Reign A Romance Anthology - Nina Levine Page 0,344

much as the next person, and it looks like Lorenzo/Gino just became scum.

I will be prepared for Mr. Carrollo, fully armed with knowledge for the takeover going down, when he strolls through the door of his bar this morning.

And it will be going down.

Hemsworth, looking as tired as I feel, pokes his head around the half-open bedroom door. “Sir, Gino Carrollo has arrived. He’s parking his car in the underground garage.”

“Say whatever you need to keep the bastard in the bar area. He is to get no farther inside this building. I’ll be down in a few moments.”

“Right you are, sir.” And then he’s gone.

Things are about to get roller coaster intense.

I hope Queenie can forgive me for what I’m about to do.

7

Queenie

After a hot shower and a fresh face of full makeup—my armor—I feel better equipped to handle what comes next. Covering my split lip with my favorite red lipstick isn’t an option for a few days, but I’ll cope.

I have on comfortable black leggings, black bike boots, and a burnt-orange knit V-neck sweater, which usually looks great with my long silver-gray hair, but now I’m sporting a number one hairdo.

I start my walk down the old wooden staircase, prepared to wait for Lorenzo and hear his side of whatever caused him to owe money to Charlie Roemer, a known criminal. I refuse to think about the letter’s implications until I listen to what my stepfather has to say.

I did some quick research on Bradford King. God knows what he was doing in a dive bar with a bartender when he’s a billionaire, who usually spends his downtime in the arms of society women and supermodels. I expect he’s left by now disgusted about being dragged into my stepfather’s mess.

I don’t like what I read about Charlie Roemer. Maybe I can pay the debt off by taking out a loan against Kingdom of Wigs to keep us both alive, and then I will get my stepfather to sign over Queenie’s to me and the building (a year early) for paying off his debt, which seems only fair and then good riddance to him.

I am having trouble believing the man I have known for eight years could have gone away to leave me to the wolves. Something feels off, and until I have all the pieces, I can’t think about getting attacked and the what-ifs. I need to be in the right state of mind to take Lorenzo on, and shaking from the fear that comes with getting attacked can wait until later.

Angry words from raised voices float their way up the staircase as I draw closer to the ground floor, which increases to multiple gruff male voices joining in, and then I hear scuffling and barstools and chairs getting knocked over—hastening my descent down the stairs.

I pull up at the last second before giving my whereabouts away when I hear my stepfather snarl, “Roemer should have made Queenie disappear, paying off my debt in full with her body. This place is dead in the water. I should never have come back.”

I can’t move. Lorenzo sounds bitter and hateful. I’m reeling from the words he just said. He wants me to disappear? Pay his debt with my body? What does that even mean? I’m shocked, confused, and fucking angry.

Bradford strings together a multitude of curses.

There is more scuffling, furniture getting knocked about, grunts, and cursing, and it doesn’t sound like the noises are coming from Bradford.

Charlie Roemer, his thugs, and Lorenzo can all suck a rotten egg!

I want to throw up all over again. Lorenzo sickens me. The slimy piece of shi—

“King! Your woman—”

“She’s not my woman,” Bradford bites back at the voice. Yeah, he got that bit right.

There is a rumble of murmurings from the peanut gallery.

“I beg to differ. Never seen you like this before.” I don’t know this voice.

“Fuck-off, Xander. Think of her as a charity case.”

“Charity case?! Well, fuck you, Bradford. I’m nobody’s burden,” I mutter under my breath, pissed off to the max at his audacity.

“You invited all of us here, not the other way around.” Bradford invited unknown numbers of men to Queenie’s. Why? “And by the way, you cut me off before I could finish my sentence. I was trying to tell you, the female’s around the corner listening, and she’s rather displeased by the conversation playing out.” The deep voice exposes my arrival.

I could have sworn nobody would be able to hear what I said.

I channel all the patients I visit in