Page 46 of The Broken Queen
“Did you do all this, Gio?” I already knew the answer, but I was curious as to why Kingston continued to push his brother toward me and shy away from me himself.
Gio rubbed the back of his neck and cleared his throat. “Bits and pieces. Come on, I wanna show you upstairs where the bedrooms are.”
I went with him, still feeling a strange high come over me. My dreamhouse had been completed…the farmhouse I had always wanted and dreamed of one day living in. The small touches throughout were better than anything I could have ever hoped for. There was so much consideration into what suited me that it made me emotional for entirely different reasons.
We crested the stairs, seeing a large book nook take up the back wall. Shelves were built in, along with floor-to-ceiling windows and a long table stretched along the opposite wall acting as an office space. Beyond that, on one side of the room was a doorway that led to a large room, with warm oak floors continued, softened with thick rugs. A large king-sized bed, covered in pink and white bedding, was across the room near the cushioned window seat. The attached bathroom suite had an arched doorway leading to cream tile, a clawfoot tub, and an enclosed shower.
I wandered around the space, gliding my finger along surfaces and feeling sunlight touch little places as if it were all made of magic. I padded back toward the book nook where I could see the other bedroom doors and another slim set of stairs. Holding the rail, I took the steps up to another loft. “This is what I wanted to show you,” Gio said, holding his hand out as if to help me reach the last step.
Glass stretched everywhere, which made the room warm as the sun soaked through.
“This would make a good greenhouse,” I mused, while slidingopen the door that led outside. There was a balcony that had lounge chairs, a gas fireplace, and a telescope set up.
“No, not a greenhouse, Elvis. Stargazing,” Gio said as though I should have known that.
It finally clicked for me that the house had been set up for me, but framed around things a certain twin would enjoy. I saw nothing set up for plants. No greenhouse of any kind, not even a single potted plant in the house anywhere, which meant only one twin intended to stay here with me.
That rejection reared its ugly head once more with a stinging bite. Outrage and a frenzy of sorts seemed to sweep through me at the realization that Kingston was merely toying with me, and now he had every intention of just letting me go.
“I need to shower and eat.” I turned away from the space and headed back down to the bedroom I assumed was created for me. It had photos hung of highland cows and stars. No plants, no life of any kind. I wondered if Kingston had purchased new clothes for me, or if I’d need to bring them over. Didn’t matter; I could pack all of it up and drive it over. Regardless of how angry I was at the twins, this house was a significant gift that warmed my heart and arrived at the perfect time.
“Are there clothes here for me?” I asked while walking toward the bathroom suite. Somehow, I already knew he wouldn’t know if there were.
His staggering response told me as much. “Uh…let me check for you.”
I moved to the clawfoot tub and turned on the hot water. Gio returned moments later with a pile of clothes in his hands. “I found these.”
Almost a complete replica of the clothes I’d had at home. I didn’t wait for Gio to leave before stripping out of the T-shirt, socks, and underwear. I didn’t care if he saw me or if he wanted me. My fucks had vanished the second Adrian arrived on the doorstep.
I hadn’t even had a chance to process that they’d used his cellphone to text me, to mock me so that I’d open that door excitedly. After days of silence, of fear that something was wrong, of him being upset with me, he had finally reached out, and I had stupidly assumed it was—I had killed him. The realization hit like a stone.
Just like I had killed my grandfather, I was responsible for Adrian’s death too.
All because I had demanded we get out when we did. I could have found a way to get Alex out while I remained there with him. I could have protected him if I had just stayed.
Gio cleared his throat behind me.
“I’ll just go get you some food and bring it up here.” His heated gaze slowly slid down my frame, to my breasts, which were heavier now that I’d stopped training as much. My waist, which was fuller, and even my thighs were softer. I’d never been given the chance to enjoy a softer figure because of how hard Scotty drilled me, and eleven months away from him had allowed me to set my own exercise pace and my own diet. It allowed my metabolism the opportunity to slow down, and my body to hold weight.
When I looked in the mirror now, I enjoyed what I saw. While it wasn’t a huge difference, it was enough to make me smile, and when I inspected my hands, I knew the scarring would never leave, but they hadn’t been broken open in months.
Once Gio left, I sank into the deep tub and allowed the hot water to soak into my body, removing the grief and the stress. I slipped down far enough that my hair soaked, and the steaming water covered my face, and with my eyes closed, I began to count.
One. Two. Three.
My grandfather’s blue eyes flashed before me.
Four. Five. Six.
Adrian’s smile.
Seven. Eight. Nine.
Crawling into bed as a child, lying between my best friends.
Ten. Eleven. Twelve.
A shadow fell over the tub, making me open my eyes while under water.
