Queen of Nothing

Mateo

Itwasdamnnear three in the morning when I had gotten back to the penthouse, we spent hours at the south-side emergency room. It was Black Crow property, so we could bring in anyone with any injury for treatment and the docs and nurses knew to just do their job and keep their mouths shut if the pigs went sniffing around. They knew better than to ask or answer any questions. But bringing in a pulverized Bratva bitch was going to get us some eyebrow raises and some nasty looks from the residents, there was no way around it.

Anya was off in oxy-land when I left her there with Santo, and it seemed like there was no way she’d be coming back to the high-rise. Shit, who could blame her? Her eyes had been completely swollen shut and black from bruising by the time I left, and she was scheduled for surgery in the morning to start reconstructing her nose.

They would need a dentist to do an evaluation, but I had heard some of the doctors say she was going to need to pull a few teeth that had been impacted from the force of the trauma too. She had at least ten stitches on her forehead and about six on her lip going down her chin. All in all, it was unlikely that homegirl was going to look the same, ever again.

My head was pounding, and I was itching to leave that sterile box. Hospitals weren’t for me, and we usually had the Doc make house calls for that very reason. When I got back, I didn’t expect to find Berserk passed out sitting up against the wall next to my bedroom door, or our fiery prisoner naked in my bathtub. God, she looked incredible in that bath. Her golden skin beaded with droplets of water, her tits floating above it like perfect globes begging to be squeezed.

Fuck, this girl was doing things to my mind that made me constantly forget who the reason was she was here, and he was asleep right outside my door this very second. I let the hot water cascade down my back as my cock hardened at the thought of rubbing that loofa all over her perfect skin just moments ago. She never once told me to stop or pushed my hand away, and she looked at me like…fuck.

That was my brother out there.

And that was the woman who fucked him up so good he went to war over it.

There was a conflict raging beneath me, and I knew the only way to quiet the storm inside me was going to be between her legs, but that could never fucking happen. I fisted my dick in my right hand and closed my eyes as I squeezed and tugged up and down, letting the water and pre-cum lubricate me as I picked up the pace. I wondered what she tasted like after a bath, how her thighs would feel in between my teeth as I closed them around her flesh. I wondered if she would whimper quietly or if she would scream when she came.

I kept the image of her in the bath, big black eyes wide open and fixed on mine as I reached lower and lower. There was something about her where she saw everything as a challenge, and I’d be damned if that didn’t get me hard to watch her face off to anyone and anything these last couple of months. My balls tingled as I got closer and closer and I imagined sinking into that perfect round ass, her raven hair wrapped around my fist tight. I came fast with a low grunt before washing and turning the shower off.

By the time I walked out of the bathroom she was already asleep on the floor, sitting up with her back against the foot of the bed almost identical to how I’d left Zerkos out there. I opened the closet and pulled out a pair of black boxer briefs and put them on before reaching down and picking her up. I gently placed her on the bed and covered her with the comforter before walking around to the other side of the bed. I hesitated, unsure if I should sleep somewhere else but after a moment of thought I decided…fuck it. This was my bedroom, and I already came tonight anyways. I could get through the night with her next to me.

When I got into the vacant side of the bed, she was completely turned to her side facing me and her eyes were open and fully fixed my way. “Should I be afraid?” she asked me, and I almost laughed at how unpredictable her mind was.

“I didn’t think you were someone who could be scared of anything, you don’t give me that impression Sunshine,” I said, and she hummed.

“I’m not. But I still like to know if I’m heading for a situation that if I was allowed to be anyone else, would I be scared?” she asked almost like it was a philosophical question.

There was a big part of me that was heavily intrigued by what she meant when she said if she was allowed to be anyone else, but I didn’t push. I would just file that tidbit away for another time.

“Am I here for the same purpose as them?” she asked.

“You mean, are they here because they broke our hearts over twelve years ago, and then showed up on our doorstep asking for our protection? No Sunshine, you are not here for the same reasons,” I reassured her.

“Are you doing something bad with them?” She asked with a bit of concern showing for her cell-mates, even though I hadn’t seen her so much as look at any of them for more than ten seconds at a time. That little exchange with Anya was the closest she’d ever gotten to either of them.

“No, but bad is a construct. There is no good or evil.” I said truthfully, without telling her much more, and she couldn’t hide the puzzled look on her face that said she was trying to put pieces together but couldn’t. “You should sleep while you can,” I warned her, knowing full well that once morning came, I wouldn’t be able to keep her hidden in this room for long.

She scooted closer to me and laid her head on my shoulder as if she had gotten so used to it that it was better than any pillow on my bed.

Blackest eyes met mine, and her hand lifted up as I felt her cool fingers against the side of my head. She pressed into my temple with the gentlest of touches and then firmly rubbed her thumb against the spot.

I could feel the headache dissolving for the first time in days and it was hard to pretend like it didn’t mean what it meant to me. She slowed down when I closed my eyes and eventually dropped her hand back down.

She was fast asleep by the time my phone buzzed and I saw a text from Álvarez to our group chat.

Álvarez:We need to talk. Meeting in the morning.

That wasn’t going to be anything good, but I was tired as fuck and couldn’t think past my heavy eyelids.

Vanilla and coconut surrounded me as I was slowly pulled from slumber. There was a leg draped over mine and soft skin under my palms that had me aching to rub all over her. Her head was practically on my chest and somehow my arm was cradled beneath her. It felt comfortable, like we had always done it somehow. I took a deep inhale and buried my nose into her hair and my eyes jarred open at a growling sound in the corner of the room. Ronan was sitting on the piano bench wearing the world’s meanest scowl and I braced myself for the explosion. “I didn’t touch her,” I said in a hushed voice to him.

“I slept outside your room, I know,” he said and the puzzled look on my face spoke for me so that I wouldn’t disturb her.

“Well, either your dick wasn’t doing the job, or you didn’t fuck her, because Cecilia Gomez screams when she’s being railed right.” He smirked at me, and his gaze shifted to the security camera on the ceiling.

Only I had access to the footage in this room and suddenly I wondered if I needed to take a look at the little visit he paid her last night. I made a mental note to review that shit when I was out of bed but then I remembered Álvarez’s text. “Did Álvarez get back in from the hospital yet?” I asked him but didn’t allow time for an answer, “What time is it?” I slid my arm out from underneath her and she stirred just slightly with a soft moan that compelled my cock to wake up as well.

“Yeah, he just got in, it’s six-thirty,” he threw a pair of sweats at me, the scowl never leaving his face for a moment. “Cover your hard-on and let’s go see what’s the bullshit we’ve got to deal with next.” He said, getting up from the piano.

I rolled out of bed as quietly as I could and stepped into the pants before following my brother out into the main living area.

Álvarez looked absolutely wrecked, the poor guy probably never got more than thirty minutes of sleep in that hospital chair knowing him. He just cared too much about everyone and everything, he had that tinker bell mentality where he genuinely thought he could make the world a better place if we just believed enough. He had bags under his eyes and even though Fletcher was working on coffee as we walked into the room, he was just a few long blinks away from crashing.

“Fill us in,” Zerkos commanded, and Santo nodded.

“She’s fucking pissed, yo. Like that bitch is mad angry, man. I had to have Emory dope her up pretty well to keep her from shouting about the kennels and the trials. Chalked it up to her being hysterical, but I think we’ll still need to answer some questions over there. She was pretty out of it towards the end, but eventually, she had some other doctor kick me out of her room before her surgery. Said she had a family member who was going to pick her up after?” he said questioning the last part.

“A family member?” Ronan asked, and we looked at each other. We were all thinking the same thing. Something was shady here. Human trafficking victims taken from other countries didn’t often just have a family member they could call on at the drop of a hat to come pick them up after weeks of being missing.

“Fletch, can you send Ethan to monitor the hospital, see if he can get a good look at whoever leaves with Anya or any visitors she may get,” I said, and he nodded at me and headed out towards the elevators. I walked over to the kitchen and poured the French press coffee Fletcher started into four mugs. Black for Berserk, a bucket of cream for Santo, and a cube of sugar and just a splash of cream in mine. I placed all four in a tray and brought it over to the coffee table where Santo looked like he would collapse any moment. I nudged his mug at him, and he mumbled a thanks but began to close his eyes before he reached for it.