Page 14 of His Queen

The Don stands up and slams his hands on the table. "How dare you!"

Aldo watches with disinterest and stands. "I think we should call it a day. Nothing will be decided right now. We all need time to cool down and rethink things."

"There is no rethinking things. We will not be doing business with you. If you would like to discuss the end of our drug trade, we can do that. Everything else is off of the table."

The Don sits back down. "Fine."

I stand. "Where are the restrooms?"

"Down the hall on your right," Aldo answers.

I nod and walk out of the room. When I walk out the door, I hear Salvatore talking, so I stop to listen. He is yelling at Rose about something. When I come around the corner, her head snaps toward me almost as if on instinct. Her face goes white when she sees me.

"You will not speak to me like that, you stupid bitch! I own you!" He snarls.

She tries to back away from him, but he grabs her by the hair and pulls her closer to him. I see red and storm over to them. When he notices me, he lets go of her and straightens his clothes.

"Is there a problem?" I ask, looking directly at Salvatore.

"No problem."

He gives her one more dirty look and walks away.

"Are you ok?" I ask her in a whisper, even though I'm sure she doesn't want to talk to me.

I look to make sure we are alone before I reach for her. I know I shouldn't, but I can't stop myself. I pull her into my arms and feel her stiffen at first. She tries to pull away, but I don't let go. I just hold her for a moment to soothe her. I want to make all her fears disappear. I want to pick her up and just walk out of this place with her in my arms.

"Why did you lie about your name?" I ask, pulling back and smoothing her hair away from her face.

"I didn't want you to know who I was. I didn't want you to find me. I thought it would be better that way." She answers me softly.

"I didn't think you would be the daughter of Don Vinci. Or the one he sold to that piece of shit. I'm sorry." I shake my head.

"You had no way of knowing." She pulls away from me again and this time I let her. "It's not like I even told you anything about me."

"Maria."

"It's Rose." She says, quickly cutting me off.

I nod. I need to get back to the meeting. "We need to talk about this more. I need to get back to the meeting, but I'll be in touch. Give me your number."

"You can't." She says sadly.

"Don't make this harder than it has to be, M ... Rose. Please give me your number."

"If you care about me at all, please don't call me. I can't ..." she trails off.

I grab her face in my hands and look into her eyes. "You are mine, Rose. I can't let anyone hurt you. I need to know you are safe. Give. Me. Your. Number."

She shakily grabs my phone from my hand and types in her number. "Please don't call me Vlad." She whispers before handing the phone back and walking away from me.

I stand there, watching as the one woman I can’t live without walks away. My sole focus now is finding a way to protect her from him. Nothing else matters to me except having her back in my arms. The same ache and longing I felt before consume me once again, despite knowing she should be my enemy. Yet, like Luna was, she is just as innocent in this tangled web of circumstances.

Chapter 10

Vladimir

Iwalkbackintothe room and see Demetrius standing near the Don and Aldo. I can't tell what they are talking about, but it looks heated. Salvatore is standing by the door, glaring at the three of them as he watches. When I walk in, he looks over at me and narrows his eyes.

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