His Runaway Queen

Prologue

Tate’s POV

“Ellie, you know you’re it for me, right? Do you remember that first time we talked?”

“How could I ever forget? I was such a mess. When you stopped and asked if I was ok, I thought my world was ending. I never thought I would move on from my mom leaving and my boyfriend dumping me for being emotional.”

“Baby, that was the best day of my life.”

“Really the best day of your life? What about when we made it official or our first time or when we told each other we loved each other.”

“Yes, gorgeous those were great days but without that first day I would have never gotten those other ones, so until you say I do, that will be the best day of my life.” I told her and she looked at me like I had grown two heads. She was always going to change the subject and always did any time I mentioned marriage. If I thought she would run away with me right now, I wouldn’t think twice about it. I knew she wouldn’t. She had goals, she was going places, and I was going to be with her every second of it. I was ready to give everything up for her.

“I have to meet my dad. I’ll see you at the party tonight?”

“Of course, I will meet you there.” I told her as she kissed me. I watched her as she rolled out of my bed and got dressed. She had these long lean legs that led to a perfect bubble butt, up to her toned stomach and perky t**s. She had a neck that I could kiss for hours and a mouth that I could f**k for days. She was perfect, and she was mine.

“Are you watching me get dressed?” she asked as she slid on her black lace thong.

“Yeah, it’s one of my favorite things.”

“Watching me put clothes on is your favorite thing?”

“Well, I prefer to watch you take them off, but I like to watch you do anything.”

After she was dressed, she came over and straddled my hips.

“Tate, I love you, but I need to be sure that you want me forever because your dad will disown you and cut you out.” She said and that was the first time we’d had this talk. Usually, it was just me trying to get her to run away with me. She has never brought this up. Maybe I am wearing on her.

“Ellie, I love you and my dad can go to hell. I never wanted to go in on the business. You’re it for me. Now go see your dad and I will see you tonight.”

She gave me a deep kiss and then left my room. As soon as she left my room, I grabbed the velvet box out of my nightstand and opened it up. I pulled the ring out and twirled it in my fingers. That first time we spoke as sophomores in high school, I knew she was the one. I’ve been saving money ever since. My dad gave me a large allowance every month as long as I did the jobs, he asked of me. I did it without complaint so I could ask Ellie to marry me as soon as we graduated high school, which we did this afternoon and tonight she will be my fiancé.

I heard the front door slam shut, and I knew it was my dad.

“Tate, get down here,” He yelled up the stairs.

I rolled out of bed and put the ring away and threw on some basketball shorts and walked to the top of the stairs.

“What do you want?” I asked him.

“Let’s talk in my office.” He demanded, and then walked away. I let out a sigh and walked down the stairs. I knew where this was going, and it would be a fight like it always was.

I walked into his office, and he stood at the window drinking a glass of whiskey. He had his back turned to me as he looked out the window.

“What do you want?” I asked him.

“Your graduation present,” he said as he turned and threw me a box.

I opened it and a set of keys shined back at me. They had a BMW emblem on them, and I knew a black BMW M2 was in the driveway waiting for me. I also knew that it would come with stipulations. Always does.

“What are the stipulations with it?” I asked him.

“None, I am proud of you. I do want to talk about Ellie, however.”

“Forget it. I am not leaving her.” This had been happening all year. He knew how serious I was about her. To him our lives had no room for love. He would eventually want to arrange something for me, just so I could have a child to pass down the business to.

“Think it through, son. There is no room in this life for love. A man in love is a man who is weak, and a man that is weak will be slaughtered, or rather she will be, and it’s basically the same thing as doing it to you because you won’t live without her.”

“Who said I wanted this life?” I snapped back at him.

“You will take over for me, that I promise. I also promise that if you bring her into this world, she will get hurt. They will hurt her to hurt you.”

I placed the keys on his desk and stood up to leave. When I got to the door, he stopped me.

“Son, look at me,” he demanded of me. There was never asking with him. He demanded everything.

I turned on my heel and shot daggers at him.

“I was serious. The car is yours,” he said, tossing me the keys.

“Thanks, dad.” I told him as I walked away and back up to my room.

Four hours later, I pulled my new car into the driveway of where the party was being held. I made sure to park it away from everyone else so I could make an escape with Ellie later.

“Tate, what did you think of your present?” Reign asked me.

“How did you know?”

“Your dad asked me what color.”

“It’s great, but I am sure there will be stipulations with it. Have you seen Ellie yet?” I asked him, needing to find her.

“No, man, but the party just started. I am sure she will be late. She always is.”

I turned to go look for her, but he was right; she was always late. It’s like it’s programmed in her to be late or something. I had looked everywhere at the lake house and even down by the dock but couldn’t find her. I pulled my phone out of my pocket and sent her a quick text to see where she was and when she would be here, and then pocketed my phone and went in search of my friends.

Reign, Ace, and Dominic were my best friends. We were all born and bred to take over for our fathers. The rulers of the underworld of Cedar Hills and many towns surrounding it. There was never an option. We’ve been trained for this our whole life and none of us really wanted it, but we would do it because it was expected of us and if we didn’t, someone else would take over and who knows what would become of this godforsaken town. We were all raised to take over different parts of the operation. I would take over the drug trade and the gangs, Reign would run our guns, Ace would run the clubs and the girls, and Dominic, well he was the lucky one and got to go to college and get a business degree and would be taking over our legal business. We were all trained together and knew every piece of business, but we were specialists in the area that we were taking over.

I still hadn’t found Ellie, and I hadn’t heard from her, so I went and got myself a drink. I would have one and wait for her to show up. We wouldn’t be staying long. I had a blanket in the back of my car and the ring in my center console. I was taking her to our favorite spot up in the hills. It overlooked the whole town. Once she said yes, I would convince her to run away and never look back. The boys knew my plan and they were going to take over for me. They knew my desire to live a normal life and have a family.

I finished my drink and still hadn’t seen Ellie, nor had I heard from her. I called her but she didn’t answer and so I had another drink and that one turned into several more. I was stumbling around still trying to find Ellie when I ran straight into Becca.

“Hey there big guy,” she said, grabbing my arm and throwing it over my shoulder.

“Becca, have you seen Ellie?”

“No, but let’s get another drink,” she said, pulling me towards the house.

I woke up with a groan and a throbbing headache. I don’t normally drink that much but they went down really good last night. I don’t remember much except looking for Ellie. I felt someone move beside me and roll over to a mess of blonde hair. I smiled knowing she had finally shown up. Apparently, I was too drunk to remember. I wrapped my arm around her naked body and pulled her closer to me.

“Baby, when did you show up last night? You had me worried.” I whispered in her ear.

“What are you talking about?” Becca asked as she rolled over and faced me.

“What the f**k are you doing in bed with me?”

“We got drunk, and you brought me up here and we had a good time.” She said as she smiled at me and ran her hands down my abs getting dangerously close to my c**k. I grabbed her arm in a bruising grip and pulled it up over the covers.

“We didn’t do s**t last night. I wouldn’t do that to Ellie.”

“Oh, baby we did. Look at the used condom on the floor.” She said and I rolled over and sure enough there were two used condoms lying on the ground. f**k this was so bad. I had to tell Ellie before someone else did and this was supposed to be one of her best friends.

I jumped out of bed and threw on my pants and grabbed my phone. Opening it up I had a text from Ellie.

“I’m leaving and you will never find me.”

“FUCK.” I yelled and threw my phone across the room.