Be My Queen (The Crown Duet Book 2)

by Chelsea McDonald

  I texted her quickly, before I lost all sense of rational thought and killed my brother.

  Are you free tomorrow? — N

  Her reply was immediate.

  I could be. What did you have in mind? x — A

  I smiled at her eagerness to see me. We hadn’t been able to spend any time together at all since she’d been here. I missed being around her more than I could convey in words.

  A date. I’ll be parked around the corner tomorrow morning, bright and early. Wear something sunny x — N.

  I knew exactly where to take her. Until tomorrow morning I’d have to think of a way to tell her that Cassio wasn’t the only one involved in her kidnapping. I would have to pray that she wouldn’t fly off the handle and hold my father’s actions against me.

  Oh, how the tables had turned.

  It had been another long day of working with Kaleb. More meetings with important clients and more note-taking. I was exhausted after dinner but I wasn’t sleepy tired. So instead of going straight to sleep I put the telly on in my room. I barely made it through half an episode of Gilmore Girls before I felt my eyes start to droop. I readjusted so that I was laying down, the soft noise from the telly lulling me to sleep.

  I woke hours later with a start at the sound of a crash. I’d been dreaming about Nik, cliche as hell but, still, it was a good dream. It helped that the bed was so damn comfortable.

  I wondered for a second if I’d been hearing things. I shook myself awake and listened for the noise. Only seconds later there was another crash but this time followed by shouting. What the fuck?

  A sense of deja vu reverberated through me. Instinctually, I reached for my phone. I checked the time but it was still early, only eleven o’clock. A text from Nikolai appeared on the screen, a final goodnight from our short conversation earlier. I clicked the number on the screen to call him.

  “You okay?” he asked with urgency and in lieu of greeting. I was surprised he was awake, I had half expected it to go to voicemail - that hadn’t drenched the urge to hear his voice though.

  The last time I’d heard a noise, it was Nikolai’s house getting shot up. I needed Nik.

  “I, uh... there was a crash downstairs. It woke me up.” It freaked me out more than I wanted to admit, so instead I didn’t mention my fear at all.

  “It’s okay. It was just Ambrose coming home,” he said.

  Of course it was Ambrose. I sighed with unchecked relief. “I’m in my truck outside, I saw him staggering down the street.”

  “Okay, I guess I’m going to try and get back to sleep. I just saw you’d texted me, I needed to hear your voice,” I admitted.

  “It’s alright, Ana, don’t worry. You try and go back to sleep. I’ll see you tomorrow. Bright and early, so you better make sure you get enough sleep. I have a big day planned, remember?” He soothed me. I could hear the smile in his voice, it made me grin.

  He was happy to be getting to see me, and so was I. When we’d made this date, I hadn’t realised just how much I had missed him. I knew that he was never too far away but I had missed his physical presence. The sight of him, the feel of his arms, the warmth of his kisses...

  I didn’t want to hang up. I could’ve spent forever just listening to him talk, it wouldn’t have even mattered what he was saying. I sighed with longing, “Goodnight, Nikolai.”

  “Goodnight, Anastasia.”

  After hanging up another disturbance came from the ground floor. Looking up to the bedroom door, I switched my bedside lamp on. It was clear that something was going on and I wouldn’t be getting any sleep soon.

  I heard rash footsteps and Rachel yelling up the stairs but her words were lost in Ambrose’s slurred retort. I gritted my teeth, climbing out of the bed and throwing open the bedroom door. A part of me didn’t want to get involved. But a bigger part of me felt responsible for the tension between them.

  Peeking into the hallway I saw Ambrose leaning over the bannister. No doubt readying to yell something else at poor Rachel.

  “Hey!” I shouted. It startled him enough that he jerked upright. Glaring, he turned to face me. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?”

  “You! You little bitch, coming back in here just fucking ruin everything. This all could have been mine if it weren’t for you!” he railed. “I was ready for this! Born for this! I would have taken dad’s place. They’re not your parents, they’re mine!”

  Oh wow. He may have been drunk, but he was an immature child. I was surprised he even managed to get served alcohol.

  “Ambrose!” A red-faced Rachel was halfway up the stairs, she looked horrified, embarrassed and absolutely fuming. I’d never seen Rachel angry yet and boy, I was glad I wasn’t on the receiving end of that. She was fucking scary.

  “How dare you talk to your sister like that! I can’t believe you’d even say such a thing. It’s a blessing that your sister found her way home. After all these years, it was a damn miracle!” She sounded close to tears. I wondered if this was the way it had to be. He snarled down at her, a guttural, aggressive noise that made her recoil like a spring ready to pop and knock him the fuck out.

  “Hey, this isn’t mom’s fault.” I wanted to defend her, but it felt strange. After everything that had happened, I wasn’t sure where I stood with either Rachel or Kaleb. But I knew that they didn’t deserve Ambrose turning on them.

  And then Ambrose rounded on me again. “You don’t get to call her that!”

  He stalked towards me, pointing, teeth bared. Finally, in range, I braced myself. His voice dropped, and he spoke quietly so that I was the only one able to hear him. “You’ll get what’s coming to you, bitch, mark my words.”

  “Consider them marked,” I said, calmly as I stood my ground. “Now get out of my face.”

  He stood there a moment longer, swaying on his feet, and I could have sworn he was going to hit me. But he didn’t. Instead, he turned on his heel and stomped down the hall to his bedroom, slamming the door behind him.

  “Are you alright?” she asked quickly, searching my face. Rachel rushed up the stairs to me.

  “I’m fine,” I said. “Just mad about what he said. Are you guys okay?”

  She nodded and looked at me sadly, eyes red but still holding dry. “It’s not like him to be so aggressive… He’s been drinking more recently, and—”

  “It’s fine, really,” I cut across her excuses for him. I didn’t know whether or not she was lying — to me or to herself — but either way, I didn’t want to hear it. I wanted to go to sleep, wake up and be whisked away by Nik. “I’m gonna head back to bed.”

  I waited for her nod before I retreated back into the bedroom, closing the door gently after me. I had to get out of this house. But dammit, I wanted my revenge first.

  I tossed and turned a little while in bed and then, frustrated, laid on my back and reached for my phone. I sent a quick text to Nikolai, half hoping that it didn’t wake him.

  Are you awake? — A

  I waited a few minutes, staring at the bright light of my phone. Then a message came through.

  Need me to come back? x — N

  He must have gone back to his hotel already. I supposed it was late… He needed sleep too, especially for what I had planned tomorrow. By the end of the day, he’d be sick of me.

  No. Just having trouble sleeping. I’m looking forward to seeing you tomorrow x — A

  I forwent telling him the truth, the horrible ruckus that Ambrose had just caused. Instead, I thought of tomorrow, smiled at the thought that in a few short hours, I’d be with him.

  I had told Rachel and Kaleb that I wanted to go into town, by myself, to do a little pre-wedding shopping. Of course, I’d had to throw them off the scent by mentioning the wedding. They couldn’t know that I was meeting Nikolai.

  Nikolai still hadn’t told me where we were going — he wanted it to be a surprise, apparently. I thought it was sweet, a side to him I hadn’t seen much of. But then again, I liked his gruff, bossy side. I ne
ver thought it would happen, but I’d actually come to miss his grumbling mood swings. It didn’t take me long to fall asleep as I thought of my Nikolai.

  Checking the time, it was still early when I pulled up outside the Varela house. Call me eager, but I didn’t care - because I was. I literally couldn’t hold myself back any longer. I dropped Ana a quick text to let her know I had arrived and would wait for her around the corner.

  I glanced at the cooler in the back of the truck. It holds some snacks for the road — I had planned us a little road trip to get her out of the city. I hadn’t told her where we were off to, I just wanted us to spend the day together. I wanted to make Anastasia happy, and I hoped that this would.

  I didn’t have to wait long before I spotted Anastasia’s long brown hair flowing in the morning breeze, I felt my reaction to her so viscerally. My pulse quickened and I felt the heat of desire working it’s way up my neck. When she approached, I leaned over the cab and opened the passenger side door for her.

  “Good morning,” Ana sang as she climbed into the cab of the truck.

  “Morning,” I replied smiling at the sheer sight of her. After dropping her bag to the floor she leaned over to kiss me. It had been months, but I still wasn’t used to her being so comfortable around me, and it always shocked me when she offered herself up to me. Nevermind that, I took whatever she gave. Her lips felt like the sting of electricity. But it was a sizzling pain that left me wanting more.

  I wanted to wrap my fingers in her hair, to pull her onto my lap and kiss her more deeply. But I had to wait. I pulled away, even though it was agonising, and started up the truck again. “How was your night?”

  “It was fine. My nights will be a heck of a lot better once we’re back in Boston though…” she said, making me immediately question her words. I glanced over to find her already turned my way, giving me a coy look.

  Oh. Yeah, we’re definitely on the same wavelength.

  A smug smile crept across my face as I refocused my attention on the road. Yes, her nights would definitely be better once we were back in Boston. I was hanging on by a thread as I waited for those nights. Where I would be able to hold her and love her throughout the night. I’d learnt my lesson though, handcuffs would definitely be a regular in the bedroom. Once I got her back she wouldn’t be leaving my side again.

  Our conversation tapered down to a casual chit chat as we drove out through New Jersey. While I wanted to give her a day free of responsibility and pressure, I also had an ulterior motive that I’d hoped she would later forgive me for. I wanted us to meet face to face so that I could tell her everything that I’d learned.

  Finch and I had sat for hours going over every detail, going over everything that we knew for sure. I hated knowing more about Ana’s past than she did, so I vowed to tell her today.

  We drove down the highway with the windows open and rock music playing. Ocean City was surprisingly quiet when we arrived. The sun was high in the clear sky and it had grown nicely hot.

  What a perfect way to spend the day, alone with Anastasia. Maybe we’d take a walk along the boardwalk. We could get the towels out and lie on the sand a while. With the sun quickly warming up it was lucky I had thought to pack sunscreen.

  I pulled into the parking lot and stopped the truck. We climbed out, I grabbed the cooler and towels from the back and walked around to the low wall that separated the parking lot from the path where Anastasia waited. She looked at the cooler and laughed.

  “We’re taking that with us?” she asked, surprised.

  “Of course, how else are we supposed to have a picnic?” I said with a grin as I teased her. The cooler wasn’t big and could be carried in one hand - I’d bought it with today in mind. I had tried to think of everything and every possible scenario.

  I’d never done this before. I’d never been a boyfriend before, this would’ve been my first real date. You know, with someone I actually liked. This was all new to me but I wanted it to be special.

  Our relationship had had a rocky start. I wanted to convey to Anastasia that I was going to make that up to her, even if it took the rest of our lives. She deserved that, and so much more. I wanted to give that to her, to give her everything. And this mushy - romantic - stuff, although wasn’t all that important to me, I knew that it would be to her.

  The need to show her, to prove to her that I could be anything and everything that she needed was strong within me. She already was my everything, but I wanted to be hers too.

  I couldn’t taper down the pride I felt at the wide, happy smile that Ana was sporting. The idea to go to the beach had been solely mine, but when I realized that I’d had no plan further than that, that’s when I called Heather. We were on the phone a while, she’d broken everything down into step by step instructions. ‘Foolproof’ she had said with a mocking laugh. Of course, I wasn’t gonna tell Ana that. I was more than happy to take all the credit. “Wanna take a walk first or set up on the sand and have lunch?”

  “Let’s take a walk further along the boardwalk.” She twirled in the direction of the boardwalk and I quickly followed to catch up.

  “A walk it is.” So, hand in hand, we walked quietly along the boardwalk.

  “I’ve only ever been here once, that I can remember,” Ana said, stopping to lean against the railing. She looked wistful as she gazed out to the ocean, but not sad.

  “I remember coming a few times as kids. Our grandmother used to play chess with some of her friends while we’d run off to play in the arcades.” I could still picture her as she won her chess game, arms flying through the air as she screamed. It was one of the happier memories from my childhood.

  “That’s really sweet.” The corner of her eyes crinkled in the cutest way as she smiled. But, it was her tone of voice that made me realize that I hadn’t shared a lot of my past with her.

  We continued walking again, just watching all the people around us. I remembered what I enjoyed so much about this place as a kid, the life that flowed so freely. Ana stopped again, this time wandering down onto the sand. We stopped about halfway toward the water, I had barely laid out our towels before she was pulling me down to sit beside her.

  “It’s so beautiful here, so carefree you know?” I nodded in agreement and pressed a soft kiss to her shoulder. I wished that we could’ve stayed there for longer.

  “Ana, I have something I need to talk to you about.” Inwardly I grimaced but I tried not to let it seep through. I wanted more time to enjoy the sun. To enjoy just being with Anastasia without any constraints. But I knew there was no putting this off any longer, she needed to know the truth.

  “I ran into Finch,” I began.

  “What? Here?” she asked, her eyebrows furrowing.

  “Yeah. He was watching over the Varela house.”I didn’t give her too long to linger on that, I didn’t want it to creep her out. “He had some… new information.”

  “Oh?” I handed her a bottle of water from the cooler. She turned away, looking out to the water and sipped. When she finally looked back at me, she prompted, “what’d he have to say?”

  And so I began to tell her, from the top, everything that Finch had told me. “Cassio Bellucci, he was apparently a friend of our fathers. My dad was the one to hire Anton to kidnap you.”

  She got very quiet, very quickly. She stayed still except for the occasional sip of water until after I was finished. She looked deep in thought, but she didn’t respond. When she looked at me again her eyes were surprisingly dry. I braced myself for the worst.

  “So, let me just… Cassio hired your father, who hired Anton to kidnap me. All because the Bellucci’s didn’t want me marrying into their family.”

  I nodded. Would she hate me for what my father had done? Would this be the end? I wasn’t sure but nevertheless I owed her the truth.

  She frowned as she thought about the things I had said. “I hadn’t known your father was involved. But the rest I had suspected. I still don’t understand what’s taken the Bellucc
i’s so long to act? If they had been after the Varela family, why didn’t they make their move on them after my disappearance?”

  “I don’t know, Anastasia, but if you want to find out, I will help you. There’s more, too. Finch told me about the death threat you received.” I hated telling her this, driving what might be an immovable wedge between my love and my brother. But I had to tell her everything. There would be no lies between us, even though I wanted to protect her as much as possible.

  “Finch told you?” She asked, visibly confused. “But how could he know about that? Unless...”

  “He was the one to send it—”

  “—to scare me away from you, so that you didn’t get caught up in my family mess.” She finished what I was going to say and nodded deeply as if this revelation made perfect sense. Maybe it did, but I was still stuck on it being completely fucked. “He’s been looking out for you this entire time. I understand now.”

  I followed her gaze out to the ocean, where the tide was ebbing away from us gradually. I wished I was inside her head, that I could know what she was thinking as she watched the waves. She was right about Finch, he’d been an asshole to protect me. He was also just kind of an asshole in general, but I wasn’t sure I wanted to bring that up right now…

  I wanted this day to be about her, about her needs, her past and her future, and whatever part I got to play in that. I knew, no matter where her familial drama took her, I knew that she would come back to me. At least, I’d come to truly believe that.

  “Come for a walk with me.” I finished off my bottle of water. The mood was too heavy. Grabbing her hand I stood and gathered the towels. We made our way back to the boardwalk in comfortable, thoughtful silence.