Page 64 of Make Me Queen

Stellan and I exchanged a look. Without a word, he picked up my clothes and held them out toward me. I dressed quickly, and he did the same. My heart pounded in my chest.

It’s always hard to predict how your psycho boyfriend will respond to matricide.

“She’s dead?” Cain asked.

I swiped my hair behind my ears, trying to prepare myself for everything. I paced the room anxiously, just for a few seconds, then sank into the club chair Cain had left behind. He was definitely pacing too.

“Murdered,” Cain repeated. “And you think it’s revenge from the Vitrola family for the arms shipment you lost?”

Even from across the room, I could hear Alexander bark about how he was trying to call a truce…just long enough to tell Cain his mother was dead.

“Well,” Cain said. “There may even be another truce in our future. Whoever killed Mom will be punished.”

The wordpunishmentfrom Cain always made my thighs clutch, a hungry throb of need growing between them. Now was the same, though it was edged with tension. I sat stiffly in the chair, ready to throw myself into motion if it came down to a fight with Cain. Stellan shifted his jacket, preparing to draw his gun in a second; tension was written through the coiled muscles of his lean, powerful body.

Cain leaned over the back of the chair, hands braced on its arms. His voice was low and quiet in my ear when he asked, “Aurora…what did you do?”

I could imagine how quickly those big, dangerous hands of his could fly to my throat. I knew how quickly Stellan could get a shot off. But I didn’t want Cain hurt, either.

“Rebecca was vile to you,” I said. “I couldn’t stand it.”

“Why exactly were you in a position to kill Rebecca?”

“She had information we needed to find Remy and Pax.”

Cain slid over the arm of the chair to grab me—and pull me into his lap. His hand traced up my decolletage, almost lazily, until he reached the base of my throat. When his hand wrapped around my throat, the gesture was pure possession. His eyes flickered toward Stellan, and I knew he hadn't missed the change in Stellan’s posture. “Why didn’t you want to tell me?”

His head dipped to kiss just below my ear. I usually would have tilted my head to allow him easier access, because I loved his mouth on my throat, but I still felt tense.

“It was a bit impulsive,” I said. “I just wanted to protect you…but then I had my doubts that you’d appreciate it.”

“I don’t appreciate you putting yourself in danger.”

The words hung between us.

Carefully, I said, “Your mom…”

His hand tightened on my throat, pressing hard enough to block the airway a little, to make the world turn heady and sweet. It always aroused me, but now it alarmed me too. I wasn’t sure where this was going.

His lips drifted against my ear as he murmured, “Don’t you know by now I’ll always choose you?”

16

AURORA

We moved to a new location. Cain didn’t trust that his father would continue to think the killing had been brought on by his enemies, and he didn’t want him to find us if he came looking.

Late that evening, the three of us settled into the living room. Cain turned on the news while Stellan opened Remy’s laptop, trying to check in on the police investigation.

“They didn’t mention my mom,” Cain said. “So Dad must have swept it under the rug.”

I felt a ripple of guilt whenever Cain said “my mom”. After all, he did care—to an extent—about saving my own mother. And I’d killed his. No matter how much she annoyed me, maybe that was too extreme a way of dealing with toxic in-laws.

Stellan, as always, picked up on my feelings. I caught him making meaningful glances at Cain, who was sipping whiskey and either oblivious or ignoring him. I reached over to swat Stellan and make him stop, and he caught my wrist, then leaned in, a mischievous spark lighting his eyes, and kissed me. As I kissed him back, some of my wild emotion fled away.

“What’s going on, Aurora?” Cain’s voice was a rich, sexy rumble as always.

Damn it, he’d noticed Stellan’s signals. I should’ve known. Cain didn’t miss a damn thing.

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