Bitter Queen (Advantage Play #4) - Kelsie Rae Page 0,2

box.

Within seconds, Burlone wakes up with a gasp.

“What the fuck?” he murmurs, disoriented. Blinking rapidly, a very confused Burlone looks around the room. “Where the hell am I?”

Frozen, I simply stare at the bastard who ruined me, unsure of what to do next.

“Hello, Burlone,” Diece says conversationally, stepping in to back me up. “Q here would like to show you her appreciation for your hospitality over the past two weeks.”

Squinting his eyes, Burlone looks me up and down before tugging against the zip ties around his wrists that keep him strapped to the metal chair. “You! This is all your fault! She’s part of the FBI, Diece. Don’t listen to a word she has to say. She’s a liar. A filthy slut—”

I cut him off by slapping him as hard as I can. The palm of my hand stings from the impact, but the satisfaction I feel as his head snaps to one side and the angry mark on his cheek is enough to soothe it.

“Shut up, Burlone,” I spit. “I don’t want to hear a single word come out of your mouth unless I ask you a question. Understand?”

“Who the hell do you think you are, you filthy—”

Smack. My palm tingles, slightly burning as I hit him again.

“I said, shut up,” I seethe. “Do you remember what you said to me when we first met? How you were going to sell me to someone who would make me scream? How you wished it could be you, but you needed the money, and my virginity would go for a pretty penny?” The words nearly get clogged in my throat, but I choke them out. “Well, now it’s my turn.”

Lifting the bat, I aim for his leg like Diece instructed and savor the sound of his knee cap being crushed, accompanied by his crying as soon as the wood connects with it. The combination is like a balm to my soul, finally easing the ache inside of me.

So I do it again.

And again.

Until Diece’s thick forearms wrap around my waist, and he tugs me away, bringing me back to the present instead of the memories that I’ve been drowning in.

“Enough, Q. Enough.”

Looking over at Burlone, I finally see the damage I’ve done. His face is a messy pulp of skin and blood. His head hangs limp on his shoulders as his shirt soaks up the crimson liquid that flows onto it. It’s horrific and would’ve given me nightmares before I was kidnapped. But now I’m too jaded to care. His chest rises and falls unevenly, proving he’s still alive while I’m left feeling dead on the inside.

Angry, I lift the bat again, but Diece grabs it from me. “It’s enough,” he repeats.

I shake my head back and forth as my fraying emotions finally get the best of me.

“It’ll never be enough,” I sob. Clinging to Diece, I finally give in and grieve the loss of the girl I once was compared to the stranger I’ve become. “Never.”

“Shh,” he whispers, squeezing me a little harder in his embrace. “You made him hurt. And now, Ace will get her turn. Then King.”

“But why don’t I feel better?” I choke out.

“Because his pain didn’t lessen yours. And it never will.”

The truth is gut-wrenching, and I collapse into Diece’s arms before begging him to take me away. I just…I can’t stand the scent of Burlone’s blood any longer.

Who have I become?

2

Q

Diece carries me to a sleek, black car before slipping me into the passenger seat. When I don’t move a muscle, my new prison guard carefully buckles the seatbelt over my lap as if I’m a toddler. Then he gets behind the wheel and backs out of the driveway.

My breathing is shallow as I chew on my thumbnail and stare out the side window. The trees blur together before they’re replaced with graffitied buildings, then transform into rolling pastures speckled with livestock.

Where are you taking me?

The question rests on the tip of my tongue, but I don’t bother to voice it aloud. It wouldn’t do me any good, anyway.

I don’t know how much time passes before Diece finally breaks the silence. “Where are you from?”

I stay silent.

“Have you ever been to the country before?”

My eyes glaze as I continue to stare out the window.

“Do you like animals?” he tries again. “Matteo has a stable at his estate. He used to have horses and shit, but I’m not sure if he still does.”

Blinking back tears, I dig my teeth into the pad of my thumb until