Page 85 of Tarnished Queen

“It will be.” He shoves his phone in his pocket and then stands back. His eyes trail over the bed and over me. I’m still lying on top of the comforter, one leg curled up, my arm draped over my stomach. He lets out a ragged breath. “I want you in this exact position and in this exact outfit in my bed when I get home tonight.”

A blush creeps over my skin. “Yes, sir.”

“Fuck, Belle. You are—” He shakes his head. “I have to go. I’ll call when I’m on my way.”

Before either of us can tempt the other back into bed, he rushes out of the room.

I lounge on the covers for a few minutes, trailing my hand over my sensitive skin and luxuriating in the memory of being with him. Only when I’m positive my trembling legs won’t collapse under me do I get up and tug on real clothes.

I’ve just pulled on jeans and a t-shirt when there’s a loud, pounding knock on the front door. I have no clue who it could be until I step on the keys that must have fallen out of Nikolai’s pants. I scoop them up and jog down the hallway and through the entryway.

“Did you forget your keys on purpose?” I yell at the dark shape just on the other side of the fogged glass. “You don’t need to create an excuse to come back to my room. You’re always welcome to fuck me wherever—”

I pull the door open and the words die on my lips. Nikolai isn’t standing on the doorstep.

Instead, it’s three police officers standing in a triangle formation.

“Belle Dowan?” the first asks. He’s a bulky man with a deep frown.

I nod slowly and fearfully. “Yeah, that’s me. I’m Belle. How can I—”

He grabs my wrist and yanks me outside. “Belle Dowan, you are being charged with the kidnapping of Elise Dowan. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you—”

“What? What are you talking—” I try to pull my arm back, but his grip is like iron. The other two officers step up to assist while the first officer continues reading my Miranda rights.

“What is going on?” I scream. “You can’t—I didn’t kidnap anyone! What is—”

I look back into the house and see Elise standing frozen in the middle of the entryway. The female police officer notices her, too.

“Elise Dowan?” she calls.

Elise nods dumbly, her eyes flicking from me to the officers and back again.

The officer steps into Nikolai’s house and grabs Elise. “You aren’t in trouble, honey. You’re safe now.”

She was already safe, I think. My voice won’t work anymore.Don’t fucking touch her.

But I don’t want to scare Elise. I don’t want her to see me fighting and flailing with the police.

So I let myself be dragged to the police car. I watch helplessly from the backseat as Elise is loaded into a separate vehicle.

Then we are both hauled away to God-knows-where.

26

NIKOLAI

Smoke pours from the parking garage of the Zinc Hotel, spiraling up into the clear blue sky. Worried guests and staff whisper and pace around the sidewalk. No one knows where to go or what to do.

“When did this happen?” I growl to no one in particular.

“I called as soon as I heard about thefire,” Yuri says. He doesn’t actually place air quotes around the word, but I hear it in his intonation. He knows as well as I do that this was no accident. “The security guard saw a few dudes with neck tattoos cruising around the lower level of the garage on their bikes a half hour before the fire. He managed to tell that to the cops before he died from his wounds. Two gunshots to the chest.”

I clench my jaw. “Fucking Battiatos.”

Yuri nods. “The cameras were all conveniently down, but my guess is the guard was in the wrong place at the wrong time. This seems more like a warning than anything else.”

I nod in agreement. I’d say it was a distraction, except I know for a fact Belle is safe. I’ve tripled security measures around the house, and my guards know better than to let anyone through the gates when I’m not there.

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