Page 53 of Rising Queen (Blood Empire 1)

Chapter 15

Harlow

“So, what do you think?” I ask Rosie, holding out my hands, showing her my new set of nails. They are black with red glitter.

“So pretty!” she gasps. “I love them. Do you like?”

Her nails are galaxy colors, and I was kind of surprised that she didn't ask for pink, but she said the nail polish reminds her of the stars, and how she and Cass go in the backyard, laying down at night to look at them. It’s fucking adorable.

“I love them! They look amazing on you.” I smile, checking out her nails as she wiggles them in front of my face.

D-Day is tonight, and I'm so fucking pumped that I’ve been a bouncing ball of energy all day. The poor nail stylist had to redo my nails more than once because I couldn't keep still. I opted out of the full spa day, but Neo and Rosie didn't.

Rosie is on one side of me with her toes about to be painted. “Wait!” she shouts, and the nail stylist looks up at her, startled. “I don't want that color for my toes anymore. I want that color,” she says, pointing to my nails. I grin that she wants to be like me, then cringe. Let's hope she never wants to be exactly like me. Her dad would kill me, or at the very least he might try.

She beams up at me, then watches the woman with excitement as she starts prepping her toes. Rosie starts telling her about theTrolls IImovie and all her favorite parts. I chuckle and look over to my other side where Neo is sitting.

He has cucumbers covering his eyes and headphones in his ears. He’s humming one of my favorite songs,Bohemian Rhapsodyby Queen. I giggle at the sight of this sexy beast of a man getting pampered like a queen. It's kinda hot.

The door chimes, and I look over to see some snooty lady with fake blonde hair walk in like she owns the world. Two other women, carbon copies of the first, walk in behind her. My eyes follow them as they take a seat in the chairs across from us. Once they are settled in, they notice us. They all smile as they see Rosie getting her nails done, then look at me. The snooty lady gives me a pathetic attempt at a smile, but I don't smile back. When she notices Neo getting his nails done, she scrunches up her face in disgust and starts whispering to her friends. Nah, not on my watch. Like fuck if I'll just sit here and allow someone to be judged for something like this.

“Got a problem?” I ask sweetly as I lean right into her face, my hands on both sides of the armrest holding me up. She didn't see me there until the moment I spoke. Her head snaps over to look at me, and she lets out a yelp.

“What is your problem?” she asks. “Do you mind?”

“Not at all,” I purr. “But I believe I asked you first.”

“Excuse me?” she asks, her eyes wide when she sees I don’t give a shit about being in her personal space.

“I said, do you have a problem with that man over there getting his nails done?” I repeat sweetly, my eyes never leaving hers.

She huffs. “Well, it's not very manly,” she stammers. “Is he gay?” she lowers her voice for that part.

“No, he’s not gay. I should know, I ride his dick like a carnival ride. Men don’t have to be gay to get their nails done. It's a free fucking country. Sorry, but not all men are stuffy old rich perverts like I'm sure your husband is. I bet he's banging his secretary right now while you're out having a little girl time,” I coo. The panic in her eyes tells me I’m fucking right. God, this is pricelessly predictable. “I bet your dusty old pussy is used up and useless to him now, so he tosses you to the side and pays you to look the other way to keep everyone thinking you have some amazing, loving marriage when really, your husband’s tiny dick does nothing for your gaping hole, so you gotta go fuck the pool boy with a big cock in order to feel anything.” I pat her cheek as I give her a fake pity smile.

“Who do you think you are, talking to me like that?!” she snaps, her face growing redder by the second in obvious rage and embarrassment.

“Does your husband work for any of the larger companies on Weston Avenue?” I ask, hoping it's a yes. From the looks of her fancy clothes, I wouldn't be surprised.

“Yes,” she scoffs. “He runs the biggest one,” she snoots, sticking her nose up in the air. Ah, she's Dick’s wife then.

“You wanna know who I think I am to talk to you like this?” I ask. If my grin could get any bigger, I’d look like the fucking Joker. She just raises a perfectly manicured brow at me.

“Nice to meet you,” I say, standing up and holding out my hand. She looks at it confused. “The name’s Queenie.”

Her eyes go wide with fear as she looks from my hand to my face, while she scrambles as far back in her chair as possible, desperately trying to get away from me. All the color has drained from her face, and she looks like she's gonna be sick.

When she doesn't take my hand, probably out of fear that I’d break it, I bring it up and grip her chin hard. “Next time you go around judging people, take a look in the fucking mirror. You’re lucky I don’t give women equal opportunity during my extracurricular activities like I do with men because if I did, I'd be taking you home and having my fun with you.”

She whimpers, and I think she’s pissed her pants. “Now, if you don’t mind, I'm gonna go back to that sexy as fuck man over there with the blue nails and take him home, so he can rut into me like a wild animal and make me scream so long and loud that I lose the ability to talk. I’ll black out from all the fucking mind-blowing orgasms he is guaranteed to give me."

I remove my hand from her face, and I'm pleased with the fingerprints I see left behind, marking up her face. “Not that you would know anything about mind-blowing orgasms, I’m sure,” I grin at her. With a perky smile, I wiggle my fingers in goodbye, my sweet smile back in place, as I take a seat in my chair.

Neo looks over at me with a smug grin. “Do you have any idea how fucking hard I am right now?” he says, lowering his voice, so Rosie doesn't hear.

I can't help but laugh. “What?”

“Watching you defend me like that, laying your claim on me. God, My Queen, I'm ready to bust a nut, right here, right now,” he groans, and the poor nail stylist looks like she's ready to bolt with how uncomfortable she is right now.

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