Page 26 of Bitter Queen (Advantage Play 4)

That same blush spreads from her cheeks out to her ears and down her neck, and I bite back my laughter at how uncomfortable this conversation is making her.

“It’s stupid.” She tries to step around me, but I grab her bicep and keep her in place.

“It’s not stupid. I’m just…surprised.”

Her attention is glued to my hand encompassing her arm. “Why is that so surprising?”

“Because it’s so…normal for someone like you.”

“Someone like me?” Her gaze darts up to mine and damn near acts like a microscope on my soul. Like a switch has been flipped, she lifts her chin and spits, “Someone who was kidnapped, raped, and tortured? Is that what you mean?”

“What?” With my hands raised in surrender, I attempt to defuse the situation. “That’s not what I meant—”

“Then what did you mean?”

“The first personal thing I’ve learned about you is that you like Hallmark movies. You’ve kept everything else in the dark, and anytime I’ve tried to pry, you’ve ignored me completely or clammed up, making me feel guilty as hell for asking in the first place.”

“That’s because I’m not anyone special, D. I’m just a normal girl who was in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

“And where were you? When you were taken?” I push.

“It doesn’t matter—”

“Maybe it does.”

“No. It doesn’t. Because the girl from my past is long gone. She disappeared the moment I was kidnapped, held down, and fucked in the ass, okay?” Wrenching herself out of my grasp, she storms off to shower. Her march is fueled with animosity as she disappears around the corner and leaves me alone with my guilt over a crime I didn’t even commit.

What the hell just happened?

Pinching the bridge of my nose, I dial Lou.

“Yeah?”

“Hey,” I reply. “I need you to do me a favor.”

“What kind of favor?”

“I need you to download as many Hallmark movies as you can, then send them over to me.”

“Hallmark movies?” Lou questions. I can almost see his look of confusion.

“Yeah,” I grit out. “The Christmas ones. Think you can do that for me?”

After a slight pause, he returns, “Sure thing. Anything else?”

“That’s it. Do we have any updates on the families? Anyone looking for her?”

“King asked Dex to take care of the buyer who’d been set up to purchase Q after the tournament, but other than that, it’s been pretty silent.”

My knuckles tighten around my phone as I press it against my ear. What kind of prick would buy a girl instead of just finding one like a normal human being?

With a heavy exhale, I switch the lights off in the gym, then head to my room. “Alright. Thanks.”

“No problem. How’s it going down there?”

I take the stairs two at a time, then glance over at Q’s door. A few inches keep it from being closed entirely, proving that she’s still more terrified of being locked in than she is of sacrificing an ounce of privacy. Which means she still doesn’t trust me.

“As good as can be expected, I guess,” I grumble under my breath.