Page 31 of Revenge of a Queen

Not wanting to linger any closer and wake her, I move quietly across the room and drop into an armchair in the corner. I need answers and the only way I will get them is if I stay. I sit there for hours watching them. I don’t know when, but at some point, I must have fallen asleep, because next thing I know I am opening my eyes to be greeted with the miniature version of Elle standing right in front of me watching me sleep.

I almost have a heart attack; how did she even get over here without me hearing? Are kids supposed to be creepy? Is this like a thing they do? Are they actually little ninjas sent to scare you? As soon as my eyes lock with hers, she smiles, lighting up her whole face. Fuck, she looks so much like Elle. I open my mouth to speak when she dives onto my lap and covers my mouth with her tiny hands.

“Ssssshh...Mommy sleeping,” she says, with a giggle and a not so quiet whisper. I can’t help but smile. I look over to the bed and sure enough, Elle is still fast asleep, looking as peaceful as an angel. I bring my gaze back to Cassie and nod; she slowly drops her hands from my mouth. I don’t say anything, one, because she told me to be quiet and two because I haven’t got any fucking clue how to talk to a child.

She doesn’t seem to mind my silence as she jumps off my lap and speaks again.

“Come on, tea party,” she says, as she pulls on my arm and when I stand, she drags me across the room to a small table that has four child size chairs around it. She pushes me down into one before I can even agree or disagree. She rushes over to the bed and grabs a pink rag doll and an orange giraffe before rushing back to the table. She places them into the two seats on one side and then takes a seat next to me.

I have never felt awkward around a girl before, but I guess there is a first time for everything. She takes the teapot and proceeds to fake pour us all a drink and then passes one to me. I can’t help but laugh at what is happening right now, the king of the South Side Rebels is having a fucking tea party. I should care, but the smile on her face squashes any other thoughts in my mind. It’s a smile that makes me feel like I would willingly do anything for her, it’s exactly how I used to feel about Elle. Do I still feel like that? I look into the eyes of the little girl, who is half King and half Donovan, and for the first time it feels like that fact doesn’t bother me so much.

Chapter 17

ELLE

Ifeel myself waking and I immediately stretch out my arm to reach for Cassie, but all I find is cold sheets. Not unusual but it means something else has her attention, otherwise she would have woken me up. I keep my eyes closed, comfortable enough that I feel like I could fall back asleep when I hear them.

“Nuh uh, Mommy never lies, it’s bad,” I smile with my eyes closed at her statement, she remembers everything I say. I don’t know another kid her age that has a memory like hers or speaks so well.

“Well, that is not what happened, and you weren’t even there, I was,” Marcus’ voice hits me like a fucking Mack truck. WHAT THE FUCKING FUCK!?

I snap my eyes open so fast that it takes a few seconds for my vision to unblur but sure enough there he is. He is sitting at Cassie's small table, looking ridiculously oversized in one of her tiny chairs while she sits on his knee like she belongs there. They are looking at an old photo album of mine, that has a ton of pictures of Marcus and I as kids and swapping stories about them. Cassie reciting them from hearing them during bedtime stories and Marcus reciting them from memory.

I didn’t think my heart could get any fuller. Seeing Cassie with Asher is one of my favorite sights in all the world, they really do adore each other. I thought I would never match that, but seeing Cassie with Marcus, fuck, that hits me differently. Which is crazy right because I love Asher and Marcus, albeit, not in the same way, maybe that's why it feels so different. Asher is my friend, my family and Cassie's dad but in a way, Marcus is much more than that. He’s my first friend, first crush, first love, what I thought would be a forever kind of love. It sure felt like it, well until the Cassie bomb dropped. I thought we would never recover but now here he sits with his arms around her like he has been here every day of her life.

Fuck, why is life so complicated? I sit up slowly but clearly not slow enough because as soon as I move both pairs of eyes hit me.

“Mommyyy!” She screeches, as she struggles off Marcus’ huge lap to come racing towards me. She dives onto the bed and cuddles into my side.

“Look, Mommy! It’s River, he came back, you said he wouldn’t, but he did, he came to play with me, tell me stories, and have tea parties,” the words tumble out her mouth, so fast and mispronounced, in her excitement and I can’t help but turn my gaze back to Marcus.

He is staring at us both intently. I can tell immediately this thing with us is far from over, was it ever going to be over? How much longer can I keep him in the dark? Every time I push him away, he just comes back harder. Is it time for him to know the truth? He must want something otherwise he wouldn’t be here, would he? He said as much in the cemetery yesterday. Fuck, why is my life so complicated? Surely, this is not what an eighteen-year-old should be dealing with. What fucked up karma gods thought I was equipped enough to deal with all this shit?

Cassie bounces off the bed and runs back over into Marcus' arms and he welcomes her. It's the most beautiful thing in the world, to see him accept her like that. It’s as beautiful as it is when I see her with Asher but with a twist of something that sends butterflies through me. Seeing my childhood crush, turned hot as fuck leader of the South Side Rebels interacting with my little girl should be a crime. Why does he have to be good at everything? My thoughts quickly go back to the alley on Friday night as I remember just how many things, he is good at and I start to blush, so I shut it down.

I pull the covers back and stand up and watch as his gaze falls to my body taking me in, all the way down to my feet and back up, I shift my weight feeling awkward, as his gaze settles on my torso. At first, I can’t believe he would just openly stare at me like this but then it hits me what I am wearing. I went to bed in his hoodie, the same hoodie I came home in when I spent the night with him after the club. FUCK.

I never gave it back and have been secretly sleeping in it most nights with his scent soothing me to sleep. Now here he is, catching me in the act. In the past, it wouldn’t be a big deal, I was always stealing his hoodies and never giving them back, but this isn’t the past, we aren’t those same kids. But from the look in his eye, can we be? He doesn’t look mad or awkward, in fact he looks happy, smug even and something else I can’t quite decipher.

This situation is way past being awkward so I say the only thing I can think of to get us out of it “Breakfast?”

He smiles like he can see what I am trying to do but he just nods and stands up taking Cassie in his arms effortlessly. Holy fuck. Forgive me father for I want to sin. I feel like tearing the hoodie from my now burning skin, but considering I only have panties on underneath, I highly doubt it would help the situation. Instead, I do what any normal awkward eighteen-year-old virgin would do, I run. I grab my sweats from where I threw them on the floor last night and flee the room, quickly, in the hopes he knows to follow and make my way down to the kitchen.

Arthur spies me immediately from where he is already cooking breakfast. “Perfect timing, firecracker, this is almost done. Where's my little spitfire?” he asks but trails off as Marcus walks in behind me cradling Cass in his arms. Arthur’s eyebrows practically hit the roof before he quickly schools his expression, looking at me and then back to Marcus.

He grabs a towel and wipes his hands before speaking as he walks round the counter, “Hey, it’s Marcus, right?” he starts, which is a stupid thing to say, considering he knows exactly who he is. I roll my eyes as he continues, “It’s great to finally meet you. Heard a lot about you, I’m Arthur.”

Marcus looks at me quickly before offering his hand to Arthur. “Good to meet you too,” he replies, gruffly.

“Grandpaaaa, pancakes!” Cassie interrupts them, as she squeals and they both smile.

“Of course, I made pancakes for my best girl,” he says, going to take her from Marcus, but she snuggles back into him. I’m not the only one shocked, but I am the first to smile.

“I thought after twenty-five years of marriage I was your best girl?” Helen jokes as she enters the kitchen.

She drops a kiss to my head as she passes where I’m now sitting at the counter and goes straight to Marcus and Cassie.

“I’m so happy to officially meet you, sweetheart. Elle never stopped talking about you,” she says, and I feel myself turning red. She is playing the part of embarrassing Mom, perfectly.

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