Corrupted Queen - Nicole Fox Page 0,21

but now it is the prison it was always intended to be.

Harry quiets down, mumbling something unintelligible as his fingers close on Gabriel’s nose. Gabriel chuckles.

When he straightens, the smile drops from his features and he turns to Gio with cold eyes. “Take Alexis to her room and detain her there.”

Gio takes my arm, and I twist free.

As I am escorted up the stairs, I turn back and snarl at Gabriel. “Harry might love you now, but he’s going to grow up, and when he does, he’ll understand the twisted creature that you are.”

If my words affect him in any way, he doesn’t show it. Gabriel’s footsteps echo across the marble and he leaves the room.

7

Alexis

I spend the whole day plotting my escape, only I come up with bupkis. I have no phone, no sympathetic ears to my plight, and no hope. I think about trying to get a message to Debbie somehow, but what will she be able to do? Plus, she only just disentangled herself from the mob. I doubt she is keen to put her or her daughter’s life on the line again anytime soon, and I don’t blame her. She already went above and beyond by hiding me for a week.

I tire myself out pacing my room, which has not changed an iota since I left. All my things are still there, clothes folded neatly in the closet, fresh sheets on the bed. Gabriel always expected me back here, no doubt of that. This only adds to my feeling of hopelessness.

I am brought three meals throughout the day, as well as an assortment of snack foods, and I wonder if Gabriel thinks he can buy my affection with FunYuns. Considering I eat them all, perhaps he can.

As well as plotting plans that will never work, I spend the whole day anticipating Gabriel’s arrival. At first all I can think about is screaming at him until my vocal cords give out.

Once I calm down a little—around lunchtime, when I receive a pack of strawberry Twizzlers in addition to my soup and sandwich—my thoughts shift in a direction I’m not proud of.

I think about his dominating persona, the way he lights me up inside with just one look. I remember all the things he has done to me within these four walls. I sit watching the door, legs squeezed together, expecting him to burst in any second and demand I remove my clothes.

At this point I take a cold shower, and by the time dinner comes—roasted chicken with vegetables, and the aforementioned FunYuns—I have pushed these thoughts from my mind and returned to plotting.

Ultimately, I end the day with nothing. I put Harry to bed in the adjoining nursery and return to my own room, where I read by lamplight until my eyelids grow heavy. I shut off the light and slide into the soft sheets.

It’s all disturbingly domestic.

At first I think I am dreaming. I feel a warm weight pressing me to the mattress, and the scent of Gabriel’s cologne wraps around me before I even open my eyes. When I do, blinking in the darkness, Gabriel towers above me. His strong thighs straddle my waist. His arms flex above me and I realize that my wrists are pinned above my head.

“What are you doing?” I hiss, struggling in vain.

Gabriel lowers his face over mine. I feel his soft breath on my lips.

“I’m twisted, remember?” he hums. “I thought I would come and show you just how twisted I can be.”

Distantly, I know that I should be afraid of him. He’s twice my size and I’ve offended him more than my fair share. Not to mention the fact that he’s a literal murderer.

Only I don’t feel afraid. I’m angry. I’m really angry. The pang of heat between my legs reminds me that I’m horny, too, but that just makes me angrier because I don’t want Gabriel to have that power over me, but he inevitably does.

“Get off me,” I say through gritted teeth.

“You’re tough, Alexis,” he snaps. “So tough that you think you can make it in the world without my protection. So go on, prove to me how deadly you are. Make me.”

I can’t make him do a goddamn thing and he knows it.

“Gabriel, I swear to God …”

“What?” he sneers, lowering his lips to my ear. “What are you going to do, Alexis? Come on, show me how tough you are.”

His chest presses into mine and I wonder if he can feel how hard my