Page 56 of Bitter Queen (Advantage Play 4)

His jaw tightens before Kingston lifts his chin and motions to the kid. “Get him inside.”

Having sensed the commotion, Regina and Dex appear in the entryway before Dex asks, “What’s going on?”

I ignore them and watch Lou step closer to the kid, but he scrambles away on his hands and knees before Lou can reach him. With a quiet gasp, Regina lunges between Lou and Will then forces the soldier to freeze. “Stop it, Lou. You’re scaring him.”

“Kingston said to bring him inside.”

“And what? You were gonna drag him?” she challenges with her hands on her hips. “He’s a kid, Lou. Back off.”

Nostrils flaring, he retreats but motions to the kid huddled in a ball. “Then you deal with it.”

She glares at Lou with pursed lips, then raises her hands into the air and inches closer to the little boy Q used to nanny.

“Hey, bud.” She keeps her tone gentle. “You okay?”

The kid shakes his head back and forth over and over again while his chest heaves up and down with sobs.

“Shhh, it’s okay. I’m not gonna hurt you.” She kneels down beside him and tilts her head to get a closer look at the strange kid on our driveway. His face is red, and his eyes are practically drowning in sorrow as he finds the courage to look up at her.

“Hey,” she repeats, her mouth curving up in a soft, reassuring smile. “I’m Regina. Are you hurt?” She drops her chin to his injured arm, and his gaze follows it.

“I-I’m…yeah. I’m hurt.”

“It looks like it. Do you think you could let me take a better look at it and maybe help you feel better?”

His wide gaze makes my gut tighten with pity as he searches her face. Coming to some kind of conclusion, he dives into her arms and loses it. Regina freezes for a split second, her mouth open in shock, before returning his embrace with the determination of a mama bear.

“Shhh,” she coos, running her hands through his sweaty hair. “It’s okay. It’s gonna be okay.”

“What the hell?” Lou breathes with the same stunned expression as the rest of us.

“Get him inside,” Kingston orders a second time before heading to the front door.

I take a seat across from the couch before Regina, Dex, and the kid collapse onto it. Like a little monkey, Will keeps clinging to Regina as if she’s his savior. Depending on how this conversation plays out, he might not be too far off.

Cracking his neck, Kingston sits down in the chair to my right while Lou and Stefan hover behind the couch.

“Hey,” Regina croons with her arm around Will’s shoulder once everyone is situated. “It’s okay. You’re safe now. Can I see your arm?”

Whimpering, he pulls it away and shows her the inside of his forearm before nuzzling back into her side like she’s his damn mama.

Her hand covers her mouth as she stares at the damage with wide eyes while trying not to freak the kid out any more than he already is.

“Fuck,” Dex mutters under his breath. An ‘X’ is carved into his skin and is an exact replica of the one tattooed on Dex’s. Lou rushes out of the room without being told and returns with a first-aid kit as the rest of us sit in silence. Grabbing it from him, Dex sets it in his lap and opens the lid. “I’ll take care of it.”

We all watch as he starts to clean and dress the wound while Regina murmurs to the kid that he’s so brave. That he’s going to be okay. That she’ll take care of him.

The kid flinches but doesn’t pull away as Dex douses it with hydrogen peroxide.

“Why would someone do that?” Lou presses as if Will isn’t even in the room.

“It was a message,” Dex growls. He’s practically vibrating with anger while inspecting the wound again. “For me.”

Kingston scrapes the scruff along his jaw. “What kind of message?”

“That he knows I’m here.”

“Who?” I demand though I’m afraid I already know.

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