Be My Queen (The Crown Duet Book 2)

to reciprocate but my heart just wasn’t in it. For the first time all day, I felt as though the weight had lifted from my chest. But maybe it didn’t lift at all, maybe it just sank, anchoring my feet to the ground. I could finally breathe but at what cost?
Rachel continued talking, her mouth spewing so many words, and so much information at me. Exhausted I caught bits and pieces, nodding when it seemed appropriate. She mentioned something about a welcome home party, too tired to fight her she went into detail. It was going to be a long day and it was barely lunchtime.
As if on cue, Rachel called for the maid to start on lunch, alerting her to the fact that there would be a guest today, and for the foreseeable future. I’m sure I was given a name but I didn’t catch it.
One dangerous situation turned into another — I had leapt from the frying pan and into the fire. I just hoped this would all be worth it, in the end. I released a sigh as my heart broke just a little bit more.

She had to know that I wasn’t going to give up that easily. I’d never felt this way before, I’d never felt so compelled towards anything or anyone. In a way, I didn’t have a choice. She was a magnet, my magnet, holding my entire world in her hands. I was just a piece of metal stuck in her orbit. I would never be able to pull away but she wasn’t close enough for me to grasp either.
No matter the restraints, I wouldn’t stop fighting. I wouldn’t ever stop trying to be a part of her world.
“No sign of her. Sorry,” Zedd spoke gruffly, dragging my attention from my daydreams. It was a somber tone for him, one that I hadn’t heard for a while. My baby brother barely ever had the chance to be serious, let alone angry.
“We searched everywhere. Even knocking on doors. She’s not here Nik,” Drex said as he sat on the step next to me. I could feel the defeat he felt just by looking at him. It only made me more determined to find her. She had run away from me, hurt me, and hurt them. I was going to bring her back to me. To us.
I knew she wasn’t here. Of course, she would never stay so close to the house. Anastasia wasn’t stupid, if she took off on her own she would know better than to hide close by. And if someone managed to sneak past my security to kidnap her, or even to lure her outside, they were clearly smart enough to know my next move.
But we still had no clue as to what had happened, or what led to her disappearance.
I’d spent hours questioning every one of the security team, to no avail. They hadn’t been able to tell me anything and dammit, she had gotten away without even being seen! I needed to know how this could’ve happened, and who the fuck was slacking on their job, although Jeffery wouldn’t be back anytime soon.
“Where would she go?” Drex asked, but at the shrug of my shoulders, we all sunk into a thoughtful silence. I didn’t have an answer for him.
Where would Anastasia go? It was a question that I had run over again and again, never getting any closer to an answer.
I had no clue. At this point in time, it was a toss-up, she could’ve been anywhere - with anyone.
As far as I knew she didn’t know anyone in the area. She didn’t have many friends, no family - except her biological parents. Before I stole her away from her old life, all she did was work. Bingo! She must’ve had some friends at her old job. Now the question was which one to visit first.
Before I had a chance to get the guys on the move, Zedd spoke.“I know this is off-topic, but what the fuck happened last night?” My eyes dipped low at Zedd’s question. I wasn’t sorry about what happened with Finch, deep down I just prayed he didn’t have anything to do with Ana’s disappearance. “He called me. Said you two had a fight and that he was going out of town for a few days.”
What? My eyes narrowed in annoyance — why the fuck would he have called Zedd? “Wow. Running straight to our brothers for the deciding votes.” Real mature...
“It wasn’t like that Nik, and you know it,” Zedd huffed.
“Just tell us what happened, man,” Drex jumped in, as always, being the voice of reason amongst a sea of otherwise hot-headed men. That had been his role for as long as I could remember, the sensible one that diffused bombs left right and center.
“He was laying into Anastasia — telling her she was worthless — and then he hit her. That’s what happened.” I expected them to call me a pussy, call me whipped. I didn’t give a shit. I was ready for it because what could’ve been seen as me being pussy whipped was actually just my love for Anastasia showing itself. Before they could say anything else, I cut them a hard look. “No brother of mine will ever be a threat to Ana.”
“That fucker!” Zedd grunted as he kicked at the ground.
“My sentiments exactly. So, what’d you do?” Drex asked.
Zedd, impatient as ever, continued on. His face had pinched and started to flush with anger. “I would’ve gone off it! Torn him to shreds. I can’t believe he would disrespect Anastasia like that or you for that matter. Way to make it awkward at the office...”
“Well, I kicked him out. Told him he wasn’t welcome here. That no brother of mine would ever treat my woman that way and get away with it.”
I couldn’t help but feel relief at their agreement. I hadn’t expected them to understand the full extent of my disappointment and complete outrage, but they