Page 14 of His Broken Queen

“Don’t put him in the middle,” I said. “It’s not fair.”

“Is it fair to make Jag wash the cars and clean the pool?”

“It’s October, we closed the pool.”

“You know what I mean.” She pressed her sexy lips together. “It wasn’t his fault what happened. I told him to park the car. I got out before he could stop me.”

“It’s his job to make sure you don’t do stuff like that.” I clenched my fist. “I’d appreciate it if you didn’t do stuff like that. Not now.”

“What does that mean?”

“I want to keep you safe, and I can’t do that if you don’t listen to your guard.” I tightened my jaw when I thought how things could have gone if I didn’t get to her after her family took her. What would Vincent and his witch of a mother have done to her? “Jag doesn’t have control over you. You don’t respect him.”

“That’s not true.”

“You view him as a friend.”

“That bothers you?”

“He can be your friend while he washes the cars. He’s not going to be responsible for your life. End of story.”

She opened her mouth to say something but thought better of it. She wasn’t going to win this battle.

“I don’t want to fight with you.” I unbuckled my seatbelt and moved closer to her as Salvi followed Joey into the driveway. “You just have to trust me, okay?”

“I do,” she whispered. “Even if I don’t understand it.”

“Everything I do is to keep you safe.” I pressed my lips to hers. “I promise.”

She rested her palm against my cheek.

“Boss?” Salvi opened his car door when we got to the house. “Something’s not right.”

I glanced out the window to see Joey headed toward the house with his gun already drawn.

“What the hell?”

The front door was wide open but none of the other guards were around.

“What’s wrong?” Lu unbuckled her seatbelt. “The door is open.”

Salvi drew his gun and followed Joey.

I reached for my piece before turning to Luciana. “Stay here.” I motioned behind me. “The guys behind us will guard the car.”

The two guards who were following us got out and came to my side of the car.

“Don’t leave my wife,” I said. “No matter what happens.”

“Why is Stella here?” Lu opened her door and headed toward Stella’s car before I could stop her. “She’s not supposed to be here.”

“Luciana,” I called after her as I came around the car and followed her up the driveway. “Get back here.”

I hurried to catch her from approaching the house. As she made her way to Stella’s car, Jag and two other guards came from the direction of the backyard.

“What is happening?” I asked. “Is it secure?”

“Yes, Joey and Salvi are inside now,” Jag said. “We heard a shot and then on the camera we saw two men fleeing through the yard. We went after them, but couldn’t catch them.”

---