The Gotham Queen

Chapter 6

Kyle grunts in anger and shoves me forward, knocking my head into the car roof before I hit the seat. I barely have time to get my legs in the car before he slams the door, almost breaking my legs in the process. I can feel the warm liquid drip down my face, and I know I've sliced my face open again. I just hope it isn't deep enough to where I can't cover it up for work in the morning.

He slams the door shut behind him after he gets in himself, and I sit up slowly. Kyle starts the car and peels out of the lot as I scramble to put my seat belt on. I don't want to be killed in a car crash because he's too angry to drive like a normal person. That's not exactly how I want to die, and yes, I've thought of my death dozens of times over the years.

My head starts to feel fuzzy and dazed as we drive down the road, so it takes me a minute to realize that we aren't headed to my apartment, but to his penthouse. Why are we going there? I'm never allowed inside, and he's always yelled at me for questioning him about it.

Maybe I'll get my answer as to why if I stay quiet this time. Not like I could say anything with my vision going in and out as my head gets dizzier. Just how bad is that cut on my head? My cheek still stings dully too, even though the small cut has long since dried and crusted over with my blood.

Kyle slams on the breaks before his penthouse, and if I hadn't of been wearing my seat belt, my head would have cracked off the dashboard. I don't need my head in any worse condition than it is now, or I might actually pass out. Either from blood loss or stress from the whole night, I don't want to find out.

Kyle snaps at me to stay in the car, like he always does, and storms inside. I watch as he opens the door and slams it shut behind him. When he leaves my vision, I let the damn break and feel everything hit me at once. The agonizing wail at that leave me breaks my very soul, and I sob my heart out. I scream and hit the dashboard, crying out as waves and waves of soul-crushing pain crash through me.

What the hell am I going to do? How am I going to ever get out of this? No matter what I do, there always seems to be one more obstacle in my way, and I can't seem to escape. Is there even a way out? Is there even a way to get out of this life without having to give up my life to do it?

I fumble around with my clutch, my body shaking so bad that I drop it several times before I can get the stupid thing open. The dress is already stained with my blood, so I don't care about getting more on it with all the movement I'm doing. My vision fading in and out, I fumble blindly for my father's number because maybe just this one time he will care. Maybe just this once, he will do what a father is supposed to do.

I sob as the phone's ringing seems to go on forever, and I pray that he just picks up the phone for once in his life.

"Mr. Quinzel speaking." I hear his commanding voice on the other side and cry out. I never knew that my biggest fear could be so relieving, but I'm not going to take a gift for granted. "Harleen? What the hell are you doing calling me? What's got you so torn up? Did he propose yet?"

I replay the events from the night back to him as best I can, forcing my voice to stop cracking so I can actually speak properly. I tell him about Candy, and what happened. I tell him about Kyle wanting to use me as an image because he wants to take over my father's company. I tell him everything, leaving out the blackmail Kyle has on me. He's quiet for a few minutes, and I hold my breath begging silently that he'll tell me to drop Kyle and leave him behind.

"I know." My father says to me, and those two words slam into me, making me have to take a few minutes to even process what he just said. I know? What does that mean? My head shakes as I try to piece it together, but it's like my brain has shut off and I can't comprehend any more. "He told me he wanted to marry that Candy girl, but I said that he had to marry you if he wanted the company. So, he suggested that he marry you publicly, and Candy privately. That way we both get what we want, and you get to be the face of it all."