I sucked in a determined breath, focusing on the beds of colorful flowers rather than the hammering of my heart. “One night?”
It was a mistake. I knew it as sure as I knew my own name that I would regret this. Sutton was a Thorne, untouchable and sharp. Anyone who got too close was destined to bleed.
His hand moved to the small of my back right above my butt. His fingers dug into my flesh, pushing me harder into him. A shiver rippled across my skin because it all felt easy and perfect and… intimate. Too intimate. Goosebumps feathered across my skin, both hot and cold. The afternoon breeze cooled where his touch blazed a trail of fire.
He gripped my chin with his other hand, dragging my focus back to him. “Until you beg for more.”
I didn’t beg for anything.
One night and this would all be over. Sutton would fade away like a bad dream.
I brought my hand to the sharp outline of his jaw and cradled his face in my palm. Then I leaned up on my tiptoes and whispered against his mouth. “Meet me in the library at seven-thirty.” His sea-green eyes molded to pools of deep emerald. I dropped my hand and lowered back to my heels.
He dipped his head, brushing his lips against my neck. “You have no idea what you’ve just done.” His silky voice was low and rough... and dangerous.
Instinct told me he was right. The one thing I did know was that I’d do whatever it took to take care of Mama—at least until I could get us both out of here. It wasn’t like he asked for my heart. He wanted my body, and there was nothing left there but an empty shell anyway.
I broke away from his hold on me. “Seven-thirty,” I repeated. Then I turned toward my villa, fighting the instinct to break into a sprint.
Six
Thornebridge Castle had four gardens—one on each side. Behind the East and South Gardens were villas that we used for guests. Only one of them was occupied full-time, and I’d watched her go straight to it.
It all happened so fast, like a picture coming into focus. Everything made sense. Katie didn’t wear the uniform because she wasn’t kitchen staff. She was in the library because that’s the bullshit job my father gave her. She didn’t like me because she didn’t like any of us.
You can’t make things right. No one can.
It made no sense when she said it before, but now I understood. She blamed my family for the loss of her father and the loss of her farm. She hated us. She hated me.
Katie—the breathtaking blonde with eyes bluer than the water in front of me—was Katarina Bellizzi, daughter of Matteo Bellizzi, the man who threatened to dethrone my father.
Dad didn’t make it into the city today. Just like he didn’t make it to breakfast or even out of bed. He was getting worse, and reality was starting to kick in. The crown felt heavier than ever. Sometimes I wondered if I was strong enough to carry it.
There was only one place in Torryn where no one cared who I was or what title I wore, one place where I could truly be me. The weight rolled off my shoulders as soon as I walked in. I wasn’t a prince here. I was only Sutton.
“Hey, Sutton. It was so good to see your text. I missed you last week,” Isabella greeted me. Her fiery red hair hung in curls down her back and her beautiful smile lit up the room. She was radiance, and I needed some of that energy right now.
“I missed it too. Things have been…” I inhaled a deep breath, letting it out slowly. “Intense.”
She never asked me about my crown or my father. Those things didn’t exist here, at least not for me.
“Then you’ve come to the right place,” she said as she led me down the hallway to a room that I’d become all too familiar with since we found out Dad had cancer. This was my refuge.
The muffled sound of a familiar song floated into the hallway. I hummed along, my body buzzing with the excitement of what was to come. The door opened, and a dozen bright, shiny faces greeted me. All of them sat in a circle on a colorful rug the same way they always did when I came to read.
“Hey guys, remember that surprise I told you about?” Isabella asked the children. They gasped and clapped their hands together as if they would burst at the seams if she made them wait another moment.
“Sutton!” they all exclaimed at once.
She must have told them I was coming.
“Hey guys. Man, have I missed you.” The second the words left my lips, dozens of tiny arms wrapped around my waist, bombarding me with hugs. If there was anything pure and good left in my soul, they managed to see it. Which was ironic considering these children couldn’t see at all.
Isabella laughed. “Looks like I wasn’t the only one who missed you.”
I hugged each one of them back. “Anybody ready for a story?” They all cheered in unison, and it melted my heart. “Awesome. Let’s sit down, so I can start. Deal?”
“Deal!”
I watched as they retraced their steps back to their spots on the rug. It always amazed me how aware they were of their surroundings, even though they’d completely lost their sense of sight.
I sat, legs crossed over one another, right in the middle of them. This was exactly where I needed to be, surrounded by warmth and happiness. One day I’d have children of my own, and we would do the exact same thing. I would read them stories and cherish their smiles. There would be more to life than the throne. My children would know beyond a shadow of a doubt that I loved them.
Isabella shut the music off, and I read the kids a story about a boy named Jacob who went on a quest to find a great treasure but was certain that he could never do it alone. Along the way, he met several animals, making friends with them all. The lion helped him find strength, the eagle provided watchful eyes, and the sheep kept them warm when the night grew cold. In the end, they all discovered that the treasure was not in the destination, but in the journey.
Every time I left the Children’s Center for the Blind, my own vision became clearer. I saw all the things I’d missed before. Like right now, when I sometimes questioned my fate and my ability to fulfill it. They reminded me exactly who I was. I was the lion destined to be king. My strength came from my journey, and I didn’t have to make it alone. I had a castle full of eagles keeping a close eye on the world around me. I just needed to find my sheep. I needed someone to keep me warm.
I ate without my parents, because the reality was that Dad hadn’t eaten in two days. He didn’t eat, so Mom didn’t either. Apparently, cancer was the one thing beyond the king’s control.
After dinner, I checked my watch. It was seven twenty-five. When I left the garden earlier today, I’d decided there was no way I was going to that fucking library. I was shocked that I even entertained it to begin with.
Of all the people in the world my father had warned me about, Matteo Bellizzi was the worst. I’d never understood why Dad ever brought that man’s family here, under our roof. I remember the day they’d moved in like it was yesterday. My father said Katarina Bellizzi cried and begged her mother to bring her anywhere but here. He said she’d thanked him… with tear-stained cheeks and hatred in her eyes, like the ungrateful little daddy’s girl that she was. Yet he’d still offered her a steady income and a place to live.