Damaged Queen (Darkness Within Duet 2)

“My guy here, Laser, will take you to the bus stop. He’ll make sure you leave.”

“Why are you doing this?” she asked, tears in her eyes. Harper had tears in her eyes now. “I love your son.” The confession he was never supposed to hear.

“Aw, that is sweet. The thing is, I’ve got plans, lots of good plans, for Draven, and you are standing in my way of accomplishing them. I’m being nice, Harper. Not only am I letting you live, I’m not going to keep you.” He reached out, stroking a finger down her breast. She pulled away. He laughed. He repulsed her then, and still to this day, he did. “Well, I’d be careful who you go showing your pussy to. You come back here and your life is mine.”

“There’s nothing else you can do to me.”

“Oh, yes, I can. I can use you day and night. I’ve got a huge appetite, and seeing as you’re fresh pussy and ass, I could work you until you bleed. I’m not squeamish. I’d love to fuck you raw.”

She stumbled back, and Alan laughed.

“I’ll be keeping this.” He held up her cell phone as if it was some kind of trophy. “Harper, if you think for a single fucking second this is over, think again. I’m going to need some … leverage. If you don’t do exactly as I say, I’ll make sure Draven says his goodbyes.”

“What the hell does that mean?”

Alan smirked as he stepped up to her. “Let’s just say I’ve got evidence of you running off with my enemy. With Draven’s enemy. He’s never going to want to see you again, and if you want him to live, whenever I need you to do little jobs for me, no matter where you go or what you do, you will do them. If not, I’ll make sure to torture every single one of them. Contact Draven, and I will find out. Anything you do, everything you do, is mine and mine alone. Get out of my fucking house. Go.”

This was the end of the line for her in that office. She’d never been back, not even when Axel came for her, ten years later.

Draven had moved up in the world, and in doing so, she was no longer in his office.

She watched as Alan whistled, laughed, and clapped his hands. Just then, the cook came into the office.

“Our boy is going to be eating out of my hand,” Alan said.

“Did you really have to get rid of the girl? She makes him happy.”

The smile disappeared from Alan’s face. “Are you questioning me?”

“No, it’s just that Draven…”

She didn’t finish her words as Alan backhanded her.

“My son will do exactly as he’s told. The little shit thinks he’s better than me. Thinks he can change what he’s got to do. He’ll stay in line, and now that little slut is gone, he’ll be easy to deal with.”

“I think we’ve seen enough,” Axel said, turning the video to pause on the screen.

Harper stayed on her knees, fresh waves of tears falling down her cheeks.

This was not a victory, not to her. Getting to her feet, she wiped the tears from her eyes. They would know she was crying.

She turned toward them.

Axel’s emotions were turned off. He looked bored with everything. Harper looked toward Draven, and he seemed devastated.

“I just … I’m going to go to my room now.” She left the office and didn’t look back. There was no need to.

What had been done couldn’t be changed.

****

Draven stared at the screen. His father looked so fucking happy with himself. His heart raced, and anger unlike anything he’d ever felt filled him up.

“You okay?” Axel asked.

“I…” He moved toward the desk, put his hands flat to the surface, and tried to breathe in. “Why didn’t he just kill her?”

“He couldn’t just kill her. Think about the mess and the fact he’d have to come up with a reason for her disappearance. We knew he didn’t want her around. This way, Alan got rid of her and made it look like she betrayed us. We fell for his lies, believing the worst of her.”

“He figured out I wouldn’t be able to forgive her betrayal. Running to the enemy,” Draven said.

“But he also had the evidence she was still alive. Laser didn’t look like the fucking enemy there, Draven. He was working for Alan. Every single time you came close to go to her, he’d randomly find information about her helping our enemies. Another way for you to hate her and to become more and more like him,” Axel said. “It was kind of clever, really. I didn’t think Alan had that kind of patience.”

“He also had the fact that Buck had just died.”

“There is also that.”

Draven threw his arms across the desk and yelled. “That fucking bastard. I believed him. I believed Harper couldn’t handle it, and all that time, all the time he was laughing at me. This was all part of his plan. To take from me. To make me do this … shit!”