Dark Queen

That man won’t be alive by morning to say anything to the police.

“Any update on Serena’s killer?” I ask while I have him on the line.

“Nothing yet.” He blows down the receiver, no doubt sucking on a cigarette.

“Did you know of her ex-boyfriend, Eddie?” My gaze shifts to the window. Why didn’t I know about this boyfriend?

“We questioned him and just released him today, actually. I’m following up on his alibi now.”

My ears prick, hairs raising on my arm. I want this man. If it was him who killed her, I didn’t want the NYPD getting him. He’s mine. “Where did you pick him up?”

Silence.

“Tell me,” I instruct, my tone lethal.

“He’s a permanent resident of a dive bar downtown.”

“What bar?” I reply with a cold retort.

A sigh, then, “Wild Rover.”

The line goes dead, and my adrenaline spikes. “Change of plans. Turn the car around,” I call out to Thomas.

“Are we going back to Blaydon’s?” Marcello questions, opening his jacket to palm his gun.

“No.” I jerk my chin to his ankle where he keeps his blade. “I know where Eddie is.” I loosen my tie. “Have the boys prepare the factory and call in the dentist.”

Chapter Twenty-Two

Alyssa

I wish he would either fire me or fuck me. Just put me out of my misery. This back and forth is becoming exhausting.

He wasn’t something I planned for when I came here. Dance was supposed to be my only focus—put every part of me into perfecting my form, learn all I can, and use it to give myself a better life.

I’m messing all that up because of a man who has infected me. I feel him burning me up from inside, the static humming in my veins. It’s driving me crazy.

He’s a fever taking over my insides. I need to stamp him out, flush him from my system.

The way he dismissed me with a warning coaxed the darkness inside me to rise up. Tomorrow, I’ll give him what he gives me: a cold indifference.

I find Jewel in the kitchen when I make it back to our dorm.

Leaving without Simon meant I had to walk on already tired legs. I just want some food and sleep.

“Hey,” she says, immediately putting me on alert.

“Hey?” I frown, watching her from my periphery.

Laura lingers by her side like a wart on Jewel’s ass.

“So, you’re working at Vino’s?” Jewel says, dunking a teabag in a cup of boiling water.

She calls it skinny tea. It’s supposed to be some magic drink that helps you lose weight. The girl is one pound away from death. She can’t afford to lose more.

“That’s right. Why?” I blow out a breath, hoping the news about today’s drama hasn’t already reached them.

Laura lets out an obnoxious giggle, and I go on high alert. This isn’t just a general conversation. An insult or something is coming.

“We were wondering if you could get us a table there?” Jewel twists one side of her mouth in an attempt at a sweet smile.

It’s not what I was expecting. “You and Laura?” I pull the premade salad I bought yesterday from the fridge and grab a fork.

“No,” Jewel screws up her face, looking over at Laura like it’s a ludicrous thing to think she’d have dinner with her friend.

“Nathanial and I.” She smiles, her lips thin and cheekbones almost tearing through the skin. “I want him to see you waiting on us—how it should be,” she jeers.

Little bitch.

“I’m sorry,” I look her up and down, “Vino’s only serves clientele of a certain class. Mr. Leto does, however, have a strip club you’d be perfect for.” I plaster on my most serene smile and push her cup of tea off the counter, spilling a drink for the third time today.

They both screech as the hot water splashes their feet and legs.

“You bitch!” Jewel yelps. “We know all about Mr. Leto and his strippers. He likes to fuck them and they wind up dead.

Better hope you don’t end up on his pole. Or, better yet, you do.” She crosses her arms, the edge in her voice harsh and bitter.

Stab her in the eye with your fork.

Before I can react, a female voice drifts in from the foyer. “Jewel, my office. Now.” The house mother’s timing just saved Jewel an eye.

Red-faced and like a child, Jewel stomps away, leaving Laura standing there on her own. It’s odd to watch her wilt in the darkness I cast.

Her shoulders drop, face paling. “Night, Laura,” I say in a velvet murmur, holding up my middle finger for only her to see.

Closed in my room, I abandon the salad and throw myself down on the bed. Jewel’s spiteful words spin around in my head.

Was that girl who died his only lover, or did he have a habit of fucking the strippers the way Jewel implied? How would she even know any of that?