I look out at the sun high in the sky, the people running around, riding bikes, laughing, drinking wine. “Protect him, no matter what.”
“I’ll protect you,” Roman vows.
“That’s not what I asked, is it?” I turn in his arms. “Protect your king, no matter what.”
Roman swallows slowly; his eyes linger on my mouth. “Even at the cost of the queen?”
“Yes.” I grip his shirt and tug him close. “Even at the cost of the queen, you bastard, you protect your king!”
His eyes widen briefly, all blue and pretty, before they narrow. “It makes a man wonder.”
“Wonder what?” I release him and look away.
“Wonder,” he says again.
I look back as he licks his full lips.
“What he did, to gain such allegiance…”
I shove him to the ground without realizing I’m actually doing it until he falls, only to jump to his feet again and grab my wrists in a lame attempt.
“Let me go.” I keep my voice even and low.
“The hell did you do that for?” Roman jerks me against him. “I was just asking a question!”
“No.” I struggle against him. “You really weren’t, were you?”
His nostrils flare, and I notice how tense he is, how his teeth are clenched, how tight his fingers are on my wrist and how it hurts to look at him, how I want to run away, far, far away from here when it’s supposed to be a celebration. “You did it, right? Y-you… slept with him?”
I finally win my struggle to get my wrist free and back up. “Remember who you’re talking to now, Roman.” I’ve never spoken to him like this before. His eyes blaze with fury. “You’re my bodyguard. Your life for mine.”
I could have sworn I heard in the back of my head, until it ends.
But that would be crazy, right? To hear King’s voice?
He takes a step toward me. “We both know you’re a pawn in a game that isn’t even yours to play, Del, all of us are, and yes, you’re right; my job is to protect him but know I’ll always protect you first.”
“Don’t.” I sound desperate. “Don’t. Promise me.”
He curses and looks away, his jaw clenched; it’s such perfection in the sunlight, all smooth lines, full lips, angry eyes, and tousled dark hair. He finally turns back toward me. “Fine.”
“Good.” I feel like a weight has been lifted from my chest. “Good.”
“Now give me your seal,” he says suddenly.
Confused, I search his blue eyes. “What?”
“Your seal. Your promise.” He shrugs. “Give it over.”
“What?”
I don’t have time to respond as he tugs me into his arms and presses a deep kiss to my mouth that I feel all the way down to my toes. His tongue shoves past my lips without permission, his arms go around me, his hard body presses tight. My hands shove against his chest.
Not like this. I never wanted him like this.
My brain keeps screaming it.
And then he’s pulled away from me by King himself, who looks ready to put a bullet in his brain as his chest heaves. God, he’s beautiful, avenging, like a fallen angel who can’t decide if he wants to be kept on earth or go back to where he came from.
King’s caramel brown hair with shots of red gleams in the sunlight. Flames blaze in his angry green eyes as he kicks Roman to the ground with ease. “Touch her again without her permission, and you will feel my wrath. Even in death, you will taste it, smell it, fear it.”
Roman curses, his mouth bleeding as he nods his head once.
“Don’t make me regret giving you everything while taking nothing,” King spits. “Absolutely nothing!”
I can tell Roman wants to argue, but he keeps his jaw glued shut.
Meanwhile, Tiffany’s behind me, holding her freaking phone up and video recording. I mean, who the hell hired this girl?
“Don’t mind me, just posting to TikTok!” She waves and adds some viral music, and I just want to curl up in a ball and go to sleep again.
“Do your jobs,” King says before grabbing me by the wrist and spinning me back around toward the hotel lobby.
“Where are we going?” I ask.
“Where else?” He doesn’t look at me, but I can see how pissed he is with the way he’s clenching his jaw. Finally, he turns to the side and smirks. “To do our duty… right… queen?”
Dread and excitement pool in my stomach as we get on the elevator, and yeah, I know exactly what he means.
Dirty sex.
More and more dirty sex.
While the man I love waits.
Chapter Twenty-Four
“For to die with honor is far better than to live disgraced.”—King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table
King
I’m angry.
I’m confused.
Quite honestly, I’m hurt, I’m betrayed, I’m undone.
And I just texted my friends—my brothers earlier, which has me wondering… who is it? Who wants to hurt me? To hurt us? Who wants to take what I have? And why the fuck would they want the pressure already weighing down my soul and making my chest feel like it might split in two?
I’m so confused and upset that I want to lay in her lap and cry, and I’m ready to tell her that, to confess it all—and then I see them, and I lose every small inch of control I’ve been keeping.
I lose it all.
Or maybe I just give it up and give in to the need, the want, the safety in her arms that I’ve craved from the beginning. Maybe it’s a fantasy. Hah! I’m the dumb fuck thinking she can save me from them, from myself when I can’t even protect what’s mine when my own honeymoon is ambushed with this news from the people I trust the most.
Before I went downstairs, I texted.
I texted, and I waited.
Me: Why. Just tell me why? Who the fuck wants this throne? Should I burn my crown, toss it in the air and let someone catch it? What the hell do you want from me?
I wait, and it’s my own brother who answers first.
Valerian: Do you even want it?
Pain slices through my chest.
Me: Do you?
Valerian: That’s not what I asked, was it?
Junior: He’s right. Are you ready for this?
Betrayal piles on until I can’t breathe, until I’m crawling through my hotel room, phone in hand to the sink in order to get some water, in order to escape this actual fucking nightmare.
I find the strength to text back.
Ash: You always knew you’d be challenged, don’t act surprised; it’s laughable.
Tank: He’s right.
Maksim: You can’t escape your destiny. If you want the sword, you have to take it…
I throw my phone across the room, angry, hurt, confused. And of course, it doesn’t help when I see her with him, when I see him touching her, when I see my entire fucking life getting taken from me.
Am I not strong enough?
Did I not do enough?
Sacrifice fucking everything, including my own fucking heart for the Families?
I wait until we’re in the bedroom again, I stare at the bed, at the clothes thrown around the room, and I wonder why my story has to both start and end in more nightmare than fairy tale.