Page 29 of Tarnished Queen

I’ve come to expect complaints about menial tasks like cleaning up murder scenes, but Yuri doesn’t flinch.

“On it, boss. I’ll take care of it.”

I hang up and head to my car. Blind obedience has never felt hollower.

10

NIKOLAI

Belle’s room is dark when I push the door open.

I didn’t expect her to still be awake. I’m not even sure why I’m here. But when I got back to the house, sitting alone in my room sounded like fucking misery incarnate.

“Nikolai?” Her voice is raspy with sleep, but my heart still pangs at the familiar sound of it. “Is everything okay?”

“I’m not here to torture you again, if that’s what you’re asking.”

The weight of those words sits between us heavily. Calling what I did to Belle earlier a “punishment” is a serious stretch. The only thing torturous about it is that I didn’t wrestle the gun out of her hands and “torture” her again.

She sits up, drawing the blankets around her. “I mean, is everything okay with you? It’s late.”

“I’m fine. I just like to decompress after I kill someone."

Admittedly, I'm trying to scare her. I may have slipped into her room late at night, but that doesn't mean we're on anything resembling good terms.

"Who?" she asks softly.

I consider lying to her, but the truth slips out so easily. "A Battiato soldier. He attacked me."

"Are you okay?" Belle shifts to the edge of the mattress and slides out of bed. She's in a night shirt that falls just to the tops of her thighs. Even in the dark, I can see the curve of her hips. The gentle slope of her legs.

"I already said I'm fine."

When her hand skirts down my arm and clutches my wrist, I don't pull away. "If you were fine,” she says, “you wouldn't be here."

"If I was fine, I wouldn't be don. No one who is ‘fine’ survives in my world," I tell her. "We're all fucked-up. It comes with the territory."

Her fingers slide against mine. In the dark, it's easier to give into the appeal of her. To the warmth of her body, the silky smoothness of her skin. She pulls me towards the bed, and I follow.

"Then tell me what in particular has you fucked up today."

She pats the mattress. I kick off my shoes and lie down next to her.

"Arslan was the only person in my Bratva who knew me before I was me," I whisper. “When I was a scrappy little kid with nothing and nobody.”

Belle laughs softly. "It’s hard to imagine you before the power and the money.”

“And the harem of women at my beck and call?”

“It’s very easynotto imagine that, thank you very much.”

I sigh and run my fingers through my hair. “Having a harem of women was always more Arslan’s thing, anyway. His childhood sucked, too. So settling down wasn’t on his priority list.”

“So there’s no one—like, no immediate family to inform or anything?” Her voice is almost a whisper.

“No. I’m the closest thing he had.”

I feel Belle shift slightly, drawing closer. But she doesn’t touch me. “Like brothers.”

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