Page 15 of His Broken Queen

“Where did the shot come from?” When I glanced at Stella’s car, dread settled inside my chest.

“Inside the house,” Jag said.

“Where’s Stella?” Lu headed in the direction of the porch.

“No!” I grabbed her arm.

“Where is she?” She trembled. “Is she inside?”

The other two guards looked at their feet, but when Jag stared into my eyes, his gaze was filled with sorrow.

“No,” I whispered.

“What?” Luciana broke out of my hold and ran toward the house. “Stella!”

“Lu!” I chased after her. “Wait!”

As I got to the doorway, Luciana was already inside, but Salvi blocked her way to the kitchen.

“Lu,” he said. “You have to wait outside.”

I joined them in the foyer.

“The house is secure.” Salvi glanced toward the kitchen. “The front door was open when we arrived. I’m going to go pull the footage from the camera.”

“Call Gio,” I said. “Where’s Joey?”

“In the kitchen.” He sighed. “It’s not good.”

“Stella?” Lu ran down the hall. “No!” She dropped to her knees in the archway of the kitchen. “No, no, no!”

Chapter 5

Luciana

Joey stood in the doorway, trying to block the bloody scene in front of me, but it was too late. I would never forget the sight of Stella’s lifeless body on the floor of the kitchen. She bled from the back of her head. I didn’t understand what had happened.

“Luciana.” Romero dropped down next to me and wrapped his arms around my shaking form. “We can’t stay here.” He glanced up at Joey. “We have to get out of here.”

“We have to report this one,” Joey said. “It’s not like the others.”

“I know.” Romero held me tighter. “It was a home invasion. Lu and I weren’t here. The less she has to talk to the cops the better.”

A home invasion? Who would dare try to rob the house of an arms dealer? The place was full of security and cameras. Why was Stella here? How did this happen to her?

I could hear Romero talking, but I couldn’t process the words. All I could think about was Stella. “Is she cold?” I whispered. “In pain?"

Romero continued to speak to the guys. “Gio will help you get your story together, but mostly you’ll say what you told me. You heard a shot.”

“Oh.” I put my hand over my mouth. “Stella.”

“It’s okay.” He kissed the top of my head.

“No, it isn’t,” I screamed. “Stella is dead. She’s dead.” I sobbed into his chest. “Why?”

I lifted my head and stared into the kitchen, bawling harder when I realized I would never get to hear her voice again. We weren’t going to have any more conversations as she taught me how to cook. She wouldn’t be able to tell me about her girls.

“Her daughters?” I looked at Romero. “Their mom isn’t coming home. How are they going to deal with that? Her husband? Her dad? What are we going to do about them?” I couldn’t take a deep breath. “Romero.“ I gripped his shirt in my hand. “I can’t breathe.”

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