Page 1 of Revenge of a Queen

Prologue

Two and half years ago

All I feel is pain and all I see is blood. Fuck, it’s like the night that shall not be named all over again. At least at the end of this, I will have a whole new reason for living, but fuck it hurts. Why does no one tell you that? I mean they do but, fuck them, they aren’t trying to force a fucking melon out of their vaginas right now! I should not be doing this.I try to concentrate on my family's words, but the pain just seems too much.

“You have to push, little rose,” Helen’s smooth, motherly voice hits my ear as she strokes my head with a cold compress. Such an angel.

“You've got this, Ells Bells,” Asher says from my other side while squeezing my hand.

I look down and see Arthur talking with the head of the OB-GYN Department, yes, the Chair because he and Helen would only allow the best for me. God, I love them, I hope they know that. He looks worried and is nodding rapidly at whatever the other doctor is saying to him. He looks at me and gives me a small smile. I know whatever they’re saying isn’t good, I don’t have time to think about it before I scream out in pain. Both Arthur and the other doctor rush towards me, their panic-stricken faces are the last thing I remember before darkness descends.

I feel groggy and my throat is coarse and dry. I try to move but my body feels weird, lifeless almost. No not lifeless, more like weighed down, fuck, am I tied up? I start to panic but when I open my eyes I am greeted with the most beautiful sight in the entire world.

My best friend sitting in a chair, his shirt open, cradling our new-born daughter to his bare chest. He must hear me try to move because his gaze snaps up and meets mine. He smiles in pure relief when he sees my eyes open and locked on them. That look in his eye, the one that I’ve become accustomed to seeing since that awful night is nowhere to be seen. For the first time in months, he looks happy, hopeful, determined. It looks good on him.

“You gave us quite the scare, Hells Bells,” he sighs, looking back down at our daughter.

I start to ask him what happened, but the nickname throws me off, “Hells Bells?” I question him in a drowsy tone, wondering if I misheard him.

He laughs, “Yeah you know like Ells Bells, but now it includes the hell you give me,” he winks as I laugh a little, taking in my surroundings. What the hell happened?

“What happened?” I question him.

“Bunch of shit,” he shrugs his shoulders like it’s nothing.

“There were some problems, so they had to rush you into surgery for an emergency c-section,” he says grimly.Ah, that explains why I feel slightly out of it and can’t move properly.

He stands and I panic but somehow, he has already mastered how to hold our daughter perfectly. He walks over to the bed and bends down so he can show her to me.

“Baby girl meet our daughter,” the pride in his voice is crystal clear. He no longer sounds like a fifteen-year-old boy, with the weight of the world on his shoulders and a mountain of regrets. No, he sounds like a man, a father, a hero, someone who is determined to make all of our enemies burn.

He passes her over to me, gently placing her in my arms and in an instant my whole life changes. I look down and see the most beautiful baby in the entire world. Long blonde lashes, fanning across her eyelids, a small button nose, and rosy lips puckered up like she is asking for a kiss. She has a dusting of blonde hair covering her head and a slight blush to her cheeks. She is absolutely perfect, and I know straight away that I will protect her with everything I have got and if that isn’t enough? Well, then I will get more, I will give her the world and take out anyone who gets in our way.

Asher joins me on the bed, and we sit there just staring at her for lord knows how long until the door opens. I look up and find Helen peeking round the door.

“Ready for some visitors, little rose?” she asks gently, and I smile.

“Of course, come in, come in,” I reply excitedly.

Helen comes into the room followed by Arthur and Zack, all of them not paying me any notice, as they all stare at the beautiful little bundle in my arms. Silence surrounds us as they take in my daughter and appreciate the light shining through the darkness that has brought us all together.

Arthur breaks it when he looks up at me and asks, “You okay, kiddo?”

“I don’t know, am I?” I toss back at him with a smile, desperate for his medical expertise.

He smiles knowingly, understanding my need to know everything but he just nods, “Of course you are, you smashed it.”

“Yeah, you did good, sis,” Zack adds, smiling down at me as he drops a kiss to my forehead. “She got a name yet?” he questions, and I falter. I hadn’t even thought about it.

I look at Asher and he just shrugs leaving it to me, I look down at the perfection in my arms until it comes to me.

“Everybody meet Cassie Royton,” I say with glee and I hear Helen and Arthur gasp.

“You don’t have to do that, kiddo,” Arthur starts, sounding choked up but I cut him off.

“I know, but I want to. You guys mean the world to me and I would be lost without you,” I don’t think they can ever appreciate how much I needed them when we first met. They healed me in ways I didn’t think possible, showed me what true loving parents looked like. “And besides this is the safest thing for her, so I don’t wanna hear any more about it.” I am not letting the demons of that night ruin this special moment for any of us. Fuck them to the fiery pits of hell. This isn’t about them; this is all about the tiny perfect girl in my arms. “Now come and meet your granddaughter.”

They smile as tears gather in their eyes and even Zack’s look a little watery. Asher just smiles nodding in total agreement. I pass Cassie over to Helen so she can have her first cuddle with her new grandbaby, and we all sigh in content.

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