Page 56 of Rise of the Queen

“I could think of much worse things in the world, Squish,” I said, wrapping my arms around his waist. “I know you had a very big part in this too. I might love you a little more for it.”

“I’m just glad I don’t have to hide it any longer. I’ve been holding onto that thing for a while now. I was getting paranoid you were going to see it somehow or see me thinking about it and find out about it,” Ivan said.

“She saw the plans for it on my desk one day but didn’t catch on. You were safe, but I agree. It’s becoming increasingly difficult to surprise her,” Adrik said.

“You did with this one. I had no clue. I keep trying to tell you I don’t pry. I don’t think you believe me,” I said, smacking Ivan’s arm. “But I am going to need extra training from Bubba to be strong enough to carry this thing around all day. This arm is gonna be like twice the size of my other one.”

“Job security, spider monkey. That’s why it’s that big. That was my decision,” Andrei said, grinning at me.

I laughed, leaving Ivan to go to Andrei. I wrapped my arms around him as he picked me up off the floor. “I love you all. I hope you know that.”

“We love you, Sephie. We’re not going anywhere. Now you have a constant reminder that you’re stuck with all of us,” Stephen said.

I watched Stephen look at the message that just came through on his phone as we were in the kitchen in the penthouse. His face went white. I think he might’ve forgotten to breathe even. Whatever news he just got was not good news.

“Yoden?” I asked quietly, trying to snap him out of it. “What’s wrong?”

He was staring at his phone, but he slowly raised his gaze to look at me. His eyes were wide, somewhat in shock. He was afraid. I dropped what I was doing and went to him. “Stephen? What happened? What’s going on? Talk to me,” I said, reaching out for his arm. When I touched his arm, I got hit with his memories. All of them. Every dark detail he never wanted me to know. Every time his sisters abused him and tortured him in the worst way possible, humiliating him for the sheer joy of it. I saw everything. I felt everything.

I didn’t mean to. I’d never had it happen like that before. I wasn’t actively searching his mind. I was trying to comfort him. I felt tears burning my eyes as I went to move my hand from his arm, apologizing. I wasn’t sure if he knew that I’d just seeneverything he never wanted me to see. He caught my hand, holding it in place, but still not yet meeting my gaze.

“They’re coming to the city. I never thought they would actually come here, but they’ll be here in two days. They want to see me. I haven’t seen them in years. I don’t know if I can face them,” he said. He still hadn’t looked at me, but he wouldn’t let go of me either.

I sat down next to him, putting my other hand on top of his, resting my head on his shoulder. “You don’t have to see them. You can tell them to fuck off. You don’t owe them anything,” I said.

He was quiet for a moment, contemplating like he always did. “I think about what I’ll say to them when I’m forced to see them again. Each time I think about telling them off. Each time I think about pulling all of their demons out and putting them on full display for everyone to see. I think about breaking their minds the same way they tried to break mine.” He sighed. “And every time I can’t do it. I go back to that quiet kid who was terrified of his sisters.”

I rested my chin on his shoulder, looking at him fighting his memories. “I’ll be with you the whole time. You don’t even have to say anything. I’ll happily say it for you. I’d love nothing more than to destroy them so completely they never want to see you again and they leave questioning their entire existence.”

He chuckled. “I might pay to see that.”

“I will pay you for the chance to do it,” I said, my anger oozing out. I didn’t have my contacts in, so he saw my eyes go dark when he glanced at me.

“Huh. I didn’t think I’d miss seeing your eyes change, but I kinda miss your demon eyes. That’s such a weird thing to say, now that I say it out loud.”

I smiled at him, chewing on my bottom lip. I was trying to calm down so the other guys wouldn’t come rushing in. I wanted a few more minutes alone with Stephen.

“Yoden, I don’t want to freak you out, but when I touched your arm, I got a full view into your head. I didn’t mean to. I wasn’t trying to, it just happened. I saw everything,” I said tentatively.

“I know you did. I wanted you to. It’s easier than me having to tell you. I’ve found having to say the words is harder than anything,” he said. “I wasn’t sure it would work, but clearly it did.”

My heart just broke for him. He’d been carrying this around with him for so long with no one to talk to about it. His sisters were truly evil. “Did your parents know?” I asked quietly.

“I think my dad suspected. Pretty sure he thinks that’s why I’m gay. My mom faithfully maintains ignorance, even though she knows. Both my parents were gone a lot, always working when we were kids. My oldest sister practically raised us. She knew my middle sister teased me relentlessly, but she didn’t find out about the abuse for a while. She didn’t stop it when she did find out about it though. And she didn’t say anything when my middle sister got my youngest sister to join in.”

“That’s just as bad, in my opinion. Can I kill your sisters? Legit question. I’ll do it and not feel bad about it for one second.”

“I have thought about that as well. It makes me wonder if that’s why I ended up in the career path I’m in. Maybe I would’ve been an accountant otherwise,” he said, finally looking at me, a sly grin on his face.

“An accountant that murders numbers,” I said, unable to contain my laughter at my corny joke. He laughed quietly, but he was still struggling to get a handle on his emotions.

“What do they want while they’re here? Like do you just have to suffer through dinner with them? What’s the plan and howcan we make this the most uncomfortable visit to the city they’ve ever had?” I asked.

“They’ll want to spend time with me while they’re here, I’m sure. I don’t think I’ll get by with just a dinner.”

“I’ll be there every time you have to see them,” I said. He looked at me, somewhat surprised, which made me laugh. “Don’t be surprised. There’s no way I’m letting you face them on your own. Pinky swear, even.”

His look of surprise only grew on his face. “What’s that?”