Page 58 of Broken Queen
“Gabby is one of thousands,” I said dryly. “Great.”
“Don’t you get it?” Zira said. “No one matters here. Especially not someone like me.”
Her blue eyes flashed with a rare vulnerability that made me lose my breath. She was finally letting go of that veil and showing her true self. The person who knew that one day, she might end up like the rest of them, in a box with thousands of others, and that her time on earth would mean nothing.
Guilt ached in my throat. How could I be angry at her for holding back secrets when she had been through this much?
But I clenched my fist at my side. No. This was bullshit. I wasn’t like the rest of the members. Not after everything I had done for her.
“And how does that relate to you lying about my sister?” I rasped, trying desperately to keep myself in place. I needed that information she was holding close to her chest.
“It’s not about you, or me, Hazard. It’s about something so much greater than us. Greater than Gabby. I do what I have to do. One death means nothing when you see how many victims are just like her.”
Wrong answer.
I grabbed Zira by the shoulders, swinging her around until I locked her in a chokehold, dragging her across the cement, the backs of her legs scraping on the ground. She tried to stand up by pushing up on the balls of her feet, but her stiletto broke and her other shoe tore off. Even if she had a point—the bottom line was that Zira and I had an agreement, and she was breaking it.
In an alcove, a faucet dripped water into a basin, and as I kept her neck locked in my hold, I turned on the water, letting it fill the tub. A long, shallow tray with another hose was to the side, almost like an operating table. It must have been to wash the bodies. Like my sister’s.
I hoisted Zira until she was on top of the table. She threw her fist at my cheek, but I ignored the attempt and used my weight to keep her pinned. I pinched her cheeks until she opened her mouth, then I forced the hose between her lips and she panicked, shaking her head.
“Nnnno!” she garbled around the hose. “Oom?—”
I turned on the hose, letting water overflow her mouth. She flailed, and I kept my arm against her neck, forcing her to take it.. Air filled my chest as I took in her desperation, waiting for that exhilaration to fill me, but it never came. My dick was hard, but there was something off about this. Flinging her arms. Gargling like a brook. Reduced to nothing but the will to survive.
That’s all it ever was, wasn’t it? Gabby had accepted the offer to marry a fucked up rich boy who let her be killed in order to ‘teach’ her a lesson. And all Zira wanted was to make sure that shit like that never happened again. They both just wanted to survive.
But this was my own show of survival, because I didn’t like being played like that.
I turned off the faucet and let go of my hold on her. Zira flung herself up, coughing to the side. Next to us, water continued to fill the basin. How many bodies had been cleaned in this space before being stored in a box? Would I end up here? Would Zira be in the coffin next to mine?
“What happened to my sister, Zira?” I asked again, my voice louder this time.
“I don’t know,” she rasped.
“Ernest said that you were the only one there when she died. You didn’t even tell him who killed her.”
“You killed Ernest, didn’t you? You broke a promise to me.”
She was trying to make me feel guilty, but it didn’t mean shit to me. “You really care more about Ernest than my sister, don’t you?” I gave a dark chuckle. “You are one psycho bitch.”
“And you are delusional.”
I grabbed her by the shoulders, her dress soaked and clinging to her body, then ran her over to the basin, shoving her down until her head was submerged in water. She pressed against me, thrusting and revolting, ramming her hips against me as my dick engorged with blood, but I held her in there, taking away her ability to breathe.
“All it takes is a name,” I shouted. “I know you wouldn’t do it. You’re not like that. You’re a good little princess. So who the fuck did it, Zira? Who is so important that you’re protecting them right now?”
I lifted her head and she gasped, mascara streaking her red cheeks.
“Hazard!” she screamed.
“Say the name,” I ordered.
“Hazard! Fuck!”
Another wrong answer.
I shoved her into the water. I pinned her against the sink as I dug out my cock, peeling her dress from her back until I ran my entire length into her pussy. Her cunt struggled against me, squeezing my dick like it was a flotation device, and I let go of her shoulders. She coughed up water, her lungs searching for air, and I grabbed her hips, digging my nails into her skin. This was better than anger. This was better than facing every truth in front of me at that moment.
