by Dee Garcia
Less than a minute later, five disheveled men—who’d clearly been asleep—appeared at the landing, each one pointing their rifle at me. I lifted my hands in cooperation, intent on showing them my lack of a weapon, and shook my head slowly. “I just want to have a little chat with her.”
They extended them further, to the point I cringed a little at the thought they might pull the trigger, but then someone cleared their throat.
“Move aside, boys,” a female voice commented thereafter. “I’ve been expecting her.”
Liza.
This was the right place, thank fuck.
A single blink, and she was there, standing between them.
Smirking.
Leaning against the oak banister.
“I must say, I’m pleasantly surprised you actually made it,” she said amusedly.
But I barely heard her—I was too busy staring.
She looked so much like me.
Not identical, yet I could see similarities.
It was unnerving, and I wondered if Rome had seen them, too. If they’d contributed to our initial attraction…
I didn’t know how to feel about that, but I guess it didn’t really matter in that moment now, did it?
“What’s wrong, Lux—suddenly mute?” she quipped, throwing my focus back in place.
“Where’s Rome?” I gritted out.
A smug, satisfied look settled on her features. “Asleep, in my bed.”
This bitch.
“Let him go.”
“Really? Did you honestly come in here expecting to hit me with that once and get your way? C’mon, sweetheart—be smart,” she sneered.
“I mean, your doors were open, sooo...” I pointed out, my tone condescending.
Liza rolled her eyes. “I left them open for you.”
“Then obviously you knew I’d be coming in here asking you to let him go, so let’s try this again, shall we? Let him go, Liza.”
“Yeah…no,” she chortled, snapping her fingers in the air. “Take her to the basement, boys. I’ll handle her after breakfast.”
It was right about here a weapon would have been fucking helpful. I could have easily put the five of them down with Suki’s help and stormed up the stairs after Liza, forced her to take me to Rome.
But that wasn’t the case, unfortunately.
I could do nothing but let them temporarily restrain me and lead me to what could possibly be my doom, along with hoping that Suki would be able to execute her part unharmed.
The basement was honestly nothing like I was envisioning on the way down there. I’d assumed it’d be dark, damp, a grimy cellar possibly wreaking of death, but it was the exact opposite.
Completely furnished in reds and golds.
Filled with light.
Spacious.
I was flabbergasted, immediately taken aback by its beauty as they threw me inside and locked the door. If she’d killed someone in here before, one would never know.
Literally.
Not a thing was out of place.
Everything was pristine.
It was bizarre.
I didn’t know what to do, what to think. I didn’t feel threatened or at any danger. If she planned to kill me, certainly she wouldn’t have thrown me in here, free to roam regardless of the door being locked.
My head spun.
What was this?
Aside from Rome, what were her motives?
Why did she want me to find her?
After God knows how long of me oscillating from question to question, I finally fell onto one of the couches and simply stared up at the ceiling.
I was starting to get anxious, a little nervous, too.
Why was she taking so long?
What was taking her so long?
Surely, she was done with her breakfast by now…
Sheer moments later, the click of the lock sounded off by the steps as if I’d been voicing my thoughts aloud. I shot onto my feet, steeling myself for what could turn quite ugly rather quickly.
Down came Liza, now dressed for the day, and behind her—
I gasped.
Behind her came Rome—unscathed and in one piece. Or so I thought.
When our eyes met, I saw nothing. His gaze was hollow, lifeless. And yet, there was a tortured agony bleeding out from his soul.
Begging me to help him.
I could feel it.
My vision blurred over as bereaved tears welled at the surface.
“Figured I’d let you see him one last time,” Liza explained, shrugging nonchalantly.
Like it was the sweetest gesture in the world despite the fact that, the man standing beside her, was not the man I’d left on the Panorama.
“What have you done to him?” I asked, regarding him in anguish.
“Stop asking questions and say your goodbye’s while you can, Lux. I can assure you he will not be walking out the front door with you when I send you on your way.”
Out of all she’d said, goodbye stood out for me most, lurching me toward him almost violently as grief rolled down my cheeks.
I’d die in this fucking basement before I said goodbye to him ever again, but she didn’t need to know that yet. She’d figured it out soon enough anyway.
Throwing myself at him, he caught me without missing a beat, molding me to the planes of his body as I squeezed him for dear life, sobbing into his neck.
“I’m sorry.” It came muffled against his skin. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m so fucking sorry!”
Rome shushed me quietly, threading a hand into my hair to pull me back, enough for our eyes to meet again.
And again there was nothing.
What the fuck had she done to him?
“Are you okay?” I asked him, taking his face between my palms.
I wanted to kiss him all over, shower him with love until that fire in his gaze rekindled brightly, until the blue of his irises returned to full vibrancy.
Until he was Roman-fucking-King—not this shell of a man.
All he offered me was a shake of his head, though. No words. I didn’t know whether he truly couldn’t speak, scarred from whatever atrocities he’d obviously endured, or if she’d instructed him to do so.
“Wrap it up,” Liza barked. “And if you put your mouth on him, so help me—”
“What?” I turned my head toward her, suddenly enraged. “What are you gonna do about it?”
Rome squeezed me once more, a gesture of silent warning, but there was no way in hell I was heeding it. This woman had clearly hurt him in some way, shape, or form, and now, I was going to fucking hurt her.
Wriggling free from his hold, I landed on my feet and inched closer to her, cocking my head to one side in a coaxing fashion. “Go on, Liza. Tell me what you’re gonna do about it.”
“You don’t want to test me, Lux.” She chuckled darkly, standing her ground. “You really don’t.”
“I’m not afraid of you,” I bit out. “I’m disgusted, if anything. What the hell did you do to him?”
“Why do you ask so many questions?” she queried in frustration.
“Why don’t you answer any of them?”
“Because it’s none of your business what I’ve done to him. He’s mine—I can do whatever I please with him.”
I laughed. I laughed cynically, right in her face and burst into her bubble, my gaze piercing hers just inches away. “I hate to break it to you, sweetie—but he’s mine.”
The switch flipped.
I watched it happen.
From amused to manic, her lip curled, posture tensing. Crazy Liza had come out to play. “You’re gonna regret saying th—”
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The three of us fell stock-still as shots continued to go off above us, one after the other. My first thought was Suki, jolting my stomach up to my throat, especially when everything ceased and silence replaced the sudden chaos.
But then thundering steps echoed down the stairs, and there she was, in one full p
iece, blue eyes scanning the room.
And she wasn’t alone.
In her grasp was Vic, her newly acquired pistol aimed at the side of his head.
Well, shit.
I deflated like a damned balloon.
“Your men are dead,” she sneered at Liza, breaths ragged from exertion.
Then she shoved Vic to the floor.
He looked as empty and lifeless as Rome, green eyes pleading for help.
“I found him in a room upstairs,” Suki explained, turning her aim on Liza. “He told me everything. She’s been molesting them, treating them like fucking puppets, the sick bitch.”
I stopped breathing.
I stopped fucking breathing for so long, my knees buckled. Bile shot up my throat with such ferocity it almost spewed out of my mouth like venom.
She’d been molesting them.
She’d been fucking molesting them.
As horrible as it sounds, I didn’t even give a fuck about Vic. He deserved it—you reap what you sow.
But Rome, my Rome—my King. She’d done to him what all those men did to me.
What Vic did to me.
His current state made so much sense now.
Liza growled then, exasperated and outraged, spinning around like a demon picking its next victim. “Why?!” she roared malevolently. “Why the fuck can’t everyone just leave me alone? Why can’t everyone just let me have my happily ever after with my boys. They’re mine—both of them! Mine!”
Woah.
I’d never seen anything like it.
The woman completely unhinged in the span of seconds, faster than when the switch initially flipped.
This was a million times worse—like the exorcist.
If provoked enough, her head might actually spin.
“They’re not toys,” Suki snapped. “They’re human beings with freewill. You can’t force them to be with you.”
“Yes, I can!” Liza countered. “My daddy did it with his all girls, with me. He had us all, got to play with us all, love us all.”
Vic turned to her in horrified realization at the same moment Rome’s voice boomed. “Your father did this to you, too?” he asked, stupefied.
“Did what? Love me? Spoil me? Give me everything? Then yes, yes he did,” Liza barked.
“If your father did what you’ve done to these men, that’s not love, Liza—that’s rape,” I stated, luring her incensed stare on me.
“It’s not rape if I wanted it!” she screeched, the extent of her depravity clear as day in her eyes.
She really was crazy.
“And it’s clear they didn’t want it, so for them it’s—”
“Don’t let their forlorn faces fool you,” she interjected, teeth bared. “They wanted it. They wanted me. They fucking fought over me! So I made them mine—I’ll never let them go again!”
“You’re insane,” I tossed back, reaching back for Rome’s hand when his body heat enveloped me from behind.
“No, I’m not! I’m passionate!” she argued.
“Yeah, passionately insane.”
That did it in entirety.
On a raging growl, she came rushing for me.
Manic.
Hellbent.
Mad as a hatter.
I’d braced myself for impact, rearing an arm back to smash my fist dead in her face, when a singular boisterous bang filled the room.
Liza stilled a mere three feet away from me, mouth ajar.
The light in her eyes dimmed out right before my very own.
And then she collapsed.
It was then as she laid on the floor that I noticed the bullet hole to the side of her head, a pool of blood quickly spreading beneath her.
Stunned at the rapid turn of events, I glanced at Suki first, wondering how she’d gotten her from that angle, but she shook her head and motioned to Rome.
When I turned my gaze on him, I found him with his arm extended firmly, gun pointed right where Liza once stood.
“Finally,” he breathed.
Relieved.
Releasing such a profound sigh, I felt myself doing the very same.
He was going to be okay.
“Thank you,” Vic then said weakly on the floor, literally throwing himself at Rome’s feet. “Thank you, fucking thank you!”
Rome regarded him for several moments, unspeaking, unmoving.
And then he lifted the pistol, aimed right at the center of Vic’s, and pulled the trigger.
The monsters had been slain.
The King had been saved.
And he walked out of that asylum hand in hand with his Queen, as they returned to their rightful places within the kingdom.
♫ Nothing Without You - The Weeknd ♫
Three months later…
Lux and I stand on top of the Panorama, her back to my front as Miami zooms below us.
The night is especially humid, but a cool breeze rolls by every few minutes, offering brief moments of relief.
Inhaling deeply, I tighten my arms around her shoulders and bury my face in the crook of her neck, nuzzling the delicate curve. Her pulse beats steady beneath my lips.
“You sure you wanna do this?” I ask.
She nods simply and grips my forearms, offering a little squeeze of reassurance. “I do.”
Those two little words do something to me. They shouldn’t, because I shouldn’t even be entertaining such thoughts, but nevertheless, they do.
Insanely so.
My heart races at the visual, a visual I’d never imagined myself envisioning. A visual I’d never imagined I’d want to envision.
But I shouldn’t be surprised.
I want everything with Lux, everything and anything the future has in store. The good times, the bad times.
Everything.
Tamping down the sense of urgency thrumming through my veins, I squeeze her tighter and nod myself. “We need to get going then. Don’t want to be—”
“I know,” she interjects, her voice wavering slightly. “Just five more minutes, though.”
I don’t miss the way she sighs or how her body rattles with the tiniest shiver. “What’s wrong, baby? Talk to me.”
Lux shrugs, burrowing herself deeper in my hold. “I’m just going to miss the girls, that’s all.”
“They promised to come visit twice a year one we settle down somewhere,” I say, hoping the remainder will somewhat soothe the ache of leaving them behind.
“I know, but twice a year is nothing. I’m going to miss out on so much, especially with Suki being—”
“Look at me.” I spin her around with a quickness, halting the words on her tongue. Cupping her face, I lay my forehead to hers, my gaze m boring into blue pools. “We don’t have to go.”
“We don’t, no,” she agrees, clasping my wrists. “But I want to be with you, and I know this is something you’ve wanted for a long time.”
“What I want is you,” I counter, drawing a genuine smile on her plump lips.
“You have me already. You’ll always have me, for as long as you want me.”
Forever wouldn’t be long, but I don’t dare say that aloud. Not now.
“Do you trust me?” I ask instead, backing her into the ledge like I’ve done so many times before.
“Yes.”
“Do you love me?”
She nods, wrapping her arms around my neck. “With every fiber of my being.”
“Then let’s go. Let’s get away from it all. See the world. Live. We can come back to Miami when it’s all said and done if that’s what you want. I’d live under a bridge as long as you’re by my side.”
My girl laughs, drawing me closer with a leg at my waist. “And to think you wanted me dead just a few months ago.”
“I never wanted you dead, baby,” I chuckle, “I just wanted what you had, but I learned real quick it meant fuck all if you weren’t part of the package.”
The briefest silence falls between us.
Time stands still as she ga
zes at me, boring into me with such emotion I feel it in the deepest, darkest parts of me.
“I love you, Roman,” she declares after a beat.
The words hit me, harder than ever, puffing up my chest. “Say it again,” I demand.
Lips brushing against my own, she takes ahold of my face and holds my stare. “I. Love. You,” she enunciates.
Again they hit me. The course through me with such speed, my cock twitches beneath my jeans.
“Mmm—I’m one fucking lucky bastard.”
“You are, now tell me you love me goddammit,” she growls playfully, her claws raking along my jaw, luring me impossibly closer.
The heat between her legs nearly does me in.
I want to devour her right there, take her on this rooftop as our farewell to Miami, but voicing how much I fucking love her, how much I want her until the end of time, is far more paramount than my insatiable appetite.
Threading my fingers in her hair, I hold her steady, firmly. “Lux—my vicious little kitty kat—Mercier, I. Love. You, and one day, whether it be near or far, I hope you’ll do me the honor of being a King.”
Her eyes widen, but she recovers quickly, clamping her teeth down on her bottom lip as a flush colors her cheeks. “Every Queen takes her King’s surname.”
Kiss.
“I’m holding you to it.”
Kiss.
“You can count on it.” She smiles devilishly. “Now, let’s go—adventures await us, my King.”
And they lived happily—and darkly—ever after.
THE END
Through the windows, it seems like the lights in every single room are on, and when a woman appears to answer the door, the far off sounds of a party reach us from inside.
“Evening.” Her disapproving, judgmental gaze moves over Ruby, taking in her professional business suit. “Can I please have your names to check the guest list?”
“We’re not here for the event.” I slip out my shield at the same time Ruby brings out hers. “Boston P.D. We need to speak to Mr. or Mrs. DuBois about another event that took place here two nights ago.”
The housekeeper—or at least I assume she is—seems hesitant to allow us inside.
“It’s urgent. A guest at that event became the victim of a crime,” I tell her.
