Chapter 7: Saved by the Queen

Chapter 7: Saved by the Queen

Regina’s P.O.V

I caught a hold of the man’s arm and bend it all the way backward before he could react or recognize me.

The scream of pain that he emitted was just as I had expected. Pathetic. A sore loser who jerked off to a woman’s pain, was only good at berating those weaker than them; but when faced with a stronger opponent, they wail and cry and act the victim instead.

“Listen up, little fucker,” I spat at him as I kicked his shin, sending him straight to the ground. “No, means NO!”

I twisted his arm further back and had the pleasure of hearing his wail once again. It garnered the interest of a few passerbies’ but once they noticed the scantily clad woman next to me, they simply turned away and began minding their own business.

I turned to the girl who he had been harassing for about fifteen minutes now, but no one, not even her brethren had come to her rescue. However, it was expected of them, wasn’t it? After all, there was no loyalty among whores. One’s loss was another’s gain. In the end, it all came down to business. And the money.

“You got something to say?” I asked the girl, but she immediately shook her head and lowered her lashes.

“You bitch!” The pussy yelled as soon as I let go of his hand. “How dare you attack a respected member of the society in broad daylight?”

“Huh!” I snorted with disgust. “Respected members don’t loiter around red light districts. You seem like you probably have a trophy wife at home who either has no idea of your indiscretions or she’s too scared to speak up or…” I stepped closer to the prick, smirking as I looked him up and down. “She has her own little booty call that she enjoys more than your sloppy ass fuckery. Either way, the CCTV at the intersection got the whole deal. Want me to forward her a video?”

The man scrambled to his feet in a hurry and then took off running in the opposite direction like his dick was on fire; all the while clutching his precious hand to his chest.

I didn’t twist it that hard…did I?

I turned to look at the woman in question, the one who had been trying to avoid the jerk for the last twenty minutes or so, all the while tolerating all kinds of shit. The man had blown cigarette smoke on her face; tried pulling her hand, even her hair and when all else had failed to grab her attention, he had started kissing her neck while trying to undress her in public.

Now, the girl with dyed blonde hair and mint green eyes tried to button up her black faux leather jacket that she wore over a hot pink bra and tiny leather shorts paired with fishnet stockings. Her hair was in disarray, her equally hot pink lipstick was smudged and from the tiny streak of blood at the corners, I could tell that the bastard had bitten her while he had been kissing her.

“What did he do to you?” I asked, narrowing my eyes at her disheveled state. “Clearly this wasn’t your first encounter with him.”

The girl gave a jerky nod. “He…he burned me…the last time.” I saw how her hand went discretely to her left arm when she told me about the burn.

“Motherfucker!” I cursed, taking off my overcoat and putting it around the little girl. “How old are you?”

“Eighteen…” She looked astounded, but accepted the overcoat. It was the middle of fucking December and this poor girl had to strut around naked just to make a living.

“No shit Sherlock.” I cursed. “How old are you? Really.”

 “S-sixteen.” She swallowed audibly.

“How did you get here?” I asked, motioning to the other whores who were now watching the interaction with open interest.

“M-my parents are dead…t-the debt collectors…they killed them…” she lowered her head. “I-I don’t have anywhere to go.”

“Come with me.” I gave her my hand. “I’ll take you somewhere better.”

“No!” She shook her head immediately. “I can’t go back to the shelter! They’ll find me!”

I let out a sigh of frustration. She did have a point though, because the bagmen were merciless, and so were the Mafioso famiglia that they worked for. The only way to protect this girl was to keep her in business, but the right way.

“No shelter, but definitely not somewhere you get molested day and night, without getting a cent in return.” I told her. “If you are going to be in the business, you need to learn to make every cent count.”

I held out my hand for her once again. This time, she looked at me for a good few minutes before placing her hand in mine albeit hesitantly. Closing my hand over hers, I began walking in the opposite direction, just as two women stepped in my way, blocking my exit.

I stopped and looked up at the women, both with over-the-top makeup and dark red lipstick and just as scantily clad, but they still had an overcoat on. Fuckers!

“Where do you think you’re taking her?” The woman on the right with bleached blonde hair sneered at me. “Don’t you know the rules around here?”

“Back off, sissy.” The red-head beside her tried to be just as intimidating, but failed miserably.

“Really?” I looked around, trying to find any suspicious movements. Found none.

These women weren’t connected to Draco in any way. But they were still pests that were making a young girl work under the filthiest conditions and still keeping her underpaid. However, looking at these two, I now wondered if they were actually taking up more of her earnings than what they were supposed to.

“Give her back!” The blonde woman sneered. “And walk away quietly. No one gets hurt that way.”

I smirked, and then next thing she knew, she was lying on the floor with a broken nose and blood running down her face while the red-head screamed bloody murder.

I shook my arm to get rid of the sting before kneeling down to her lever as the blonde woman now cowered away from me in fear.

“I’m buying her from your boss.” I told her. “Tell him the Sorella wants to meet him, once you get your nose fixed.”

With that, I took the hand of the young girl and began pulling her away in the direction of the car. Cole was waiting for me when I arrived and he held the door open for us as we got in.

“What’s your name?” I asked her once we were seated.

“Candy.” She said in a small voice.

“Your real name.” I told her. “And Candy as a stage name is just atrocious. I’ll find you a better one once I know who you really are.”

She was quiet for the longest time, before I heard a little sniffle and a muffled out reply. “Juliana. Juliana Grey.”

“Nice to meet you, Juliana.” I placed my hand over hers gently. “My name is Regina. From now on, let me take care of you, okay?”

 “Okay.” She answered in a small voice, her lips trembling with emotions she must have bottled up for so long.

I pulled her closer to me with a hand on her shoulders and let her shed her tears as she clutched onto me for dear life.

No, her life wasn’t going to get any easier. I wasn’t going to guarantee her a new life where she could be treated with respect and care, because once you get into this business…there was no getting out and I’d learned that the hard way.

So all I could do for her was to take care of her as best as I could and make sure that she didn’t get humiliated and mistreated like she had been all this time.

I sat back in my seat, ready for the ride back to my house, but when the car came to a sudden halt; I narrowed my eyes at Cole, waiting for an explanation as to why he was suddenly stopping the car.

But then the back door flew open and a flustered looking Paris jumped into the van before closing the door roughly.

“Drive!” His voice shook as he spoke to Cole urgently before turning back towards me. “They found her! They found mother!”

For a few seconds, my mind went completely blank as I tried to make the connection as to what Paris was talking about, but when the realization finally set in, I found myself smiling ever so slightly.

“Don’t worry,” I reached out to touch Paris’s shoulders to help calm him down. “Your mother is in a coma. And the Mafia’s code is set in stone. They do not hurt innocent women and children.”

“But…”

“She’ll be safe.” I reassured him. “I have people at the hospital monitoring her.”

But now that Paris had just told me about Leonardo’s men finding out about Paris’s mother…it meant that he was finally investigating the case where I had burned his man.

I couldn’t help as my lips tilted up in the corners…it won’t be long now…