Page 2 of The Queen's Denial

I aim the tranq gun at the guy who just got out of the car, but it’s knocked out of my hand by the guy from the passenger’s seat, who hasn’t slowed down at all, before I can pull the trigger. Now it’ll be three-on-one, with one of those men at full capacity. Which are admittedly pretty bad odds for me.

I smack my fist as hard as I can into the side of the passenger’s face, and he goes down with a thud. Unfortunately, my wrist is grabbed and wrenched back by the driver, who has an exceedingly strong grip for someone who has just been tranqued. I just have to be thankful that he didn’t get his hands on me sooner, or my wrist might be broken right now. He pulls me toward him and head butts me so hard I see stars. I’d be on the ground for sure if he had his full strength.

His grip loosens at the impact, and he stumbles, allowing me to get my bearings. I take the moment to grab his shoulders and plant my knee into his face. He finally goes down. I gather myself, getting ready for the attack that is surely about to come from the third guy, when the commotion behind me registers.

I twist around quickly to see Chi with a fucking tree branch, whipping it side to side and parrying all the movements of the man from the back seat of the car, trying to stave him off, it seems. He’s got a huge gash on his face, bleeding onto his suit. Despite myself, for a split second, I’m impressed that Chi seems to have dealt him such a nasty blow. Then again, it’s likely because he knows who she is, and he knows he can’t kill her. In fact, he has his gun in his hand, but he’s using it more as a shield from her advances than anything else.

Chi notices me staring at them and breaks concentration just long enough to allow her attacker to grab the branch, fling her toward him, and put his arm around her neck from behind. I spring into action, but before I can get to them, he deals her a loud crack to the back of the head with his gun that sends her to her knees with a gasp of pain.

All I see is red. He’s hurt the woman I’m responsible for, and now he’s going to pay. I am on him immediately as he straightens up. I grab the hand that holds his gun and disarm him by breaking his wrist. I hear his scream of pain as if from far away, as I methodically smash his face in with my tranq gun. I land multiple blows before he goes down.

I’m just about to lean over and finish the job when a gagging noise pulls me from my rage. It’s Chi. I whip around to check on her as she tries to push herself up, eyes fluttering, retching like she’s about to be sick. I know what it is immediately.She’s got a concussion. It’s happened on my watch. Fuck.

I shoot the motherfucker who hurt her directly in the back of the head, knowing that it will alert everyone to the commotion we’ve just caused and not giving a shit. He needed to die.

I close the distance between myself and Chi in a few long strides and pull her up gingerly by her shoulders. It looks worse than I thought; I can tell this isn’t just a mild concussion by the way her eyes wander in and out of focus. She doesn’t even attempt to look at me. Her head lolls forward as I heave her against me.

“Hey, Chi? Chi, look at me.” She doesn’t seem to register a thing, so I tap her cheek with my hand lightly and say her name again. “Chi!”

Finally, her eyes give me a hazy focus. “Ow,” is all she gives me. But it’s something.

“Don’t go to sleep.”

“Okay.” She grabs a hold of my shoulders and coughs out a heave once again. I decide not to take any chances on whether or not she’ll be able to walk, as we really need to get the fuck out of here immediately. “I’ve got you.” I say, scooping her up as she holds onto me for dear life.

She groans as her head falls back, and her eyes shut. “Wake up!” I say, trying to shake her lightly enough so that she doesn’t become further injured, but hard enough so that she does not, under any circumstance, fall asleep before we can get to the hospital.

She says nothing, but she slits her eyes open a crack and groans again. I grit my teeth and try to focus on what I have to do now as I get her situated in the car. I pull her seatbelt over her, and she catches my eye with her own. A worry that I’ve never seen before crosses her face and makes me pause for the slightest moment. She puts her hand to my face and looks into my eyes as she pushes out a few slurred words. “Are you okay?”

My mouth drops and I blink at her. Out of everything she could have said, I definitely didn’t expect that. Why is she asking if I’m okay while she sits here with a concussion? I was the one who was supposed to protect her, and I failed.

I ignore the question, even angrier at myself than I was before. Instead, I answer with a promise to her. “You’re going to be just fine, Chi. I’m going to make sure this never happens to you again, trust me.”

Chapter 1

Chi

My father’s mansion is beautiful, with every amenity money can buy. I’m always happy and cozy here in my bed, in this grand suite with my bedroom, a kitchenette and a sitting area. I have this entire space all to myself.

Last year, I upgraded to a Kluft Royal Sovereign mattress, one of the best money can buy, which perfectly molds to my body to ensure I get my full uninterrupted 7.5 hours of sleep per night without any stiffness in my limbs or cricks in my neck. It’s always at my preferred temperature setting so that I don’t get a chill in the night. It’s so comfortable and soft, with a weighted blanket that hugs me tight. I revel in the silken sheets against my face as I turn over to wake up for the day.

The first thing I’m aware of is that this is not that mattress or those sheets. Whatever I’m lying on right now is hard as a rock, and the sheets are cold and smell like cheap perfume.

I go to lift my face up off the pillows and get a murky, underwater feeling. It seems I have bigger problems than an uncomfortable mattress. Suddenly, I feel the throbbing, like my head is being slowly squeezed by a vice, let go, then squeezed again.

“There she is.” I know his voice immediately: Andy. Even though my eyes are still closed, I easily picture him in my head: the solid physique, the curve of his bottom lip, and his dark, smoky eyes. There’s something so reassuring about having this thirsty guy who is far too obvious about wanting to fuck me sitting next to me here. I sink back into the awful mattress and crack my eyes open, feeling the pain in my head intensify, but enjoying the view.

Intensely deep set, rounded eyes and short-cropped curls of brown hair greet me. The perpetual upturn of Andy’s full upper lip tips up further at my wince of pain when the light fully hits my eyes, but he tones the gesture of possible callousness down by smoothing my hair out of my face. It feels good, but just a split second before leaning into the touch, I remember where I am and who he is to me, and fall back.

“Heyyy, good morning, sunshine,” he says. “Or, good afternoon, I guess. You’ve been out for twelve hours. Do you remember what happened?”

A doctor comes in to take my vitals as I try to find my voice and process all the words that Andy just said. It feels like he’s talking so fast.

I answer groggily, my hoarse voice filled with sleep and pain. “Something bad,” I say, trying to get my lips to work after what must have been a long night.

Andy nods, holding out a cup of water. “You got a bump on the head. A big one, like, the size of a fucking golf ball. But don’t worry, we’re at the hospital. Your father is down the hall. He’s out of the ICU.”

I’m still feeling weird and hazy while I consider this. My father is down the hall, but for something else. Some other shitty thing that has happened to us over the course of the past few weeks. Giardi, the same person whose men just left me with this horrible headache, sent men who nearly killed my father to my home. They held me at gunpoint. My best friend, Mara; her man, Cas; and Andy, Cas’s cousin; came to my rescue. My father was shot in this incident, but I have to really think about what has happened to me…

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