“Harlow?” he questions.
“Who else would it be?” I laugh. “Queenie doesn’t do the whole touchy feely thing. She would most likely have her dagger jabbed into your thigh by now.”
“True, but this is a new side to you. I like it,” he grins.
“Don’t get used to it. I just missed you, that’s all.” I give him a playful glare, and he chuckles.
“Right, you save all the lovey-dovey bullshit for your family,” he says.
“You are my family,” I tell him with a little more serious edge to my tone. “Just not the kind I fuck.”
He bursts out laughing, and as I realize how that sounds, I join him. “Okay, that came out wrong.”
“God we’ve missed you.” He hugs me again.
“Queenie!” someone shouts, and I turn around to find Lola and Penny rushing over to me.
“Hey, girls,” I greet them, giving them a hug also.
Penny cups the side of her mouth and loudly whispers to Lucas. “Who is this, and where’s the woman who made me almost piss my pants when I first met her?”
“Don’t worry, she’s still here,” I laugh. “She just needs a little break. Don’t worry, when blood needs to be shed she’ll be out faster than you can blink.”
“I’ll remember that,” Penny says, her eyes shining with slight fear. I still got it.
“How are things with the boyfriend?” I ask Penny as I head over to the bar and grab myself a bottle of water.
“Amazing,” she sighs. Her eyes are filled with a dreamy look.
“Good.” I nod. “I don’t have to chop off his dick then,” I say, cracking open the bottle and taking a drink.
“No, no need to do that,” she says, looking slightly panicked. “He treats me like a queen.”
“As he should.” I nod. “Speaking of queens, has anyone seen mine?” I grin.
“She’s in her office,” Lucas laughs.
“Thank you, fine sir,” I say, tipping him an invisible hat. “Please refrain from going into the back offices, I haven’t eaten today, and I’m quite famished.” I give them a knowing grin.
He chuckles and shakes his head. “Have fun, you two.”
I leave Lucas and the girls at the bar and start towards Evie’s office.
“Queenie, wait,” Lola says as she follows after me. She chews on her bottom lip, a sad, frightened look casted over her face. “Is it true? Triver isn’t really dead?”
At his name, Queenie perks up. My blood boils, and I suddenly need to take a few deep breaths to keep her contained. She’s not ready to be out just yet.
“No. He’s dead,” I say, an edge to my tone.
“I heard he was the one who took you. If he didn’t, then who did? I know I don’t have a right to know, but we love you, Harlow, and we’ve all been so scared and worried for you.” Her eyes fill with tears, and I have to remind myself that she was with me while that monster was in control, forced to have a similar life as me for a long time.
“He was alive. I don’t know how, but he made it out that night.”
Her eyes widen, and she sucks in a little gasp. “You mean he was out there all this time? He could have come back for us. He did come back for you.” She starts to tremble, but I take a hold of her shoulder.
“Lola, relax. No one is going to hurt you. I won’t allow that. You’re safe here, and you know, I’ll gut anyone who tries anything with my girls. And he never wanted any of you, he wanted me. I was his sick obsession. But you really don’t have to worry about that because he truly is dead now, okay? I made sure of it this time.” Because there’s no fucking way you can make it out alive without a head. “And even if he was out there lurking, I would have stopped him from hurting all of you,” I say that now, but clearly I wasn’t doing a good job, seeing as how he was able to get to me so fucking easily. I’ll never let myself live that down, and Queenie is being a fucking savage over it.
“How do you know? He came back once, what is stopping him from doing it again?” I know she’s frightened, that the possibility of the man who kidnapped her and sold her daily to sick, fucked up men could come back for her, but her lack of faith in me ending monsters for good is angering.