Damaged Queen (Darkness Within Duet 2)

“I was a … member of a group. I was initiated to be with four men. Then to keep them safe, I was blackmailed and forced to … hurt other people. To bring them into a life they had no control over. I knew their lives would be total shit, but I did it for you, for Axel, for Buck, and for Jett. When I stopped being told what I was going to do, I vowed I would never hurt another living innocent soul.” She stared up at him, and she clapped her hands. “Congratulations, Draven. You’re exactly everything your father ever wanted, too. Just like I became.”

Then, she turned away and went to her room. Her heart shattered.

Draven was nowhere near the man she thought he was. That man had died and who stood in his place was someone she didn’t recognize.

****

The moment Harper turned the corner and left, Draven pounded Axel’s face. “You piece of fucking shit. Why did you tell her, huh? Why did you tell her?”

Axel didn’t hit him back but took the beating he was dishing out.

Each blow cut Draven to the core. He wanted Axel to fight back.

To hurt him.

To deliver whatever blow would numb the pain.

“She had a right to know,” Axel said.

This made Draven stop, but Axel still didn’t put his fists up. He still didn’t fight.

“Why? She doesn’t need to know that shit.”

“Look at you, Draven. Look at us. We were never supposed to be like this. What would Buck say? Jett? We said everything was going to be different, and you can’t keep blaming Harper for what we’ve become. Take a long look in the mirror. I do so every single day, and I don’t like what I’ve become. Having her here reminds me of what we once were before she fucking left.” Axel pointed at his face. “I don’t give a shit about the scars or anything else. We were never supposed to do this. You told me I was never going to see another woman on that fucking whipping post or locked up in those cells, and yet, Harper, the woman you fell in love with years ago, was the one I saw again, in both of those places. The fact she hasn’t killed you, I’d count myself lucky. You could blame her for a lot of things, I don’t care. She fucking walked away when we all asked her not to. She betrayed us and worked for our enemies as a human trafficker, helping them get girls of all ages. The war that broke out, the men that died. Buck and Jett, but we can’t blame her for everything. That’s why I told her to go to the basement. You want to lock her away in this town and throw away the key. You think you can protect her, but you can’t. One day, sooner or later, there are going to be men like us. Men who are determined to make a difference, and that’s us gone. I welcome it, Draven. I welcome when they take our fucking legacy from us and destroy it. We were supposed to be better than this.”

Axel got to his feet, spat at the floor, and walked away.

Draven picked up the picture hanging on the wall and threw it across the room. The shards of glass smashed to smithereens around their feet.

He was so fucking angry. Pissed off. Infuriated.

He didn’t want Harper to find out the truth of all that he’d become. No, he couldn’t look in the mirror.

So he simply ignored the image staring right back at him. His father had set up deals that Draven had no choice but to see through. They’d been strong, but the men his father dealt with had been stronger.

It was one of the many reasons Draven finally killed him.

He walked into his office and went straight for the good whiskey. No glass needed as he drank straight from the bottle. The burn was a welcome relief from the pain.

He kept on drinking, wanting that blissful peace that would come over him. Staring across his office, he saw the picture of his father. He kept it hanging on the wall so he’d feel the rage the man never failed to inspire within him.

It’s what kept him going when deals went sour and he had no choice but to help. Tillie would become a problem. She owned clubs up and down the country. She was a wealthy mob man’s mistress, and he liked for her to put on a show. Since taking trafficked women, her clubs had become sought after. Men and women alike enjoyed having no rules, enjoyed inflicting pain.

The girls often didn’t survive. Most of the boys lasted longer.

It was a deal his father had struck.

The mob would tear through Stonewall and leave nothing standing. He still had the town to consider. It was what Alan had relished when he told him the deal that would take them to the next level.