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Chapter 18
Mia
"The Queen is by much the most powerful of the forces." Howard Staunton
Cavemen,Iamsurroundedby them in this house right now!My fucking house, I might add. The one they are all guests in! I watch as Mateo shoulder-checks Theo and walks into the kitchen after Finn threatens to put a bullet in Theo’s head. I’m so irritated with them and their threats, like I can’t possibly defend myself and need them to save me. Have they not been paying attention? I fucking own all four of them.They own you too, bitch!My mind yells back at me.
I trail after Mateo, refusing Finn’s outstretched hand. I am not some weak-ass girl that needs knights in shining armor to carry her around. Yeah, right now I’m covered in bites, scratches, and blood from Theo behaving like a deranged animal with me…but they’re battle wounds. He’s covered in just as many that I inflicted on him. If I’m being candid, that was some of the hottest sex I’ve ever had. Theo going primal on my ass could have me cumming just from the memory of the experience.Settle down now, needy bitch, I tell my clenching core.
Mateo rights the counter stool that’s on its side and indicates I should sit. I glance at my kitchen and see shit everywhere from Theo’s and my game of prey. I watch as Carter and Finn take in the destruction with mouths hanging open. Finn starts picking up all the broken pieces of the bowl I threw at Theo’s head. Satisfaction soars through my body, knowing I actually hit him with the bowl.Yeah, yeah, I know I’m a bloody psychotic mess.
Theo slowly trails us into the kitchen area, his eyes refusing to meet any of ours as he takes in the destruction. He keeps a few feet of distance between all of us and himself, and a sigh of frustration leaves my lips.Damn it. I don’t want him to take a step backward and retreat into himself. I need my asshole, Theo, back.
Just as I sit on the stool, a throat clearing from the room’s opening captures our attention. I stare around Theo’s hunched form to the doorway Raegan’s currently occupying, her hands shielding her eyes. “Are y’all decent?” She asks with strain, her neck and face a bright shade of red.
“RaeRae, no chance of you seeing anyone’s junk right now, girl. Get in here.” Carter replies with a smirk.
I watch as she lowers her hand from her face and glances around the room, her eyes landing first on Theo and then trailing to me. The look of utter shock on her face is almost comical. “Issy, come down here. They have clothes on!” She shouts behind her, and I watch my sister slide up behind Raegan and peer over her shoulder. It’s comical because they are both so tiny, yet their expressions are so fierce.
“I’m glad to see you two are still alive. I wasn’t sure there for a moment whether I would have to call Tom and ask him to stop you two from killing each other.” Isabella’s face lights up with embarrassment, her brows furrowed, and her lip clenched between her teeth.
I roll my eyes at both of their dramatics as Mateo comes towards me with alcohol swabs and bandages. I shake my head and nod in Theo’s direction. Mateo hesitates for a moment, his penetrating green eyes meeting mine in a test of wills. I don’t relent, staring him down with authority and letting him see the danger of disobeying me in my eyes. He lets out a huff of frustration and then turns warily toward Theo.
I watch as he approaches him like he would an injured animal that is more than likely to bite the hand that’s trying to help him. “Theo, let Mateo help you with those stitches, or I’m going to kick your ass.” I watch as a small shudder races across Theo’s body before he steels his spine and clenches his hands tightly at his side.
Mateo first cleans off the blood from his surgical wound, gently trying not to hurt him, and then rebandages it back up. Theo’s jaw is clenched tight at the light brushing of Mateo’s fingers on his skin. I can see his muscles spasming from where I’m sitting. His dark blue eyes are so wide that all I see is white; he’s scared but fighting it. I watch Mateo go from one wound to another, cleaning them and bandaging the ones he can; all the while, Theo looks like he could run or lash out at any moment.
My sister and Raegan move into the kitchen, as Isabella picks up wayward fruit from the floor. She gives me a mischievous look from below her lashes, and when I grin salaciously back at her, she sticks out her tongue at me. Isabella isn’t as innocent as Raegan; she just hides her naughty and fierce personality behind that pristine, perfect princess facade. The one that Stella demands we show the world at all times.
“What the fuck!”
The shout from the kitchen entryway has my sight turning in that direction. Diego and Raven are standing together in the large doorway, assessing the damage to the space, Theo, and my injuries.Here we go with more cavemen bullshit; God, give me strength not to smite all of them at once.
“How could you fuckers let him do that to her?” Raven shouts, his pale skin tinged with red.
“Settle down, drama queen! As you can see, she gave as good as she got. Both of them are alive.” Raegan yells, her lip curled in a snarl. I watch Raven’s eyes trail over her features, his eyes filling with heat.Dammit, I may have to kill him; luckily, I know a few kings that will help me bury the body.
“Glad to see you’re relatively in one-piece, littlereina.After the sound of that battle, I wasn’t sure you would survive.“ Diego smirks in my direction, his eyebrows wagging in salacious intent and his eyes heated.Why does this asshole continue to try to provoke me?Another one with a death wish.
“Why do you care? You’d force her to marry you, even if she was barely breathing, you manipulative sick fuck.” Isabella spews with rage, her ruby lips pursed. Right now, she looks like an angry, vicious copy ofSnow White, and Diego looks like he’s about to get his ass handed to him by the princess.
My mouth drops open at the venom in Isabella’s voice. I notice that Diego doesn’t bother responding to her, but his whole-body posture changes. Once again, the thought that something is going on between those two enters my mind. Grandma Stella will have him murdered painfully if she finds out he’s trying to force one Stratford princess to the altar while messing around with the second one.I almost want to go running to tell her just to watch him suffer her dragon wrath.
Diego clears his throat and tears his eyes away from my sister, his lips downcast and his features shuttered. “I got word thirty minutes ago that Vincent has been spotted two hours north of here at a gas station.”
“Your men were able to capture him?” I question with a raised eyebrow, hope and dread blossoming in my chest in equal measure.
“No, the cockroach evaded them, and they lost him on the freeway.” Diego spits out with anger and frustration. I’ll just bet he’s frustrated, no Vincent, no marriage to a Stratford princess.
“What about Mack?” Theo’s strained voice has me turning my attention back in his direction. Mateo’s done patching him up and is heading back in my direction with determination on his face. At Theo’s question, his steps falter, and he turns around with horror on his face.
“Shit!” Mateo gasps.
All eyes turn to Carter, who’s taken to leaning against the refrigerator, his white sling a bright contrast against the stainless steel he’s up against. His eyes meet mine first and then turn away, focusing all of his attention on Theo. “He’s gone; no need to worry about him anymore.”
“What do you mean gone, like he’s missing?” Theo inquires with confusion. I guess he was really out of it in the dungeon. He wasn’t conscious when Carter shot Mack.
“Dead, Theo. I killed him.” I watch as Carter struggles to swallow the lump in his throat and presses his lips together. It hasn’t been easy for him. I know he has been struggling with the reality that he shot his own father. A part of me thinks he regrets doing it; no matter how much of a disgusting, worthless monster Mack was, he was still his father.
