Page 6 of Revenge of a Queen

Asher snorts aloud, “Of course he did,” before adding under his breathe, “Stubborn fucking Riviera men.”

“And let me guess, he hit Zack?” Lincoln muses knowing how much of a loose temper his brother has.

“Erm actually, Zack hit him,” I cringe a little at admitting that. I know Marcus will be pissed about that too when he lets himself calm down. I see a smile tug at Linc’s lips before I continue, “He was distracted, but then Cassie came running from the house calling out to me.”

“Fuck,” Lincoln replies quietly as silence descends on the room again. Fuck indeed.

“Why didn’t you tell him the truth?” Lincoln asks after a few minutes.

“Are you fucking dense?” Asher snaps before I can even form a response.

“Care to elaborate?” Lincoln replies not affected in the slightest by Ash’s outburst.

“You just saw why she didn’t tell him the truth, something I’m sure you see every fucking day. Marcus is just like his father, a hunter for justice, he is too hot headed to handle the truth.”

I sigh, Asher is right, and I elaborate, before either of them can continue, “Telling him the truth would be the same as signing his death certificate,” I reply grimly.

“It’s better he hates me and Ash thinking what he does now, rather than knowing the truth and going after Greg alone.” Which he would, he wouldn’t even think, he would happily give his life to avenge mine and that is something I won’t allow.

Lincoln doesn’t disagree with me like he has before, he has seen how Marcus has no limit when it comes to me. We have a special bond, or at least we did, I fear that’s over now. I saw the way he looked at me before he left, like I was the lowest of the low. Who can blame him? He thinks I left him after fucking our best friend, had his child, and that I came back here to be with him. That’s all he will ever see when he looks at me now. He won’t see Elle King, the little girl he used to wish upon a star with, no, he will see Elle King, the traitor, and the liar.

Cassie saves any of us from having to say anything further when she comes running back into the room clutching a piece of paper to her chest.

“Where did River go, Mommy?” her excited, innocent curiosity cracks my heart.

“He had to go, baby,” I say trying to keep the emotion out of my voice, but I can tell it doesn’t go unnoticed by the two guys left here with me.

Her face falls, “Oh,” she replies softly before perking up, “will he come back?”

I should lie to her right? I should keep her innocent, pure heart intact and let her think the world is all sunshine and rainbows. Is that what a good mom would do? As much as that seems like the right thing to do, I just can’t bring myself to do it, so I tell her the truth.

“Honestly, baby, I don’t know if he will,” I reply in my softest tone and her face shuts down.

“Oh,” that one tiny word shatters me, and just when I think I will be okay, she runs over and hands me the piece of paper clutched in her small hands, “This was for him,” she adds before running back off to where she came from.

I watch her go before looking down to see she has drawn two stick figures holding hands with crooked smiley faces. It’s something she has learned recently, which is quite advanced for her age. She usually draws herself, Asher, and I over and over again and makes me write our names, but this one is different. There are just two lone figures by a river and it's as clear as day that it's meant to be her and Marcus. My heart cracks worse than ever. How do you explain the harsh reality of the world to an innocent child?

Chapter 3

LINCOLN

Iwatch as the emotions on Elle’s face come out in full force. It’s the most emotion I’ve ever seen her show before and it’s not good. The look on her face is heart-breaking, it’s a look of pure devastation. I can’t help but wonder how bad this look would have been when she was fourteen and had her innocence stolen. Hanging around the other two Rebels means I rarely get my hands dirty and turn to violence, I left that part of me in my past. Yet, I can’t lie and say I don’t have murderous thoughts about the low lives that did that to her. That my palms don’t itch to be coated in their blood, a feeling I know well, a feeling I miss, crave even.

I don’t know what has made her so strong, well I guess I do, it’s that beautiful little girl that just walked out of the room. Seeing her hurt little face at Marcus being gone, honestly makes me want to punch him, even if I do understand him. He’s hurting, at what he thinks he knows, and I added to that hurt by betraying him. He probably won’t forgive me, but I can’t change that, and I wouldn’t. Changing that would mean betraying Elle, hurting her, and Cassie and that is something I will never do.

I watch as Asher burns a hole through the piece of paper in Elle's hands. I can see how like me he is. His mind never stops turning, his thoughts a constant distraction. I can understand that completely. My focus is protecting my family. His sole focus is on the only two people that matter to him. We would do anything we had to in order to protect them.

I wonder if he’s jealous of Marcus. They say they don’t have that type of relationship, but I can’t help but be curious about him. The dark prince of the Donovan name. Does he want her? Or were they telling the truth and it really isn’t like that between them? They are as close as family, which given their situation, makes perfect sense, but everything about him is an enigma. He is a Donovan after all, so what makes him different from his family? He is just as psychotic and dark as they are. Yet, I know the eyes of a sadistic murderer, and he doesn’t have them. He is just a boy trying to survive this town and the devils that run it.

I look back to Elle as she takes a deep breath, I know her well enough now, to see her shields going back up. She allowed herself a quiet moment of weakness, a moment of mourning, for something Cassie will never have, and now she is shutting it down. It’s impressive really, makes me wonder if this is something natural to her or something she has learned, or should I say, been taught?

I can tell that nothing more is going to be discussed here, she is still pissed off at me for bringing Jace, but I didn’t even think about it. It’s probably the first time I’ve not thought about doing something. I just got her panicked phone call, while I was grabbing lunch with Jace, and the tone in her voice had me flooring it here before he could even register what was going on. I know Jace and trust him implicitly, but I would never purposely betray Elle’s trust, I hope she knows that.

“Is there anything else you need?” I ask gently.

Asher is the first to reply, “I think you’ve done enough,” he snaps, and I roll my eyes, making him narrow his eyes at me. I ignore him and focus on Elle as she finally looks up at me.

“No,” she says with a soft smile. “Thank you for coming but no, you should go. He needs you more than I do.”

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