Page 4 of Scorned Queen

“The daughter of one of the board members.She’s ten years older than me.I really don’t know her.”

It’s right then that a group of Damion’s business club friends sit down, which surprises me because why are they here?Damion reads my mind, leaning in close to whisper, “Alexander’s father works with my father.He’s dating Christi, the girl with him, and they each brought friends.”

I nod, but there’s this energy at the table that is electric in all the wrong ways.There are eyes on me and whispers that feel as if they chant my name.Damion exchanges a few words with Alexander, and soon we have some sort of chocolate bonbons on a plate placed in front of us.Damion eyes me.“I know you love this.”

I grin.“What makes you think that?”

“Which one first?”

It’s a game we play, tasting new things at the same time.“The round one.”We reach for them together and take a bite.Damion immediately makes a face.

“That is not good,” he says.

I laugh and finish the entire thing.“I disagree.”But even as I do, there’s this weird tingling sensation on my nape that has me glancing up to find Alexander staring at me.

I swallow hard, with the intensity of his attention.

“You’re that real estate agent family, right?”

I fight the urge to pop back and remind him one person is not a family, but I never get the chance.His head snaps to Damion and he says, “Man, what is she doing here?”

My cheeks heat, and I feel as if quicksand is all around me, and my chair might as well be sinking into the deep, dark, muddy water.Damion’s fingers curl in his palms a moment, and I can almost feel him battling his anger, which is only going to make this worse.I grab his leg and squeeze, whispering, “Please don’t.”

But there is no “don’t” to be had.Damion scoots his plate aside and says, “Leave my table, Alexander, and do not even think about sitting with me again.

Alexander pales.“What?”

“You heard me,” Damion bites out.“Leave now.”

“I meant no harm, Damion.”

“And yet, you caused it,” he says.

The two of them stare at each other for several beats and then to my utter shock, Alexander motions to his girlfriend and the lot of them stand and leave.It’s then that I realize how much power Damion possesses.I mean I knew, I did, but I’ve never seen it on display, not like this.I’m mortified at what has just happened, and I try to stand up.

Damion catches my hand, and when my eyes meet his, the punch between us is created by years of friendship, and something more, something that is as confusing as it is painful.“I need to go to the bathroom.”

“Don’t go.”

“I just—” I swallow, “I need a minute.”

He fills his lungs with a heavy breath, his broad, perfect chest expanding beneath his crisp, white shirt.I’m wearing a pink dress he’d called sweet.He’s in a suit I’d called brutal.Somehow, that now fits but is also unfair.He’s just protecting me, I know he is.I know that’s his intent.

“Damion,” I whisper, a plea for him to release me.

A heavy breath lifts his chest, and he runs the fingers of his free hand through his thick, dark hair before he releases me.I’m cold in an instant, which only sends me rushing toward the house all the faster.There are bathrooms there, and while they are probably for the elites, not people like me, I pray for a moment of privacy.I tilt my chin low, and hurry though what must be a crowd of three hundred.Once I’m inside the house, which is a monstrous white mansion that would fit five of my houses, I hurry up the stairs to an area where a map indicated a powder room.

Thankfully, at the top of the landing the door is open, and I step inside.

“Alana!”

At the sound of Damion’s voice, I step back into the hallway.

“Don’t do this,” he says, joining me, all but touching me again.“Don’t hide away and act as if you don’t belong.You’ll get into an ivy league school because of your brains.He’ll get in because of his parents’ money.That makes you better than him.”

“I don’t want to be better than him, Damion,” I proclaim.“I just want to be the best me, and to not be looked down on.And I know you were trying to protect me, but I’m embarrassed about all of it.I don’t want to be here like this.”

“Like what?”

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