Page 113 of Make Me Queen

Cain and I exchanged a secret smile in the rear view mirror that Nina didn’t notice because she was too busy staring out her window, lost in her thoughts.

Paxton’s fingers traced my skin as I laid my head on his chest, the steady sound of his heartbeat comforting the complicated emotions thrumming through my veins.

Forty minutes later, Nina sat upright. “We should have been there by now!” she snarled, a thread of unease in her voice.

“I decided against that,” said Cain smoothly. His tone was friendly…if you didn’t know him.

If you did, you wouldn’t be able to miss the undercurrent of danger that was present.

“Where exactly are you taking me?” Her hands gripped the armrest, her knuckles turning white. Nina turned to glare at me. “Really, Aurora?”

“Really what?” I asked nonchalantly.

“Are you—” she took a deep, shuddering breath. “Are you planning on killing me?”

Stellan scoffed, although, really…the whole thing with Cain’s mother had happened and I had sort of threatened Nina before…

I kept my head on Paxton’s chest, like I couldn’t be bothered with what she’d asked.

“No, Nina. We aren’t killing you,” I answered, right as Cain pulled into a random gas station in the middle of nowhere.

Cain pulled up next to a green bench just outside the storefront and stopped.

“Why are you stopped? What is this place?”

“This is your drop off point. If you think really hard, I’m sure you’ll recognize it.”

Nina stared out the window, her face scrunched up, as I pictured a little girl, sitting on a bench, waiting for her mother to come back.

It was poetic justice that I hadn’t known I’d needed until Cain had decided it for me.

Remington hopped out of the car and tossed open Nina’s door. “Time to get out.”

Nina glanced back at me, a harrowed look on her face.

“The gas station,” she murmured, before she pursed her lips. “If you’re trying to make me feel guilty for what I said, it’s not going to work, Aurora. I stand by—”

“I’m not trying to make you feel guilty about anything,” I said, finally lifting my head from Paxton’s chest. “After you get out of the car, I’m never going to think about you again. But I’m confident you’ll think of me every day for the rest of your life.”

“Aurora!”

“Get out,” Cain said cooly. “I’m going to fuck your daughter after this with the rest of her boyfriends. So you can rest assured she’s in good hands.”

Nina’s mouth fell open in shock. Remington took the opportunity to unclick her seatbelt and scoot her out. She stumbled as she caught herself on the sidewalk.

Stellan rolled down the back window. “There’s a bench you can sit on right there,” he said, motioning to the closest one. Remington hopped into the front where Nina had been sitting, and slammed the door in Nina’s face. Stellan closed his window and we drove away.

I started to turn my head and Stellan caught my chin.

“Don’t look back, Aurora. There’s nothing there for you anymore,” he murmured, catching my lips with a soft kiss that had me melting against him, completely forgetting Nina and all I’d left behind.

When Stellan released my lips, Cain caught my eye in the rear view mirror. “Ready for that orgy, little devil?” he purred, his tongue peeking out to slide along his bottom lip.

“Ready,” I breathed as Paxton’s hand slid between my legs, moving to cup my core.

Remington whooped in the front seat as Stellan shot me a sexy wink.

He and Cain had both been right. There was nothing waiting for me back there.

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