Page 58 of The Broken Queen

His grin got bigger. “Oh, I’ve got a feisty one in here. I like it.”

No longer giving a fuck about being quiet, I went towards the bunk. Something on my face must’ve spooked him because he raised up his hands. “Okay, I’m done. I get it, you’re serious.”

He took a deep breath, “I’m not sure if you’ve noticed the family resemblance, but your pal Lewis, is my dad.”

My brows rose. “He never mentioned having a son.”

“Well, he wouldn’t, would he?”

“What’d you do?”

A mask went on in place of the open expression he had on earlier, and that was my sign that he wasn’t quite ready toshare that information. I understood and wouldn’t press. But I did need to know exactly what his plan was.

“Why are you telling me this? Trying to get one over on me?”

He shook his head, “No dude. You need a friend in here. I’ve been here for a while and I’ve learned to keep my head down and stay quiet. That’s how you survive this shit hole. Not getting into fights with anything that moves.”

It wasn’t my fault people were getting into fights with me, but I sure as hell wasn’t going to stand down and let them pummel me into the ground. There was a thing called self defense and I was going to use it.

“So you’re his son, what does that do for me?”

His lips rose into a smile, “Well, I could get a meeting set up with him. He’s wanted nothing more than for me to reach out to him, so I know he will answer the call.”

My lips twitched, “And why would you help me with that?”

“Because I know how corrupt the King is. I lived under his roof with my dad. I’m sure he was the one who murdered the Queen.”

There was some screaming down the hall, and that was a sign the guards were either beating the inmate or fucking him. I was pretty sure the warden got off on watching that shit.

“And because you’re Lewis’ son, you think I should trust you?”

"Yes. If you want to get out of here and get your revenge, then you should trust every word I say.”

I heard footsteps running this way, and I quickly jumped back on the bed and pretended I was asleep. A light shone through the cell, and I heard keys jingling. I already knew they weren’t here for him. The guards and the warden were all on Lars’ payroll, so they were going to do as much damage as they could to me.

Once the cell opened, a guard came rushing in and I was dragged out by my hair. Not a word was said to Mike as they took me out, and I didn’t utter a breath. At this point, I had gotten used to the beatings.

I kicked at the motherfucker who was pulling on my hair and finally got one up on him. I elbowed him in the face and a groan escaped him. I kicked and punched whoever got in my way, until eventually there were too many and they dragged me down, beating me with their hands and batons. They did it right in front of all the cells, making an example of me.

Spitting and shouting profanities at me and calling me every obscene thing they could think of. As my eyes were beaten shut, I came to the conclusion that once I got out of the infirmary, I was taking Mike’s word and taking whatever help he wanted to give.

I was over this place and I was going to kill the motherfucker that put me here. Including his daughter.

Chapter Thirty-One

Raven

My pace turned into a walk as the sunlight faded behind the trees. I had no idea where I was going, but I kept moving forward. I wanted to get as far away from him as I could. I reached in my pockets for my phone, but stopped when I remembered that Slade took it earlier in the day. I smacked my hand to my head.Stupid.

While thinking it was a smart decision at the time, as the night descended upon me, I couldn’t help but think how crazy I was for walking off. If I was at the estate, it would be different. I knew those grounds inside and out.

I didn’t know this place and after our talk, I wasn’t sure I wanted to. My love for Slade was endless, but the fact that he was asking me to marry that fucking monster, to give myself awayagain unwillingly,meant that he didn’t feel the same way about me. I was a means to an end for him. He would use and break me as he saw fit, not caring what happened to me in the process.

I had no idea how long I’d been walking, surely not that long, but it seemed like I was going for hours.

There were some deer and an oak tree up ahead and I figured that would be the perfect spot to rest my feet. As I got closer, they ran off.Not surprised.The darkness enveloped me, and the moonlight began to poke through the trees. I sat down and planted my back against the trunk and tried to remember a time when Slade and I were right for each other...

“You’re pregnant.”

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