Page 202 of Vexatious Queen

Marcus hesitated.

“Marcus,” I said softly. “You’ve known me a long time. I will not do anything to hurt Eddie or endanger my daughter, but I’m not leaving. Do not make me turn this into an issue.”

I watched him calculate how many people would die if he made the wrong choice.

“Fuck my life,” he mumbled and slowly lifted his hand. The gates groaned open.

Leaning in, I kissed his cheek.

“Thank you.”

“Yeah, yeah.”

Smirking, I opened my door to climb back inside.

“Yuli?”

I looked at Marcus.

“Please don’t make me regret this.”

I smiled widely.

“Would I do that to you?”

“Go, before I change my damn mind. Maybe it’s not too late for me to catch a plane out of this freezing hellscape.”

“Eddie would still find you,” I said.

“Yeah, but I’d rather die on a beach, working on my tan and sipping a fucking mai tai.”

I laughed as I got in and closed my door.

“That went better than I expected,” Vlad said as the SUV rolled forward.

As we passed through the gate, something inside me cracked wide open. It wasn’t fear or doubt, but the final piece of separation I’d clung to for survival. My hand shook with the knowledge that with every inch I came closer to facing the love of my life, my beautiful daughter, who I loved more than anything, and the man who tried to strip it all away from me and almost succeeded.

I dug my nails into my palm, grounding myself as memories surfaced without permission. Ren’s childish laughter. The way she used to fall asleep with her hand wrapped around my finger like it was the only thing tethering her to the world. How she sat at my bedside day and night while I went through grueling cancer treatments. She was an angel sent from God. And even though she couldn’t save my soul, and I would end up in Hell for the things I’d done…I would sacrifice myself all over again. Every time.

What would she see when she looked at me now? A ghost. A liar. A woman who chose to destroy a dynasty over honesty. I deserved whatever fury waited for me behind that door.

The SUV stopped near the front steps. Light spilled across the snow, golden and hopeful. Shadows moved inside the large front window. Men I recognized, men I hated, men who thought they were safe. Including the one who had taught me that love was a transaction and daughters were collateral. My chest tightened, rage coiling tight and vicious.

Mylo turned in the passenger seat and looked at me.

“Say the word,” he murmured. “And we will drag him out of there and do this for you if it’s too much.”

I shook my head.

“No,” I said. “This is between Vadin and me.”

For a heartbeat, I stayed seated, letting the weight of the moment settle. I was done burning houses from the outside. Tonight, I walked into the fire.

Vlad hopped out and opened my door. I stepped into the cold, and snow crunched beneath my boots as I straightened, lifted my chin, and rolled my shoulders back. I wasn’t the girl who loved her father and thought the world of him anymore. Gone were the days when I ran to him and hugged him tight. I was the woman who had survived him, and the choices that proved his love had conditions.

I looked up at the massive, double doors and drew a slow breath, reining in the fury that coursed through my veins. I touched the gun tucked inside my jacket, and the feel of the cold steel steadied my nerves.

Then, I stepped forward and walked up the steps to a future that was as uncertain as the past I’d run from fourteen years ago.