Page 82 of The Broken Queen
“Please talk to me.”
I grabbed her hand and stopped her from stroking over my face. “I don’t want to talk.”
Her brows caved inward as her lips pursed.
“Gio, please.”
“I’m angry,” I snapped, and the way she winced had me instantly feeling like shit.
She was about to slide off my lap, but I felt guilty for being so harsh. I gripped her thighs instead, hoping to stall her. “How come you can fight with Kingston and take his rage and yell back, and you guys end up fucking, but with me, if I raise my voice, you cry?”
Her expression didn’t shift; it only worsened as more tears flowed down her face. “I don’t like when you’re madat me.”
“Well, too fucking bad. I am, and I want to fuck you the way Kingston gets to fuck you when he’s mad.”
“That’s different, bro,” my twin replied from the front.
Presley was still trying to get off me, but I continued to hold her firmly when I yelled, “How?”
“Because it is. You never get mad at her…it’s like building up a tolerance to something. I’m always an asshole, and I always say shitty things, and Presley says them back. She’s a brat, and our dynamic works in some fucked-up way,” Kingston explained.
“Well, I want to be that guy tonight.”
Kingston shook his head. “You won’t like yourself afterwards. That takes the same amount of tolerance being built.”
“It’s fine,” Presley said, swiping at a few of her tears.
“If you think you need that, then fine. Take me rough and be just like Kingston is with me.”
“I want to punish you, Presley. I want you to get it through your head that you can’t walk up to a group of trained mafia soldiers and just start shooting. You could have been killed or abducted. Fuck, do you have any idea what that felt like to see you walk toward them?”
“No, but you’re punishing me right now by being distant and mean. It’s like the sun refusing to shine,” she cried.
I searched her eyes, wishing it was brighter in the car, so I had a better view of that sparkling blue framed by thick black lashes.
“You promised to be my sky, Gio. To always find me when we got lost. I get that you’re upset but?—”
“It’s not just that…” I shook my head, “It’s this need for vengeance you have. It’s going to get you killed. You’re playing right into Scotty’s hand by needing to find him and wanting to kill them. You know the best way to defy Scotty?”
She sat back, still trying to get free, but I held firm, keeping her in my lap. “How?”
“You live. You laugh, and you do exactly what you’re doing now. Farm, plant, fuck. Do all those things.”
She flung her arms wide. “And never leave thehouse for fear that we’re being hunted? That’s not a life either. I don’t want to be in hiding anymore. I don’t want to train and be ready for a war. I want to smile up at the sun when it shines, and I want to be loved by the both of you. I want to be a mother one day. I want all of those things, but I don’t get any of it if he’s still alive.”
“You know we could protect you. It’s why you’ve been at ease on the farm. Deep down, you know he can’t get through our men or what we created. We set all that up, risked everything so you would feel that peace at home. This isn’t about not getting to be a mom or being at peace. This is about Adrian.”
She shook her head. “It’s not.”
“Your need to avenge Adrian is so strong that you’ll risk losing us,” I retorted angrily.
This time, when she tried to crawl off my lap, I let her go.
“Fuck you, Gio.”
“Am I wrong?” I gripped her chin so that she was facing me again.
She tried to push at me, but instead I pulled her closer and began kissing down her neck. “Am I wrong, Elvis?”
