Trev walked to the door. “I want to be there. I don’t trust you to do it without me watching.”
32
Renna
Maybe. It was a cruel word that had tortured Renna ever since she’d left Drake alone on the bathroom floor earlier that evening. Maybe kept her hopes alive when they probably shouldn’t be. It was Drake’s fault. His words kept playing over and over in her mind, like a young girl practicing her piano piece for a recital.
You should tell him how you feel . . . he’ll figure out a way to have you and still be elected king.
Was Renna really contemplating having the most vulnerable conversation of her life? Contemplating devastating her mother and Seran? Despite every blockade Renna had put up, she had fallen in love with Trev. It was that realization that had brought her outside of Trev’s office. She loved him, and now she was going to tell him. She took a deep breath and knocked on the door.
Please don’t answer. Please don’t answer.
Crosby opened the door.
“I’m sorry,” Renna said, stunned. “I was looking for Prince Ezra.”
“I believe he has retired to the royal living room.” He spoke in a formal, businesslike way. “May I help you with something?”
“Oh. I suppose it can wait until tomorrow.”
Crosby looked down the hall in both directions, then lowered his voice. “The king is not with him. I believe Prince Ezra is alone.”
She smiled timidly back at him. Did this short, serious man know why Renna had come at such a late hour to the prince’s office? Did he know that she was about to confess her undying love? To say ‘you have my heart, so take it and don’t hurt me’? The thought was enough to carry her feet to the royal living room as she tried to work out the words.
Each heartbeat thudded distinctly against her chest until she saw Trev through the small crack in the door. His curls were pushed back slightly like he had been combing his fingers through his hair all night. The top of his shirt was unbuttoned, and somewhere along the line, he had ditched his suit jacket and tie. He looked ridiculously appealing as he leaned against the open balcony door, hands in his pockets.
The palms of her hands pushed against the wooden door, slowly opening it beyond a crack. Everything froze when she saw Seran coming in from the balcony, smiling warmly at Trev. Her slender arms wrapped around Trev’s waist, hugging him to her. Renna’s breath caught in the back of her throat. She should leave, but it felt like she was wearing concrete shoes. The ache inside grew as Trev’s hand slowly lifted out of his pocket and tucked Seran’s shiny, black hair behind her ear. His fingers made a trail down the side of her neck—the way they always had with Renna.
“I’m glad you invited me here tonight.” Seran’s voice was impossibly sweet, but it held a sultry undercurrent. Renna had never heard Seran speak that way.
“I’m glad I did too,” Trev said quietly. “You’re my only future.”
His words knocked the air out of Renna in one swoop.
Renna couldn’t see his face. She couldn’t see if his eyes looked at Seran with the same intensity they had when he looked at her. But then his head started to move toward Seran. The final few millimeters between their lips were the longest, most agonizing nanoseconds of Renna’s life. The moment Trev’s lips gently fell onto Seran’s, her heart shattered into a million pieces, ricocheting off every bone inside her, cutting back into the center of her chest. She couldn’t breathe. She literally couldn’t breathe as their lips slowly moved in synchronized motion. Her feet shuffled backward, refusing to let her watch.
She was such a fool, thinking that maybe he loved her too. She would not cry in the hallway of this stupid palace. She would wait until she made it to her bed. She rushed down the hall, her body in autopilot until she reached her room.
Renna shut her bedroom door behind her, leaning her back against it. Thankfully Nora wasn’t there. The room was dark.
“What do you want with my son?”
She jumped with fear, a small scream escaping as she quickly turned toward the voice. Even in the dim light of her room, she could see the intimidating form of the king’s body, leaning against the wall.
“Your Majesty.” She let out a deep breath, flipping on the light. Every alarm went off in her body and the uneasiness in her stomach made her nauseous. What was he doing in her room, waiting for her in the dark?
His gaze narrowed. His words were slower and more deliberate as he spoke again. “What do you want with my son?”
She shifted her weight nervously. “I don’t know what you mean.”
But she did know, and so did the king. The entire world was caving in on her—one mountain crashing down on her at a time.
“I underestimated you.” He crossed the room to her dresser. His fingers skimmed over her makeup, left out carelessly by Nora. “Actually, I didn’t even notice you. There was nothing about you worth noticing.”
She watched his reflection through the mirror. There was no reason to impress him or his son. She hated them. “If I’m so unnoticeable, why are you in my room?”
His lips curled up into one of his sickly smiles. “You have interfered with things you shouldn’t have.”
“I haven’t done anything.” She felt defiant, strong even.
“Are you sure about that? You jeopardized the entire alliance between Albion and New Hope.” Keeping his eyes on her, he grabbed a small glass bottle of perfume and brought it up to his nose to smell, then placed it back on the dresser before turning to face her. “But rest assured, it’s all under control now.”
Renna hardly had time to consider what he meant by that when the king suddenly moved toward her, his steps slow like a predator stalking his prey. She reached behind her back, searching for the door handle and a quick escape, but it wasn’t there. Before she could move another inch, King Carver stood over her, his body uncomfortably close and his face leering.
“My son was willing to destroy everything just to be with you.” Gently, he reached up to stroke her cheek. She turned her head away from him, squeezing her eyes shut. Each touch of his fingers caused her chest to tighten with dread. “What’s so great about you that makes a man want to ruin his entire future to be with you?”
He reached behind her head and grasped the hair at her neck, forcing her to look up at him. Her breath caught at the pain. Any second she was sure her hair would be clumped around her feet. There was no way it could still be attached to her head; he was pulling too hard.
He breathed, “Maybe you need to show me what you’ve shown him, so I won’t feel so upset about what I lost tonight. What I had to give up.”
Terror raced through Renna, forcing bile to the back of her throat. She had no idea what King Carver was capable of, and she didn’t want to find out.
“Tell me, what was your aim when you targeted my son? The alliance? Or was it something more? A vendetta against King Bryant and his daughter, perhaps?”
His face was close, but she didn’t let her eyes drop from his. “I didn’t target your son.”
“You would have me believe you’re just so charming he couldn’t help himself? I don’t believe that.” He tightened his hold on her hair. She let out a small yelp of pain—letting him know he was winning.