your eyes are open or closed. It stays dark.

It’s always dark.

“Open your eyes, Mirabella?”

“Marco.” I breathe out his name. “Where’s Momma?”

“She’s not here.”

“Where is she? I need Momma.” I pinch my eyes closed hard. “Momma!” I cry out into the endless shadow. “Momma, where are you?”

“She left you, remember?”

“No.” I shake my head. “You’re wrong. She wouldn’t leave me.”

“Oh, but she did.” His voice sounds…cruel. I don’t like it.

“She left you all alone in this world. It’s her fault you’re here, you know?”

“No. No, it’s not.”

“It’s her fault he’s hurting you.”

My belly suddenly aches, and it burns between my legs like…like when I’d pee, and Momma would tell me I need to drink more water.

More water. Less soda.

Tears pool in the crevices of my pinched eyes, a chill constantly wafting around me, stinging my skin.

“You remember, don’t you, Mira? The night she left you. The night she shoved you under that bed, telling you to keep as quiet as a mouse.”

“I kept my promise.”

“Of course you did. But what if you could have screamed for help?”

I swallow hard, jerking my head to the side, trying to get away even though I don’t see him.

“Maybe if you screamed, someone would have heard you.”

“No.”

“Maybe if you screamed, someone would have saved you.”

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