Chapter Twenty-Six
R aven
I watched them walk through the doors together, forgetting that I was here. I stood by my car wondering how I fit into the equation. Slade and Julianna were smiling and Lewis, being the amazing person he was, followed them inside, making sure she would be okay. Without him, the three of us would’ve been lost.
I remained out here, with the sun setting behind the trees, the cool breeze on my neck, trying to figure out my plan of attack. I couldn’t go home yet. Zeke was waiting for me. It wasn’t like he was going to fuck me and let me go, I had a horrible feeling in my chest that it was going to go further than that. He was going to hurt me. I needed to convince Slade to keep Julianna here, for the time being. Until I could take care of the problem myself.
I still didn’t fully trust him though. I wanted to. I wanted to give into him and pretend that he would take care of everything. That it would all be okay. My gut said otherwise. Something was going to happen and one of us wouldn’t make it out alive.
“You okay?” A feminine voice broke me out of my thoughts. I looked up and there was a woman with blonde hair, big tits and blue eyes. She had an hourglass figure and was stunning. Did she hang out with them often?
“Yes, I guess I’m just zoning.”
She put a cigarette in her mouth and lit it, after blowing a smoke she came and stood beside me. “Story of my life. I’m Sienna.”
“Raven.”
“Ah, so you’re the baby mama.” I wasn’t sure if she meant that as an insult or just stating facts, but it felt like an insult. I didn’t respond, just wondered why she was still here talking to me. Were her and Slade together at one point? Was she trying to warn me off him? Or was she just being friendly? Either way, I wasn’t a fan of her standing out here talking to me. I didn’t trust half the people back home, so why would I be open to having her invade my space?
“You know, Slade and I are together. He loves me and I love him.”
I rolled my eyes, here we go . Did she have any idea who I was? I was transferred back to my high school days and the pettiness that involved teenage girls. This woman looked to be in her late twenties, early thirties and she was trying to stake her claim on Slade?
Give me a fucking break. I had more important things to deal with than high school bullshit. “Yeah, whatever you say.”
I started walking off, going towards the compound. The compound was an abandoned warehouse building that used to house a company that went out of business years ago. The company was irrelevant at the time and I couldn’t remember what it was, but this was now where Slade and his goons resided. The building was in a working district, but all of the companies that were here originally were forced out because rent became too high. So they all moved north and most of the buildings surrounding the area were being turned into apartments. It looked like they hadn’t touched this particular part yet because this warehouse wasn’t the only abandoned one on the street.
It made me wonder how Slade managed to keep this place running. Maybe he worked out some kind of deal for them to stay. I didn’t know the details of what they did here, but I knew some of it was illegal. Slade was in prison for years, so I wouldn’t be surprised if some of those survival instincts came out to play when he got out.
I had to beg Lewis to give me the details on where Slade was living, so I could confront him. I was annoyed and ready to get the fuck out of here, but I also wasn’t ready to go home and deal with the horrors that awaited me. I’d already figured out that the woman behind me was stupid, but what she did next made me think she had a death wish.
“I’m talking to you, bitch!” She grabbed onto my damaged wrist and a hiss escaped my lips. Wrong move.
Without thinking, I turned and punched her right in the nose. She screamed, being all melodramatic, trying to get attention. Well, she shouldn’t have grabbed me.
Suddenly, several bodies met us outside. Some male, some female. There was a mix waiting to see what was going on, and if there was a fight, to get in on the action.
I walked off again, not caring that anyone was gawking at me.
“Come back here, you whore! Slade is mine!”
I chuckled, not feeling the need to defend myself. Slade may not be mine anymore, but I guarantee he didn’t want anything to do with that basket case. Not realizing where I was going, I ran into the man himself.
His icy gaze looked behind me and then down at me. “What happened?”
“Oh, nothing more than your side piece trying to warn me that you and her are together and I’m just the ‘baby mama’. Don’t worry, I handled it.” I stepped around him and went inside to find Julianna. I heard footsteps and commotion behind me, but didn’t bother turning to look. I was on a mission to get the fuck away from that psychopath.
I spotted Julianna with Elijah and Lewis playing a game of Chutes and Ladders. I stopped in my tracks when I noticed the shit eating grin on Elijah’s face, and it made me wonder what he was teaching my daughter during the game. He was good at manipulating, lying, and taking advantage of people. Especially when it came to cheating. I didn’t want her learning any of those traits from him.
“Relax, she’s fine.”
I scoffed, “With your best friend? Yeah, and I met the Tooth Fairy yesterday.”
Slade chuckled beside me, “This is the best place for her right now. She doesn’t need to be in your father’s grip.”
He had a point there. She needed to be far away from Father because he was going to eventually turn her the way he turned me. I refused to let my daughter be a pawn in his game.
“I think it’s time I catch you up. On everything.” My mouth dropped as he said the words. He was bringing me in? Telling me the plan?
I turned to face him, but he was already looking at me. His head was cocked to the side and his arms were folded across his chest. It was like he was trying to figure me out. If he wanted to tell me everything, did that mean he wasn’t mad anymore?
“Everything?” I questioned, not sure what to say or where to go from there.
“Yes.”
“Where do we start?” My heart was racing so fast it felt like it was going to beat out of my chest. I never thought I would be in the same room as him again, let alone talking to him in a calm manner. I wondered if his plan would get me free of my duties as Queen. Free from underneath Father’s and Zeke’s grasp.
I wanted to be free to raise my daughter how I wanted, without the stress of having to look over my shoulder every time I went to the park with her. I wanted to go shopping at the grocery store with her like a normal mom would. Was that too much to ask for?
“Come on,” Slade walked in the direction of his office and I stood there for a few moments, admiring his backside. I was zoned in fully to him, ignoring the curious glances from his crew and questions they had directed at me.
I started to follow him and passed the large sitting area that seemed more like a living room with two couches, a table, some chairs and a television. To the left was a bar they had installed with numerous amounts of liquor and whiskey, along with the kitchen towards the back, and to the right was where all the rooms, stairs and bathrooms resided.
Here Slade was King. Everyone abided by his rules, did what he said or asked of them, and were loyal to him. At least that was the vibe I got from everyone around. I didn’t know how he got to that status, but it was admirable.
Once I was in his office, he shut the door behind me. I took a seat in one of the blue, comfy chairs and sunk into it. The stress of everything had been slowly eating away at me, making me lose weight because I was never hungry, I never slept well, and I was sure the black circles under my eyes along with my pale skin made me look like a ghost.
I wanted to be healthy for Julianna. I tried to be, but my impending wedding to the monster of all monsters scared the crap out of me. It was one thing to sign my life over to the devil, it was another to sign my daughter’s.
Slade leaned against his desk, his eyes searing through mine. There were so many times I imagined us together, just in a room having a conversation about things that weren’t important. When we were younger, there were few times we were able to do that, but when I was with him, all the pain I had endured numbed. I could withstand anything as long as he was with me.
“What now?” I asked, sucking my bottom lip between my teeth. My leg started to bounce, and my fingers were tapping against the fabric. If he didn’t come forward with his plan soon, I would burst. I didn’t like waiting, and I certainly wasn’t going to wait around for Zeke to make me his little toy.
He pulled his phone from his pocket and typed a message to someone. Next thing I knew, Elijah busted in the room with a file in his hands. When he saw me, a grin spread across his face.
"What’s up Queen?” My gaze narrowed on his green gaze. Amusement flickered in his depths as he handed the file to Slade. What was his deal? I could never tell if he liked me or hated me. I often thought he hated me, but I could never figure out why. I had done nothing to him. I was nice and cordial, but maybe his lingering hatred was because of his loyalty to Slade. He had told me once that Elijah was one of the first people to make him feel welcome here after he moved from Texas. Especially since he didn’t know anything about the kingdom, estate or what the royal family was like, Elijah had become his confidant and best friend. I respected Elijah for that, but I also felt he could ease up on his hatred for me.
My gaze flickered to Slade as he approached me. He held out the file for me to take. “Everything you need to know is here. After you read through this, we will go over my plan of action.”
It all sounded so final. My heart was beating so fast inside of my chest. The file was there in his hands holding every answer I could possibly want, but fear plagued me as the daunting thing stared back at me.
I licked my lips and with shaky hands took the folder from his. He went back to his position in front of the desk, and Elijah stood near the window. I looked down at the folder, trying to decide what to do. There was an ache in my chest that told me if I opened the folder, my life would somehow be forever changed. But if I refused to look at it, life would go back to normal and Julianna and I would be sold off to Zeke.
Here goes....