Page 62 of Queen of Ruin

“They don’t know you like I know you.” Valentina’s grip tightens on my hand. “I know everything you’ve done to keep me safe, including endangering your own life and taking risks on a… on a mindless woman who spent her entire time reacting to feelings. But Diego, you trusted my feelings when I was too scared to go to the cops or a hospital. Can’t you trust my feelings here, too?”

She makes a good point, unfortunately, but my back still twitches at how Bradley dared accuse me of being the cause of all the wounds on her body. Wounds I only know of by heart because I’ve spent so long keeping her safe and alive.

“I trust you,” I say after a moment’s pause. “I do. But I don’t trust them. As I said, Bradley said the exact same thing as that cop. And pictures can be faked.”

Valentina’s face drops slightly.

“But…” I groan dramatically and flop back onto the bed. “This is a lot of work to put into a lie, and they took care of you. I’m just… suspicious.”

“I know.” Valentina eventually joins me on the bed, cuddling into me with her head on my chest and her fingers stroking lazily across my abdomen. “It’s so weird being in that room, though.”

“It is?” After some shuffling and the removal of shoes, we vanish under the blanket and pull it over our heads as if it can give us some privacy.

“They all look at me like they know me. It’s kind of like what I see in your eyes when we look at each other. But I know you. I don’t know them. At least… I don’t think I do.”

“Until you know them, I won’t trust them.” My fingers dance ever so lightly over her shoulder. “Let’s see. There’s the gigantic one built like a brick house called Bradley. Dude barely looks like he can fit through a doorway. A man like that is hardly forgettable. And did you see the bowl he broke earlier?” I recall the clatter during the meal and the swift way he deposited the pieces in the sink. “He’s either really angry or…” My heart squeezes. “Or you were very important to him.”

Valentina hums softly.

“Then there’s Cassian, I think. Dude with muscles, a shirt that doesn’t fit. Short hair. Seems the friendliest of the bunch.”

“I don’t think he came to see me,” Valentina murmurs. “When I woke up, a woman with freckles came to see me. Raven. She seemed really sweet.”

“I didn’t see her. So, with them, that scary-looking Ruslan guy and Ivy, there are five in total? At least. This place seems huge and I saw more than five toothbrushes in the bathroom Cassian took me to. I remember thinking it was a weird number of toothbrushes.”

“What do you think this place is?” Her head tilts up, and even under the darkness created by the blankets, I still make out the glint of her eyes.

“Honestly? I have no clue. I’ve never met people like this and while I’ve had my fair share of being snatched off the street due to debt, this is the first time I’ve been in a place this fancy. I feel like even the air I breathe isn’t good enough for here. Everything is so pristine and… unlived in. But at the same time…” My fingertips walk down her arm to her elbow and then stroke back up. “Maintaining a lie with this many people is tough. I can’t think what they have to gain.”

“So, you think they’re telling the truth?” The uncertainty in her voice wavers through like a stiff breeze. It’s been an exhausting few days and we could spend hours talking in circles about these strangers, but until we get some real answers, we’ll never find the end.

“I think,” I say with a grin, shuffling my arm out from underneath her body and rolling on top of her. My hands brace on either side of her head as I gaze down into her gorgeous eyes. “I think you really are long lost royalty and we’ve stumbled into a ploy to steal your riches or use you for bait against your rich, foreign father, king of another land.”

Valentina rolls her eyes but a playful smile stretches across her lips. “Oh, really?”

“And I, your rugged and street-wise knight, will do everything he can to keep you safe, but you can’t help but wonder if he’s in this because of the riches he’ll earn for bringing you back safe?” I lean down until we’re nose to nose and the blankets shift enough that soft light caresses the edge of Valentina’s face.

“Or is he in this because he’s fallen in love with the memory-less princess who wanders around like a lost…” I kiss her softly. “Little.” Another kiss. “Lamb?” And another.

“Lamb?” Valentina repeats as she loops her hand around the back of my neck. “Do I really strike you as a lamb?”

“To this knight, you’re absolutely a lamb. A lamb with the sharpest teeth I’ve ever seen.” Another kiss and Valentina’s giggles vibrate against me, drawing a smile from the depths of my soul.

When it’s just us like this, everything feels normal. Safe.

“What would her handsome, street-wise knight do to protect her?” Her other hand caresses my cheek as our lips meet once more.

“Everything.” Another kiss. “And anything.” Then another that starts a path trailing all the way down to her jaw, and then further to the soft droop of her earlobe.

Valentina gasps against me and runs her hand up into my hair, tugging slightly on the strands and sending heat skittering down my spine. I’m not able to let my guard down all the way, but now that I’ve started with her, I can’t stop.

I kiss down the column of her throat until I reach the hollow of her neck where her pulse leaps up against my tongue. Following along the neckline of her shirt, each button pops easily around my fingers until the fabric falls open and her gorgeous body is displayed before me.

“Wow,” I murmur, glimpsing the fresh, neat stitches replacing mine along her ribs. “They really had a professional.”

“As much as yours had character,” Valentina says softly, “these don’t hurt as much.”

“I’m glad. Far be it for this knight to want his Queen to be in pain.”