Regal Queen by Ivy Mason

Fourteen

The past fewdays had been a complete and utter shit show.

Both Rose and Knight were missing, with only a single text from Knight that they were safe and would contact us when they could. I was going to wring his neck when I next saw him.

She'd gone completely and utterly silent and it was killing me inside.

I'd known at some point that I was going to have to give her some space but I hadn't considered the thought that it would be so soon, or so throughly.

It was driving. Me. Insane.

I felt out of control. Completely at the mercy of a woman who'd gotten under my skin and buried herself under my ribs, right where my once dead heart dwelled.

The sight of her that first time had kick started it, and day after day of being with her brought it back to life, pounding with vitality and excitement.

For the first time in years, my life wasn't about keeping Coulter alive. I had something to wake up to in the morning.

Her beautiful face was all I could think about.

It gave me a reason to want to exist beyond the litany of survival. To want to actually live, to want to grab my life by my hands and squeeze all the fucking joy out of it.

And now, she'd gone and fucking disappeared.

She'd left me. When she’d promised she wouldn’t.

Just like Lily.

Just like my mother.

My heart warred with intense pain and anger so live and electric it could light a whole city.

I couldn't believe that she'd left me.

I would never open my heart to another woman. Never.

Not after this.

Frustrated, I threw my phone on the couch. What I really wanted to do was smash it against the wall. To stomp it to pieces. To throw it over the balcony.

But, like always, I kept my composure.

Doing all these things wasn’t going to make Rose magically appear in the room. Besides, then I would have to go through the hassle of getting a new phone and prying out the old SIM card to put it in the new one.

Why? Because this was the only number that Rose knew, and I wasn't taking any chance that she would call and not be able to reach me.

I was so fucked up over this girl. If I could see the future, if I could’ve predicted how she would affect me, would I have gone through it in the first place? Getting to know her, taking her to the museum, watching her smile for the first time, sliding my hands over that perfect, perfect body…

I shut off my thoughts, not liking my instinctive answer.

Luca was on the sofa next to where I was pacing. He'd been tapping on his phone for the last hour but I could feel his focus on me with every passing minute.

I knew I had to keep my cool or he'd know how much she meant to me, but I couldn't hide the anxiety I felt for her safety. I growled at him, needing to get my aggression out. “I still can't believe you took her where she wanted to go."

His fingers paused and when he looked up at me, he gave me a curious gaze. "You think I should've gone back on my word?"

"No."

An eyebrow ticked upwards. “Then what was I supposed to do?"

"You could've told me the minute you got off the phone with her."

"Again, as I've told you, my silence was part of our agreement."

"I know," I grumbled, already done with this conversation. We'd had it one too many times and I just needed to accept the fact that Rose had left me willingly.

"Look." Luca turned his phone off and slipped it in his inner jacket, giving me his full attention. "You clearly love this woman."

I shoot him a glare but he only smirked. "I know a man in love when I see it, and a King would never give a fuck about a woman unless he loved her."

Sighing, I slumped into the sofa chair, rubbing my hand over my face. I couldn’t hide it anymore, and I found that I didn’t want to. "I don't know what the hell to do about it."

He watched me silently, waiting for me to say more but when I didn't, he leaned forward, pressing his hands into his thighs. "I'm shit at giving advice, but I'll tell you the one thing that I learned from Penny."

"What's that," I groused, not wanting to hear about him and Penny.

"Women like Rose, with an incredible inner strength and independence, they have the need to feel in control as much as we do. That's one reason why we fight so much with them."

“You fight with Penny?"

He laughed. "You have no idea how much shit she's broken. We fight all the time."

"And yet, you two seem close."

"Exactly, but that only happened when I learned to let go of the need to control her."

“Yeah, that's not happening." I grunted. "As soon as I find her again, I'm putting a leash and collar around her neck and never letting her go."

"Then you'll never get what you want." His phone pinged and he leaned back, pulling it out and swiped the screen.

"I'll have exactly what I want, which is her."

"No." He shook his head, still staring at his phone. "That's not what you want."

"Alright Obi-Wan Kenobi, what is it that I really want?"

He looked up at me. "You want her willingness."

I didn't answer him, his response washing over me.

"A firecracker like Rose, a woman who’s willing to walk away from the security blanket that we can offer her…she needs to realize, on her own terms, that she wants to be with you. Admit it, Bourbon, there would be nothing that would make your dick so hard as to see her walk through that door willingly and to fall to her knees, naked and bare before you, begging you to take her.” He nodded. “Yeah, that’s what you really want. Not some fucked up version of her where you have to keep that creature tied up to make her stay.”

I frowned. “Don't be crass."

He smirked. "Doesn't make what I say any less true."

Then his attention was back on his phone and I didn’t continue the line of conversation because the bastard was right.

The thought of not having to chase her down, of her on her hands and knees, tits swinging as she crawled to me, god, that made my dick hard.

I wanted that. Badly.

My phone rang, and I jumped to my feet, grabbing it from the couch.

It was an unknown number.

It could be any number of people, including that prick Dimitri, who hadn't been on the ship, along with the ozone, though we had confiscated a large arms deal shipment from him.

Which Luca promptly took from me, as payment for using his men, the fucker.

Or it could be Nero, finally figuring out how to contact me.

But it could also be Rose, and the thought made my chest squeeze.

Regardless of who it was, I was going to face it head on.

"Hello." I answered, my voice sounding rough and vulnerable. What if it was Rose? God, I needed it to be her.

There was a slight hesitation, then the sweetest, honeyed voice poured over the receiver. "Hi Bourbon."

"Rose," I breathed, relief flooding me. My shoulders slacked at the sound of her voice and I suddenly felt like I could breathe again. "Where are you?"

Again, another hesitation, then finally, "I can't tell you."

“Yes you can.” Scowling, I gripped the phone, growling out. "Wherever you are, tell me, and I'll be there within the day."

She sighed. "That's not what I want.”

“Then what is it you want?"

"I need time."

“Why the fuck you do need time? Dimitri is still out on the loose and both he and Nero could--"

"I know where Dimitri is." She cut me off, and her answer made me freeze.

"Rose," I growled. "What the hell are you doing? If Knight is putting you in danger for some kind of vendetta against Dimitri, I'm going to kill him."

"It's not Knight," she grit out, the fire I'd once remembered coming back out in full force. "What, you think I'd go with Knight just because I'm a woman and can't think for myself? You think I don't have my own brain? That I can't think of a plan all on my own to figure out where Dimitri is? You think--"

The sound of Luca chuckling beside me grated on my nerves as Rose chewed me out. Trying to keep my anger in check, knowing riling her up wasn't going to help me in any kind of way, I let her go on until she'd run out of steam.

"No, doll," I hated how desperate I sounded, especially with Luca in the room but I couldn’t seem to help myself, not with this woman, "that's not what I meant. I'm just worried about you."

There. I'd said it. Admitted to this woman how I was feeling.

She fell silent, her anger seeming to abate, for the moment. A silence that I hated stretched between us.

I strode towards the glass door, punching in the code to open the door, then stepped out into the balcony so that I could have some privacy without Luca’s prying ears. When I was alone, I stared out at the city night, trying to breathe it in and to gather my thoughts.

"I'm sorry, Rose, Okay? I really am worried about you. I can't stand the thought of something happening to you again." When she didn’t answer, I kept going, the sound of her breathing on the other end of the phone encouraging me forward. "It killed me when you were in Russia, and I would never be able to live with myself if something had happened to you again."

“’Why?" she finally spoke. “Do you really care about me?"

“Of course I do." I sounded angry, and the truth was, I was. Didn't she know by now how I felt about her? Hadn't I tried to show her the past few days? I'd let her come with me to that ship, something I now regretted because it gave her the ability to leave me. I was never going to do anything that stupid again. "I've never told anyone about my mother. Never showed anyone that painting. Never told anyone, not even Coulter, what her last words were to me. I swear I'm trying Rose."

"So what is it that you want from me?" Her voice was soft, like I'd gotten to her.

I clutched the phone tighter, hanging on to that sliver of hope. "I told you, Rose. I want to put a baby in you."

"Am I some kind of incubator to you? You want a baby that has not only King blood, but royal Bratva blood too?"

"Fuck no. I want you Rose. Don't you see that? A baby with you will tie you to me, so you'll never leave me."

“That sounds like something Nero would do.” Her words made me freeze, and suddenly the night air was a cold whip against my skin. "A girl never wants to be told she's wanted for what kind of things she can give you."

I clenched my jaw and stared at the busy city life below me, keeping my thoughts to myself. I just wanted to know where the fuck she was. Then I could go to her, and we could talk about this in person.

"Tell me where you are, Rose."

"I can't do that, Bourbon."

"Why the fuck not?"

“If you can't understand that, then we don't need to have any conversation at all."

I growled, the need to bend her over my lap and spank her ass till it was red and raw. "Rose." My voice was tight as it spit out my words through clenched teeth. "Tell. Me. Now.”

She sighed, her voice sad and somber. Disappointed in me. “No."

"Rose," I growled, out, unable to keep the anger from my voice now. "Tell me where the fuck you are right now, or I'm going to punish you so harshly you won't be able to walk for a week. You hear me?" She didn't answer me. "Rose, do you hear me? I always keep my promises."

The silence stretched out, but I realized that it was too silent. I glanced down at the screen and realized that she'd hung up on me.

My mouth dropped open, and I stared at the phone, shocked.

She'd hung up on me?What the actual fuck?

"Sir." I looked up, still shocked, and Torian stood at the glass doors.

"What is it?” I shoved my phone in my pocket.

"We received word about them."

"Tell me everything." I strode towards him, walking inside to see that both Coulter and Dante were in the living room, sitting with Luca in the living room.

Torian followed right behind me. "We got a message that they were seen in Paradiso.”

I stilled so abruptly that Torian almost ran into me, but he easily adjusted, quickly moving deftly around me. I turned to him, anger sparking my words.

"They went back to Las Vegas?" I was so pissed, my whole frame shook, but my voice held the deadly calm that usually came before I killed a man.

"They left the club about an hour ago."

"What took so long for us to find out?" I snapped.

Coulter spoke up. “One of the cocktail waitresses called, said she had to to finish up her tables before she could call us."

"Tell her to drop whatever the fuck she has going on next time." I looked back at Torian. "When are we leaving?"

He shook his head. “They just left Vegas. I called my contact at the airport. Said they just left on a private jet about fifteen minutes before I'd called."

I frowned. So she’d been calling me from a private jet. How the hell did she have access to something like that without me being notified right away?

Knight, that’s how.I headed towards the front door. “Where is the plane headed?”