Page 134 of Savage Little Queen

“I’ll do it. Whatever you want, Matteo. I’m yours. I’m yours. Please. Stop.”

Bianca’s words tore my heart into pieces.

Not yours. Mine. Fucking mine!

“Klaus,” Matteo called out.

Klaus stopped his trek to my eye and pulled the blade away. The blood oozed out of the wound he’d left behind, but I still had my eye.

“You don’t know the terms yet,” Matteo said brightly.

“They don’t matter if you agree that the kings go free,” Bianca whispered.

“Well, I’d like you to hear them anyway.” Matteo lowered the gun he had pointed at her head. “So we’re all on the same page.”

I stared him down, my vision blurry.

The moment I got the chance, I was going to kill him. I didn’t care what it took. He was a dead man.

“Bianca will become my bride. I’ll fuck her. I’ll let my men fuck her if I’m feeling generous. She will belong to me in every conceivable way. If she gives herself completely to me, you get to go free. But if you come back and try to take her or cause me any harm, she will perish with your children. In fact, I’ll probably take them out first just so that you feel the pain of losing your kids before you lose your love. How does that sound?”

“Y-yes,” Bianca wept. “I’ll do it.”

“No!” I shouted. “No! Bianca, no.”

She stared back at me, her face resolute. My heart sank into my guts.

“Tell Dominic what he needs to hear,” Matteo murmured.

She drew in a deep breath. “I-I belong to Matteo now. For you, Dominic. For my kings.”

I drank her in, my queen, on her fucking knees for a monster.

“And since I’m not a complete monster,” Matteo continued. “I’ll even let you say goodbye to her.” He dragged her to her feet.

Klaus brought the knife down and undid my bindings, freeing me. Fallon was still passed out, so he was useless, but it was just as well. I’d rather, if he was going to die, he go out peacefully.

I got to my feet, my body screaming at me, and shuffled toward Bianca. I collapsed to my knees for a moment and reached into my boot discretely before Klaus kicked me and forced me back to my feet. Matteo was whispering in her ear, not paying me a bit of attention, and the tears were coming harder now from her.

Matteo backed away from her and stared at us.

I’d been stripped of my weapons, but I still had one fucking thing I’d vowed to always carry on me.

“I love you,” I said softly. Fiercely. I rested my forehead against hers. Gently, I tilted her chin up and pressed my lips to hers, tasting her for what I hoped wasn’t the last time. I skimmed my lips along her jaw and pushed the vial of spice I’d pulled from my boot into her hand.

“Fucking kill them, my queen. Kill them all. Be my savage little queen. And if it gets too hard, take it yourself, and I’ll meet you and our babies in the afterlife.”

I pulled away and stared down at her.

I expected to see more tears on her face, but only a fierce look greeted me.

“They’re all going to die,” she whispered, quickly sliding the vial away into her sleeve.

I gave her a curt nod, my throat tight.

I’d spent all this time trying to protect her. It was in that moment that I realized she didn’t need me to protect her. She needed me at her side, fighting with her.

She really was a queen.

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