Page 33 of Vicious Kingdom (Dynasty of Queens #3)
M y damn hands still shook as I rode the elevator to my floor. Frustrated at my own weakness, I strode across the hall, determined to hit the bag in my gym a few times before bed.
A whimper stopped me in my tracks.
The damn organ in my chest cavity, blackened and unfeeling from the events in my life, stopped beating.
Bare knees pulled to her chest, face peeking up from the veil of hair, and cheeks stained with tears, Annaliese watched me.
Gone was the confident woman from the bakery, and in her place was this broken mess.
A part of her I’d never seen before.
The urge to rush to her overwhelmed me. I took a step, and she tightened the grip around her bare legs.
“I’m sorry,” she choked. “I tried to call, but it went to voicemail. So I…uh, came over.”
She wasn’t wearing shoes. That detail sent me surging forward, and I dropped before her.
“What happened?” I reached for her, but she turned away, resting her left cheek on her knee.
But a small glimpse told me why.
Ever so gently, I cupped her cheek and pulled her.
She hiccupped, fighting back my touch.
I was firm, my touch insistent. “Look at me,” I commanded, voice steel and ice.
She closed her eyes and let out a ragged breath—and gave in. “I didn’t know where else to go.”
A shiner was swelling her right eye closed.
The blow reverberated through me. Violence simmered in my veins, my own trauma forgotten in an instant.
“Now that I’m here,” she continued, “I realize I could have gone to see Penny. I can still go over there.”
She fumbled, trying to move.
I caught her arms. “Who dared lay a hand on you?”
Her lip trembled. “I froze, Leo. I’ve never been hit before, and I just…froze.”
Anger rendered me silent.
“Why do I freeze, Leo?” she whispered.
“Tell me who did this. I will make sure they pay.”
“It was a random attack,” she breathed. “They’re gone.”
Rage shot through my veins. There was a slim possibility I could track down whoever did this, but she was in no state to give me details.
“Thank you for not sending me away,” she added. “That’s one of the reasons I chose you. You make me feel safe.”
The vulnerability was too much. I had to move. I had to hit something!
The drywall crackled under my fist on the wall.
Annaliese sobbed again, a fresh burst of tears springing from her eyes.
“Shit! I’m sorry, I’m just…. Fuck, Anna, seeing you like this—”
She was crying in earnest.
And that was when I realized. She didn’t need a soldier right now. She needed someone who I’d never been.
But for her, I could try to be.
Gathering her in my arms, I lifted her easily. She protested, but I shushed her, making murmuring sounds that seemed more like strangled cat yowls than comfort. I was trying. I was new at this. I brushed her hair away and kissed her forehead as I shifted her to unlock the door.
Kicking it shut, I went straight to the kitchen island where I set her down gently, easing her away just for a moment.
I grabbed an icepack from the freezer, knowing she needed it for her eye, and was holding her again almost immediately.
I carried her swiftly to the couch, determined not to let her go.
It was awkward, these new motions—comforting instead of destroying—but I would be here for her if it killed me.
We sat there together, the clock ticking loud in the background as her cries became soft whimpers, and then softer still.
Her tears eventually dried. My instincts were to demand details, to track down the fucker who’d dared touch her, but that could wait.
The dead man didn’t matter right now, not in this moment.
The only thing that mattered was Annaliese—my Annaliese, who needed me more than she ever had before.
When the icepack lost its potency, she snuggled deeper into my arms. I had done so much to bury the part of me that wanted this, to be this person for her, but holding her like this, I too relaxed.
Anger still simmered beneath the surface, and a thirst for vengeance pulsed in my blood.
But those needs could wait, and I forced them where they belonged, letting this strange new emotion full of tenderness win out.
Annaliese came to me because she needed me.
But what I wasn’t ready to tell her was that I needed her tonight too.
“I should go.” Her soft whisper jolted me from the sleep I’d dozed into.
“No.” My arms tightened reflexively around her.
She shivered. “I don’t want to impose.”
I cracked my eyes open. The lights were on, and it was late. Annaliese blinked down at me.
“You’re going to be my wife.” You…belong. Here. With me.
She shivered again, and the slight motion jarred me awake.
“You’re cold,” I realized. Idiot that I was, I could have slept on the couch. But that was no way to care for my girl.
“I’m fine, really,” she murmured.
I let out a grunt, telling her I disagreed. Keeping her pressed against me, I rose and went to the bedroom. Her soft, rapid breaths were warm against my cheek. I maneuvered through the dark and found the bed.
“Get under the covers,” I instructed.
Her hesitation was brief but palpable. Then she slid between the sheets, the rustle of fabric filling the silence between us. I stepped back, giving her space, watching as she nestled into the Egyptian cotton like a wounded bird seeking shelter.
Annaliese was fragile.
But only because she was so strong, so resilient out there, facing the world as the dominant soul she was. It was only in this intimate setting that I saw the raw, vulnerable side.
The part that I vowed in that moment to protect and cherish.
Even from me.
“I’ll sleep on the couch,” I said, my voice rougher than intended.
“No.” Her hand shot out from beneath the covers, fingers grasping at air until they found my wrist. “Stay.”
That single word undid me. I stood frozen, caught between the man I was trained to be and the man I wanted to become for her. She didn’t need a monster right now, and I wasn’t capable of shutting that part away—not completely.
“Please,” she added, her voice small.
With careful movements, I removed my jacket, loosened my tie, and slipped off my shoes. The mattress dipped beneath my weight as I lay beside her, maintaining a respectful distance despite every instinct screaming to pull her close.