Page 19 of Revenge of a Queen

“Damnnnn, princess. I will never get used to how comfy your bed is,” he says in appreciation.

I pick one of the pillows that he has knocked to the floor up and throw it at him, “You won’t be spending enough time in my bed to get used to it, pretty boy.”

He clutches his chest, “You wound me,” he says with a smile. I roll my eyes at him as I climb onto it and lie next to him.

It’s funny, when I came back to this town, the only person I was comfortable with having in my room was my family, yet here I am with two of the South Side's most dangerous guys, and I feel nothing but content.

“So, what's the plan tonight?” Lincoln asks, breaking into my thoughts.

I shrug and then sit up onto my elbows so I can look at him, “Not much, Superman. Ash says Elliot is still out for blood for what we did, so we keep a low profile for now.”

Jace snorts, “Yeah like the low life prick ever keeps a low profile,” he says through gritted teeth showing a rare side of himself.

Now that I know about what happened to his sister Rachel, everything about Jace Conrad makes a lot more sense, the jokes, the joints, the girls. All of it is an attempt to block out losing the only family he had. I get it. I know what she went through, but I live to deal with it. If it weren’t for Cassie, Ash, Zack, and the rest of my family, I would have joined her in death at my own hands.

I reach out and grip his hand in mine and squeeze it, “Don’t waste your breath on him, pretty boy. When the time comes, I will paint the walls red for what he did to her.” I don’t have to say his sister’s name for him to know who I mean. He uses my grip on his hand to pull me towards him until I am cuddled into his chest, I panic slightly but squash it down because I know he needs this.

He pulls back and looks down at me, “Elle King, I will be by your side to watch him bleed out, all the Rebels will,” he declares, and I frown slightly at the reference to Marcus.

I scoff, “Yeah, I’ll be lucky if Marcus doesn’t kill you first, the way you are pushing his buttons.” Both he and Linc laugh out loud at that.

“Princess, come on, look how much fun we have had riling him up this week. I am surprised he hasn’t bashed my face in yet.”

“He doesn’t care, that's why,” I respond and they both laugh again.

“Elle, for someone so badass, you really are such a girl,” Linc says, and Jace nods.

I climb off the bed in a huff as Jace goes on, “His eyes have not left you once this week. Either to watch you or make sure you are watching the show he’s putting on.”

“Cherry might not be a show,” I say weakly.

He dives off the bed and drags me to the mirror, “No red-blooded male in their right minds would give up on this,” he says gesturing to my reflection before turning me to face him. He grips my cheeks, “Listen to me, Elle King, and listen good, you were made for that boy. The sooner you both pull your heads out of your assess and realize that, the better things will be for all of us.”

“I hate to say this, but Jace is right,” Lincoln chimes in. Jace smiles big like the cat that got the cream before spinning me around to face them.

“Of course, I am, now let’s see how else we can push his buttons,” he says, releasing me and going into my walk-in wardrobe. He ruffles around in there for a few minutes before he comes back and places some stuff on the bed.

“I’m not a doll you can dress up, Conrad,” I say to him, then curse inwardly at the outfit he has picked, it’s kinda perfect.

He has laid out a red lace bodysuit that is sleeveless and cuts super low at the front and is backed by a peach material so you can’t see through the lace, but it still has the illusion of being able to. He has paired it with fitted black velvet pants and some strappy black heels.

“You were saying,” he says smugly, when he sees my appraisal of the outfit.

“Fine,” I huff back at him, “But only because I can hide my knife in those pants,” I say, and he laughs.

He pushes me towards my en suite while landing a little slap on my ass and I squeal. “Now go get that sweet ass pampered so when you see him tonight, he won’t be able to resist you any longer.”

I roll my eyes, “I’m not trying to seduce him,” I mutter, but it doesn’t sound too convincing and I just stalk towards the bathroom as Jace turns back towards my bed.

“Oh, and pretty boy?” He turns back to me with a nod, “Touch my ass again and you will be bleeding out on this carpet,” I say with a smile before turning and slamming the door shut behind me, cutting off his roaring laughter.

Regardless of Jace’s joking, it doesn’t stop me from washing my hair and shaving and moisturizing from head to toe before I pack my stuff up and head over to Taylor’s. The Rebels drop me off, of course, before they head home to change, telling me they will be back soon to pick me up.

Thanks to my constant texts to Taylor alerting her to all my high school drama she is completely caught up on what is going on and instead of offering me support, all she’s got is jokes.

“What? All I’m saying is fake or not, if Jace Conrad was offering me some of that, I would climb him like a tree,” she giggles before knocking back a shot.

“Trust me, Tay, I am sure if you ask, he would be more than willing,” I say, licking the salt off my hand as I try my first tequila shot, ignoring the vile burn in my throat as I swallow and suck a lime.

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