Page 64 of Tarnished Queen

I see the panic in her eyes. The realization that I mean what I’m saying.

“You can let me see Elise just once,” she whispers. Her voice cracks with the desperation that’s been there all along. “I came all this way. I spent money to come and see her.”

I laugh out loud, right in her face. “Not a fucking chance.”

She lifts her chin, looking at me down the length of her nose. Her lips pucker in distaste. “Look at you, Miss High and Mighty. Judging me like your boyfriend didn’t just try to choke me in public. Ask around. I have a restaurant full of witnesses.”

“Nikolai is my fiancé, not my boyfriend. And the difference between him and whatever loser you’re shacking up with these days is that Nikolai cares about me.” The words slice through the fragile coating around my heart. I wish every word I was saying was true. I hope I look more confident than I feel. “Unlike you, Nikolai cares about his child. He’ll do anything to take care of his kid. You’ve only ever cared about yourself.”

She crosses her arms and leans back in her chair. “Don’t come crawling back to me when he dumps your ass and you have nowhere to go. He’ll disappoint you.”

“No, Mom, he won’t. That’s your job.”

I don’t wait for her response. I don’t need one.

I turn and face the exit. Then, for the last time, I leave my mother behind.

20

NIKOLAI

I watch Belle talk to her mom through the diner’s front window.

If thatpizdaso much as breathes wrong, I’ll kill her. I wasn’t kidding with that threat. The woman is lucky I didn’t snap her windpipe for slapping Belle. Even the thought of it makes my fists clench again.

“Melinda is all talk,” Howard says from behind me. “She won’t hit her again.”

“For her sake, I hope not.” I feel Howard watching me, but I refuse to take my eyes off of Belle.

“You really care about her, don’t you?” he asks a moment later.

I don’t answer. I don’t owe him anything.

Not that the answer isn’t blindingly obvious. Even after her betrayal and my oath to myself not to let her become a distraction, my mind is once again filled with Belle.

Not with Xena, wherever the fuck she is. Not with Arslan. Not with my empire.

Just with Belle.

“You better,” Howard continues. “Belle has been through… well, you can probably tell that she didn’t have it easy growing up. Not with Melinda as a mom. She deserves someone who will take care of her.”

“Spoken by the coward who brought that bitch here. The same coward who abandoned his own daughter.”

He lets out a soul-deep sigh. “I know I don’t have much room to talk. Or maybe the ways I’ve fucked up are exactly why I have the room to talk. I know what the other side of those kinds of mistakes looks like. Belle deserves better.”

“Better than you? You might want to set a higher bar.”

Howard actually chuckles. “You’re probably right.”

Belle turns around at that moment. She strides through the diner of gawkers and onlookers with her head held high. I don’t even bother looking back at Melinda. She doesn’t deserve the attention.

I open the door as Belle approaches, and she gives me a tight smile. “Can we go?” she asks.

“If you’re ready.”

She nods. “I’m ready.”

She starts to turn right, but then Howard steps forward to intercept her. “I am sorry about Melinda being here, Belle. I genuinely didn’t know she was coming.”

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