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Two days had passed, and Kelly had left me to rot in this brothel. He came to torment me every day, so I wasn't surprised to see a woman walk in when the door opened. However, I was surprised to find that it was the woman who used to park outside the cabin.
Her heels clicked on the floorboards. Today she wore a short black dress, and I could see the outline of her thong; it was that tight. I looked away, back at the wall where I sat in the corner. She was there to inject me with more of the poison Kelly had been using on me, or so I suspected. I wasn't going to cry. She did not deserve my tears. I kind of wished Benta would come back. I wanted to know she was okay, and I hadn't seen her since the night I was brought here. She tried to help clean me up when he was done with me, and he ripped her from the room. I hadn't seen her since.
The woman crouched next to me and gripped my chin, forcing me to meet her gaze. She sneered, shoving my face away. "Kelly is on his way, and you will be on your best behavior for my husband," she said.
I gulped. Her words stung, but she could have him. I wanted nothing to do with the man, and I felt foolish for not believing Dwight. I felt stupid that I actually thought I would have some sort of happiness.
"Seems like your little friend, that b***h Queen of yours, has been asking about you. You do anything to jeopardize the life I have with Kelly, and he won't be the one you need to fear. I will order every pack warrior to run through you, treat you like the home-wrecker you are," she said, turning her chin up at me.
I laughed. Of course, that piece of sh*t's wife was just as depraved as he was.
"Must have really sucked when you learned he had a mate," I told her, glaring at the woman. She slapped me, her handprint burning into my face. I could even feel the outlines of each finger etched into my cheek. My face stung, yet she smiled. I could see the sadistic gleam in her eye as she gripped my hair and yanked my head back, making me grit my teeth.
"Accidents happen, remember that. This is my pack. Kelly is my husband, and you will learn your place," she said.
"My place isn't here, and you should mind your own. Ania will come for me," I snarled at her, and she laughed before gripping my throat.
"Why do you think Kelly is coming? To see you." She laughed and clicked her tongue.
"Your friend won't be an issue after today. Kelly is only keeping you, so he doesn't become weak. You do well to remember that you are nothing to him, just a warm hole to f**k," she said, and the door opened again.
His scent wafted to me before I saw him. The bond recognized him instantly, and I now despised the reaction he stirred. I wanted his blood, and I hated that he could easily influence me the way he did.
"Ah, there are my girls, having a chat, I see," Kelly said, walking in wearing a tailored suit. The woman let me go and rose to her feet.
"Rina dear, I see you have met my wife, Charlotte. Pretty, isn't she?" he said, sweeping her hair off her shoulder before cupping her neck and jamming his filthy tongue down her throat. I averted my gaze, relishing the pain that serrated through my chest.
When he had finished his disgusting display of affection, he spoke.
"Now, the Queen has decided she wants to video chat with you today. She found out about Charlotte, and you, love, will convince her everything is peachy and that you are happy here," Kelly said, walking over to me and gripping my arm. He yanked me to my feet. Yet, excitement bubbled within me. Nobody knew me better than Ania; she knew my darkest secrets, my biggest shames. She would see through any facade Kelly tried to put up.
Kelly pushed me onto the bed and gripped my face tightly. I tried to pull away, but his grip was too strong. Then he kissed me, and I was tempted to bite his tongue, but I remembered the consequences of my actions from last night when he knocked me out cold. My jaw was still sore this morning.
"It won't work. Ania will know that something is wrong," I spat at him, and he stopped.
"I had a feeling you would say that, so I have a motivator for you," he whistled, and I heard a struggle outside, followed by a woman's shrill cries and the cries of a baby. My heart leaped in my chest, and I got to my feet as a woman in lingerie was thrown onto the floor, a few-months-old baby clutched in her arms. I glared at the man who had shoved her and then turned my attention to Kelly.
"Now, you will put on your best performance, Rina," he said, gripping the woman's hair and pulling her head back.
"Rina here is the one who decides whether your little pup here gets to live another day," he said to the woman who had been brought in. Tears streaked down her face, and the baby was bundled up, clutched in her arm, and tucked to her chest. Her mascara ran down her cheeks, and her red hair stuck to her face as tears smudged her makeup and lines trekked into her foundation.
Kelly reached for the boy in her arms, but I spoke before he could grab him, and she tried to fight him off. "I'll do it. If you touch one hair on that baby or her head, I will refuse to do anything you ask. Leave her," I snapped at him, and he paused with his outstretched hand. He stood up and clicked his tongue, letting go of her hair. She crawled quickly over to me, holding the baby with one hand, and stopped by my feet. Kelly snarled at her and wanted to grab her, but I stepped over her, putting myself between them.
Kelly said, "Seems like you do have a backbone after all."
"It won't do you any good here. If you mess this up, you'll watch them die," he added.
"You touch them, and you will, because if the King finds out, you're dead. He despises abusers," I told him. I was the only thing standing in the way of Ania bringing the King here. I knew she would make life a living hell in the castle if she found out and if our roles were reversed, I would do the same.
Kelly nodded and looked at Charlotte, who smiled sweetly before taking off her handbag. She pulled out a clear makeup bag and began to apply makeup. I sat on the edge of the bed, knowing exactly what was going to happen next. Lucy had also been good at this facade when she needed sponsors and had covered our scars many times. If I could survive that b*tch of woman, I could survive anything.
The woman holding the pup cringed away from me, and Charlotte raised her hand as if to hit her when the woman accidentally bumped into me. Rage coursed through my veins, and I grabbed Charlotte's wrist, causing a stand-off between us for a few seconds. Charlotte was clearly shocked that I would grab her, especially in front of Kelly, whom she was expecting to jump to her rescue. However, he only chuckled.
"Now, now, ladies, no fighting," he said, sitting in the corner chair beside the bed.
"You don't want to jeopardize that future you want so badly, do you?" I asked Charlotte, and she glared at me.
"You are asking for death, girlie," she spat, yanking her arm away.
"Good thing I don't fear it, but I bet you do," I told her, and she glared back at me. I sat on the bed, and Kelly clicked his fingers impatiently at her.
I shut down, letting Charlotte play dress-up, solely focused on keeping the woman at my feet and her baby safe from these monsters.
ππππ'π πππ:
"It's just after 10 am, so Rina should be calling any minute," Arman said, lifting his hips and pulling his phone from his back pocket. He handed it to me after I asked for the time.
"Do you remember how to answer it? It's in Spanish," he asked, and I nodded, unlocking the phone and climbing off him. The moment I did, it was like I was being pulled back to him, and I looked at the phone in my hand and then at Arman on the bed. It was like a war in my head between what the bond wanted and what I knew I needed, which was to ensure Rina was okay. I was aware that I was going on heat. Very bad timing .
"Focus, think of Rina," the king urged. I nodded, trying to keep a coherent thought. I was grateful that Arman had ignored his instincts and not let me mark him, knowing that I would regret it if I missed Rina's call. The phone started ringing in my hand, and Arman, seeing me struggle, quickly answered it. Rina's face appeared on the screen, snapping me out of my inner battle.
"Rina!" I exclaimed.
"Hey, Kelly said you wanted me to call. I dropped my phone in the sink. You know I'm clumsy," she chuckled.
My brows furrowed. Rina wasn't clumsy. "Do you have makeup on?" I asked, noticing her face looked different. The urges coursing through me instantly subsided as I took in her appearance.
Rina was far from girly, so the makeup seemed strange.
"Yep, do you like it? Charlotte helped me," she said, turning the phone to show a woman who looked like she stepped out of a magazine. The woman smiled and waved enthusiastically before Rina turned the phone back to herself.
"How have you been?" she asked, and I noticed her eyes move past the phone. Arman walked into the bathroom, and I moved to the couch.
"I'm sorry, Charlotte who?" I asked.
"Kelly's wife. They have three kids," Rina replied, cutting me off and smiling, but something didn't feel right. Her eyes didn't light up the way they usually did.
"And you're okay with that?" I inquired.
"Well, I can't punish him for marrying before he found me," she replied. My brows furrowed, and Rina quickly changed the topic of conversation, diverting the attention away from her and asking me questions. I inquired about the pack house, and she gave me vague answers. Arman appeared behind me and entered the camera's view.
"Hi Rina, you look nice," Arman said, waving at her. She smiled and waved back, greeting him. However, something seemed off with her. She was bubbly as usual, nothing that would suggest anything was wrong. Kelly quickly said hello, talking to Arman over Rina's shoulder.
"Well, my King and Queen Rina and Charlotte are about to go shopping," he excused Rina. I nodded, and he moved away from the camera's view. I could hear him talking to someone, but I couldn't quite make out what he was saying.
Arman had turned his attention to the tablet I was using the night before, checking my writing.
"Well, I will try to call you again soon," Rina said.
"I was going to ask if you wanted to come up this weekend?" I asked her, and I saw Arman look at me out of the corner of my eye.
"That would be awesome; I have missed you," Rina said, her eyes lighting up.
"Not this weekend, Rina. A driver won't be available," I heard Kelly say from somewhere off to the side.
"That's fine. I will send Desmond to come and get her and your wife, for a girls' weekend," I told him. Not that I wanted to see his wife, but I knew it would look wrong if I didn't invite her too.
"The kids have a soccer match, it's Rina's first one. She doesn't want to miss it," Kelly said, and Rina nodded before rubbing behind her ear.
"Yes, I promised the kids I would go; I forgot, maybe the one after," she smiled, but my focus was on her hand rubbing behind her left ear. My neck itched, and I instinctively rubbed the scar on the back of my neck where my hairline is as I nodded. Something in the pit of my stomach told me that something was amiss.
"That sounds great," I told them, forcing a fake smile onto my face. Rina's smile wavered slightly.
"Well, I'll let you go. Call me tomorrow night," I said to her, and Kelly popped back into view.
"I'll make sure she does," he said, kissing her cheek in a display of affection. Rina blew me some kisses. "I love you," she said.
"More than my life," I replied.
"Yeah, you know that," she said, smiling, and my heart pounded in my chest. I pursed my lips as she rubbed the spot behind her ear. She didn't say it back. She always says it back!
"I love you; I'll talk to you tomorrow," I said to her. She nodded, and we both hung up.
"She seems fine. Hopefully, Dwight will get off my back now," Arman said.
"She didn't say it back," I told him, looking at the blacked-out screen.
"Pardon?" The King asked.
"She always says it back!" I exclaimed. Arman furrowed his brow.
"She looked fine, she said so herself," he said.
"They're making her say that, Arman. She didn't say it back!" I told him, getting angry.
"I know you miss her, but..." his voice trailed off.
"She didn't say it back. She always says it back. We're leaving now; we're bringing her home," I told him firmly.
Arman shook his head and growled. "Kelly will bring her up the following weekend. She seemed fine, looked great, and got along with Charlotte," he said.
Was he thick? Did he not hear what I just said? Anger coursed through me, and the lust burning inside me dissipated. I knew Rina, and I explained about her touching the scar behind her ear, but Arman looked at me like he thought I was insane. But I knew Rina. She was my best friend.
Arman reached out for me, but I pulled away. "We need to go get Rina now!" I yelled.
"I can't do that, my queen. She wanted to stay; she told me herself when I asked," Arman said.
"I don't care what she told you. I'm telling you, it was an act that was not Rina, not my Rina!" I snapped.
Arman reached for my hand, but I jerked it away. "Don't f*****g touch me. We need to get Rina," I said, my voice trembling with frustration and fear, and he growled at me in response.
"You're being ridiculous. She's fine," he retorted, stepping closer, but I took a step back.
"My queen!" he snapped.
"We need to go get Rina, my king!" I snarled.