The Queens: Scarred Queen, Alejandro's Prey
Chapter 48

Casey chewed her lip nervously and touched a finger to her still flat belly, soothingly caressing her unborn child as she leaned against Ignacio's old desk and stared unseeing into what used to be her back yard. It still looked the same, perhaps a little less manicured. Ignacio had always been about appearances while Diego was more about security and the bottom line. He would prefer fewer maintenance workers and gardeners on his estate.

She barely listened to the men as they conducted business, which probably surprised Reyes since she'd taken part in almost every facet of his business since Venezuela. And though she'd convinced him to bring her to Miami to reconnect with her former associates and establish herself as his partner, she hadn't been telling him the entire truth.

There had been some blow back to her taking their unborn child into Mexico and putting both of their lives at risk. He'd raged for days, locking her in their bedroom and alternating between terrible fury and attempting to make her see reason. Oh, she'd seen reason. She'd always seen the truth, just not the truth Reyes wanted her to see. Reyes was beyond terrified of losing the only family he now had. He seemed to understand the importance of allowing her to rise up, become the powerful force that would ignite his heart and entrench his cartel in the underworlds of many regions, but he couldn't allow her to do it while pregnant. Something about pregnancy and the added vulnerability to her health seemed to push him over the edge. She'd known he would be that way. These mafia guys were funny about familia.

Only after she'd promised to treat herself more like the queen of England than the queen of murder and mayhem did he let her out of the bedroom; though she'd enjoyed some perks in having her favourite man to herself for days on end. They'd outlined the terms of her pregnancy. She was still allowed to stand at his side and negotiate if he deemed the partner safe. And for some reason, he believed Miami was safe. She was about to disabuse him of that notion and likely send herself back into

bedroom lockup for the next six months.

She side-eyed Diego, the snake. Worth it.

"Mexico will not be available to you until further notice," Reyes was telling Diego. "You will have to make do with your other connections. I can put you in touch with Sotza in Venezuela; he'll be reluctant to work with an Ignacio associate but he may be willing with a word from me."

Casey snorted lightly, tuned them out and continued to stroke her belly. She wondered if her little jellybean would have black hair or powdery white blond hair. She ignored the look that Reyes shot her. She didn't care if he thought she was being immature. Diego was a piece of shit and there was no chance the regal, deadly Sotza was going to work with him. In fact, she was entirely certain that it would take Reyes a matter of days, if not hours, to learn the truth about Diego. Reyes was only using the man because he was easy and convenient. She knew, realistically, that most of these guys were their own level of disgusting, the majority without integrity. If Reyes refused to work with all of them, then he wouldn't have anyone left to work with.

Still, Casey wasn't quite done avenging herself and her family. She was biding her time, like any good black widow. Waiting for her chance to lure the fly into her trap. She glanced sideways, wondering if they were going to wrap things up soon so she could murder the crap out of her nemesis, when her gaze drifted to Ignacio's statue, the one she'd always hated so much. Her eyes lit up and she wandered toward it.

She stood studying the naked cherub with new eyes. It had always caused her to wonder if Ignacio wasn't so much impotent as into children. He did seem to prefer her looks when she was younger, more child-like. She shuddered.

She was so absorbed in the horrible statue she didn't hear the men's conversation wrap up or Diego approach her from behind. He slid an arm around her waist, digging his fingers brutally into her hip, causing her to jump in shock. He brought her body back into his, slamming her ass into his cock. She gasped and cried out, but he covered her mouth with his hand. She glanced back over his shoulder and saw Reyes outside the patio doors with his back to her, standing with Alejandro deep in discussion.

"Can't wait to get you alone, Casey. Just you and me, baby," Diego breathed in her ear. "Ah, the things I'm gonna finally get to do to this body. Fuck, it makes me so fucking hard."

Diego, the motherfucker, had done exactly as she'd hoped by biding his time, waiting to catch her alone. Only she hadn't been paying attention. But she had a secret weapon, one he would never guess she could possibly have developed in the past few months. She'd become strong, risen up. Despite the strength in his arms, the black, ugly thoughts in his head and the sadism in his heart, he was no match for Casey. She had her own strength. She was a queen.

She knew he was expecting her to allow his grope, allow him to touch her so he might release her faster. She wasn't sure what his plan was after that though. Did he truly think she wouldn't tell Reyes? Did he think Reyes would believe Diego over the woman Reyes had flown all the way to Miami just to stand at his side. She rolled her eyes. Please son, take a number, this bitch is his everything. This is why she needed to show Reyes that Diego should be replaced, the man was just stupid. He probably couldn't negotiate his way out of a paper bag.

She grabbed one of the fingers that Diego had placed conveniently at her waist and snapped it back so hard it broke instantly. He howled in pain, let her go and bent over double clutching his finger. Casey whirled around, intent on kneeing him in the face, but then the statue caught her eye again. Oh, even better! She grabbed it with both hands and hauled the heavy piece of gaudy art work off the pedestal. She lifted it as high as she could and viciously brought it down on the back of Diego's head just as Reyes and Alejandro came rushing in the back door.

Casey let the statue fall from her hands, wincing a little as it smashed Diego's hand where he lay dazed on the floor, whimpering and bleeding. Well that was a happy accident. She'd been having a lot of those lately.

She turned to the desk and reached for her purse where she'd left it earlier, dragged it toward her and began rummaging through it. Reyes took the scene in at a glance and seemed to assess what had gone down. He apparently came to the conclusion that his woman had things well under control, crossed his arms over his broad chest and merely raised an eyebrow.

"What are you looking for, cari?o?" Reyes asked negligently, eyeing her as she searched through her bag.

"My gun," she huffed, lips pursed in annoyance.

"Well maybe if you carried a reasonable size purse for once, nena," Reyes pointed out, amusement clear in his voice despite his words.

Diego let out a pitiful groan from the floor and tried to rock himself into a sitting position while blood gushed from the head wound she'd given him.

She turned on Reyes, fury snapping in her dual-coloured eyes. He smirked, clearly enjoying the sight of her when she was fuming. "Really, Reyes? Really?" she snarled one hand still buried in her oversized bag. "You brought me back to the home where you murdered my first husband... and yes, before you say anything, he absolutely deserved it, but you brought me back into this horror show of a mausoleum to be insulted by this creepy little cockroach." When Diego made a sound of protest she kicked him viciously in the knee with the pointy toe of her shoe.

Reyes grabbed her arm and pulled her out of Diego's way before Diego could grab her and drag her to the floor as he clearly intended to do when he swiped for her ankle. "What did he say to cause this, Casey? My god, woman, you threw a fucking statue at him," he said incredulously. "You shouldn't be lifting heavy shit while you're pregnant, nena. You know better." Alejandro attempted unsuccessfully to cover his laughter with a cough. Reyes pointed at Diego who was trying to pick himself up off the floor and snarled, "Stay down, cockroach."

Alejandro let loose and guffawed. Everyone in the room ignored him.

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Casey dropped her purse on the desk with an aggrieved sigh and placed a hand on her hip. "He implied that the moment he got me alone he'd unleash his sadistic tendencies on me. And this time he wouldn't hold back." She eyed Diego with disgust. "Well, this time I didn't hold back, did I, Diego?" she taunted, loathing clear in her voice. "Puta," he spat at her from the floor. "Mob trash! That's all you ever were and all you'll ever be."

Stupid move really, considering Reyes had gone deadly still, his glittering eyes on Casey as she watched Ignacio's number one henchman. The same man who had spent years stalking and torturing her at every opportunity. "Explain your words, Casey," Reyes said, his voice so low and dangerous she barely caught the words. "In detail." She swallowed and moved her gaze to meet Reyes', knowing instinctively he would want her eyes when she told him the intimate details of what this man had done to her. "He never touched me unless Ignacio ordered it. Ignacio didn't often have the stomach for real punishments and torture unless he had to prove himself in front of his men, but this one," she nodded toward Diego, "just loves fucking people up, and he's had a thing for me for years. He loved getting his hands on me every chance he could. Whenever Ignacio let him off his leash, he would do his best to make my life a misery. Tying me down, locking me up... punching, slapping, pinching, sometimes cutting. He was under orders never to go too far with Ignacio's property... I had to stay attractive, an asset. But I knew, I just fucking knew, he was waiting for the day he could get his hands on me and completely unleash. This disgusting little slug thought today might be the day. Thought maybe you'd turn your back long enough he could finally snatch me up and play with me the way he's always wanted to." She felt Alejandro approach her back as she spoke, his silent warmth supporting her almost as much as Reyes unwavering love.

"And," she whispered, "he was there when my family died. He was only a few years older than me and didn't take part in the shootings, but he was there. I remember he watched as Ignacio pulled the trigger on me." She looked coldly down at Diego who finally had the good sense to cower.

Reyes reached under his jacket to pull his gun from its holster. "What do you plan to do, nena?"

"What do you think, nino?" she said with a huff, sticking her hand out. "I plan on having a tea party with him."

"Fuck, woman," he growled slapping the gun into her palm. "Told you what would happen next time you called me that. You're damn lucky there are witnesses or I'd have you over my knee."

Without barely looking toward Diego, she shot him in the shoulder and then shouted

at Reyes over Diego's cries of pain, "Stop calling me nena and I'll stop calling you nino!"

Reyes stalked her around the desk and then bent her backwards over the surface with her arms braced behind her, the gun still clutched in one hand. He wrapped one arm around her waist and yanked her into the heat of his body. They both ignored Diego's groans and Alejandro's chuckled amusement.

"I'll call you whatever the fuck I want, Casey, mi amor," he growled and reached down to hike her tight skirt up enough that he could wrap her long leg around him.

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book for free. Don't miss out on the next chapter-visit us now and continue your

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"And what'll you call me now, Reyes?" she whispered against him.

"Mi reina," he whispered back. "Always, mi reina."

He pressed his lips to hers. It wasn't a passionate kiss, though the heat that burned so brightly between them flamed to life in her breast, it was a kiss of promise. A seal of their partnership. He had stolen her, he had helped raise her up and now he was declaring her his equal.

Diego took that moment of distraction to lunge for the door in a desperate attempt to escape his fate. Casey gave her head a tiny shake and rolled her eyes, because really, how far did he think he was going to get? He had a vicious head wound, a bullet in his shoulder and three very dangerous individuals stalking his back. She didn't think Reyes would mind a good eye roll just this once since it was directed at the bleeding idiot bee-lining for the door. She broke their lovely little moment, glanced over Reyes shoulder, lifted the gun and shot Diego in the back, right through his black, sadistic little heart.

"Damn, I was really hoping he would get tortured a little more than that," she sighed heartbrokenly, leaning her head against Reyes neck.

Reyes and Alejandro laughed and Reyes leaned down to kiss her pouting lips. "Dammit woman, you're hell on my Miami connections," he grumbled.

She gave him a light shove and stood up to straighten her skirt when he finally gave her enough space. She grinned at him and patted his chest, swinging her bag off the desk. "No worries, darling, I have a contact. She'll be golden once we get rid of her husband and help her clean up. She knows this business like nobodies business. Trust

me."

Reyes gave her a sharp look. "A mafia wife?" he said.

Casey gave him a wicked smile. "You think I'm the only one that knows how to shut up and pay attention?"

He laughed and held out his hand for her. "Casey, I don't think you stopped talking since the moment we landed in Bolivia." His warm eyes caressed her. "And cari?o, I wouldn't want it any other way."

And in a single moment of clarity, the past ten years rushed at her. He was right. She'd kept it all in, barely said anything to anyone because she'd learned to keep Casey in a cage. To never let her out lest she get crushed and destroyed. Then Reyes came along, peeked between the bars and seen the woman within. He smashed the lock, reached in and coaxed her out. He encouraged her to replace the will to rise up and become Casey

again.

She placed her hand in his and said, "Let's go home."