Claiming His Queen

Chapter 11

Aidon

As Cora circles the apartment, looking at photos, straightening pillows, and dusting her fingers across the top of the table, I pull Kailler aside. “Who the hell is Lawson?”

“It’s no one to worry about.”

“No one to worry about? This man who uses collars and Cora knows him?” I’m stymied by Kailler’s reticence. “The Vieth organization is known to be all women.”

“It’s really nothing.” Kailler waves her hand, and the small smile she was trying to hide before in the car is back. When she realizes I’m not letting this go, the smile fades. “It really isn’t anyone important. Don’t you trust me?” she adds in a small voice.

Kailler and I have known each other for a decade. I was there when she held her brother while he took his last breath. She was there when Chu handed me control over the organization. If I can’t trust her then I might as well run out into the middle of Main and let the cars run me over. Yet...when it comes to Cora, I don’t trust anyone—not even myself.

“You’re not giving me much reason to.”

Kailler’s jaw tightens, but she doesn’t give me what I want to know. Instead, she averts her eyes, staring past me. In a short amount of time, Cora has won over the number two person in my crew. My gaze slides to the beauty standing in front of a large abstract painting. She’s small and far too pretty for my mental health, but inside of her lurks something powerful enough to tear my world apart. I knew this the moment she walked into my office and I forgot that the body of Poppy was draped across my desk. All I wanted to do was take her. The heat of her pussy still burns on my thigh. The bite mark on my neck is turning purple and black. I want to place a similar mark on her. I wouldn’t need a collar then. Everyone would know she belonged to me.

Beside me, Kailler clears her throat, bringing me back from the edge of the cliff I was about to throw myself into. I inhale a frustrated sigh and stalk over to Cora.

“Let’s start easy. Is Sara alive or dead?”

“Why would she be dead?” Cora jerks away from the painting to stare at me in shock. Suddenly, she slaps a hand over her mouth as if she’s said too much. At this point I don’t know if she’s pretending to give something away or whether she’s revealed something that should’ve stayed hidden.

“Have our men seen her outside the Vieth compound?” I ask without taking my eyes off Cora’s face.

“No,” Kailler answers immediately. Whatever hurt she’s harboring over my lack of trust has been put aside. “We’ve no visuals, but they have underground parking, so it’s possible she entered or exited in the back of one of the cars or vans. Three vehicles have left today and two have returned. We’ve taken photos of everyone who has exited the car.” Kailler approaches and hands me a tablet with the photos loaded. I show the screen to Cora.

“Let’s start naming names, shall we?”

Cora’s brows come together. “You’re staking out the parking garage? Mom’s not going to like that.”

The “Mom” rolls off her tongue so naturally I wonder if all the Vieth orphans call Karin some kind of maternal nickname.

“We aren’t going to rely on your mother to tell us the truth.”

“Why? Has she ever lied to you?”

My initial instinct is to say yes, but then I hesitate. Has Vieth ever been untruthful with me in the past? I can’t recall. We haven’t dealt a lot together because our business interests have been different, but the few times our paths have crossed, she’s been upfront.

“Right. I didn’t think so.” Cora crosses her arms. “I wonder why Sara bought this painting. She’s not really a modernist type of girl. She’s more country cottage.”

Cora’s right. The room is soft and comfortable with knitted throws and slouchy furniture instead of the stark minimalism that you usually see in these high-rise apartments. I pull the painting off the wall, but there’s nothing behind it. I hand it over to Kailler. “Find out when this was sold, who bought it, and who the artist is.”

She heads for the doorway to pass on the orders. While she’s doing that, I hold the tablet up. “Tell me to stop when you see someone you know.”

Cora’s lips flatten out as if she’s mentally gluing her lips shut. As I shuffle through the photos, I watch her face for signs of recognition, affection, or even distaste. In the eighth photo, she sucks in a small breath. I page through four more photos and receive no response. At the end, I turn the tablet off.

“Is Sara back at the Vieth compound?”

“I don’t really know. She wasn’t when I left, but I’m not really informed on all that’s going on.”