Page 16 of Regal Queen

"You're originally from Russia. Your real father was Alexander and your mother was Anna. She was a master gardener, and,” his eyes studied mine, “and I think that's why you all have flower names."

I moved my hand up his neck, my fingers wrapping around it. Not squeezing but holding them there, wishing I could force the words out of his mouth. “Tell me why, Bourbon."

“The truth is, you are a princess, after all.”

I made a low sound in my throat. “I'm no princess.”

“Maybe not today, not in the sense that most men see you, but you will be. When I’m done with that man.”

“Who?”

“You know who, Rose.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Dimitri. Your father was a Petrov and the mafia don of Russia. When Dimitri took his power, he killed your whole family, except your mother managed to smuggle you three out before she died."

His words slammed into me, and suddenly I couldn’t breathe. It took me several moments to process them but things started connecting.

The reason why I looked nothing like my father, the reason there always seemed to be a wall between us. He took care of my physical needs but he never seemed to bond with me in a way that I saw how my roommates bonded with their parents.

I thought it was a mafia thing but that wasn’t always the case. I'd seen mafia daughters doted on by their fathers.

I’d always wondered why I had three sisters but we didn’t all live together. Why I never knew anything about my mother. Why I couldn’t remember my childhood, and why there were no pictures of me as a baby.

Everything clicked together in one simple picture.

“So my dad isn’t my real dad?” I needed the affirmation and, at Bourbon's nod, relief flowed through me. He was just my shitty caretaker, not flesh and blood. "So, I was once a mafia princess, along with my other sisters, and Dimitri killed my whole family for power."

He nodded again, and suddenly I realized that my fingers were digging into skin of his neck, my nails leaving a mark. Pain was shooting up my arm from the finger that bastard took off and I hadn't even noticed it until now.

And even though I was hurting Bourbon, he didn't move or make a sound. I immediately released it, dragging my eyes up from my scratches in his neck to stare him in the eyes.

Flames of fury danced across my skin and a hollowed out burning sensation billowed in my chest. Rage coursed through my blood like acid.

I hated that bastard, Dimitri.

I certainly didn't remember my parents or my brothers but the loss of their love hit me like a ton of bricks.

I could've had a totally different life.

Once filled with abundance, love, and laugher.

Happiness.

And that asshole Dimitri took it from me.

I leaned in, my lips skimming across Bourbon's in a brief touch.

Not a kiss, but a promise.

A promise that I was going to do everything in my power to work with Bourbon to have our revenge.

"So," my voice held a hardness I'd heard a thousand times from people around me but never from myself. "How do we kill him?"

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