Chapter 2 #2
“I saw your broad shoulders in a silk shirt over the top of the sofa back, and your black hair mussed from her fingers running through it. And then I saw her wink at me and smile, knowing she’d won a game I didn’t even know we were playing.
And then she… serviced you. I know it was you, so you can’t tell me that it wasn’t. ”
“And who is it that you’re so sure I’m fucking?” he snarls at me.
“Your stepmom, you sick bastard.” I can barely get the words out.
How could he be so depraved as to fuck the woman who held space in his father’s bed for so many years.
I know there was a huge age gap between Saoirse and the king, but still…
That’s a line that, once crossed, could never be recovered.
She wants to remain the queen and has made no bones about it. And the only way to accomplish that is to marry the new king instead of going off into the night and moving into the dowager estate like she should if she were a decent human being. She’s also not a decent human being, so what do I know?
Just as quickly as our fight started; the tension clears the room. Rhys throws his head back and laughs until he finally pulls himself together and drops his face into his hands and groans. I’ve clearly boarded a train to crazy town, and no one told me.
“Fucking Taylor,” he says.
How did we jump from his stepmom to his brother? It might be the concussion but I’m not making the leap with him.
“Huh?” I’m going to need someone to explain some things to me. And a nap. Definitely a nap, because this is all way too much for my bruised brain to handle right now. Or, you know, ever.
“Taylor has been fucking Saoirse for over a year,” Rhys says matter-of-factly.
“Ew.” I shudder. “That’s disgusting.”
“My thoughts exactly,” he says before taking my hand in his. “I wasn’t a monk before I found you, but now that I have, it’s only you who I want. It’s only you who I will ever want.”
“I’m glad you didn’t cheat on me,” I tell him. “But it still doesn’t matter.”
“It fucking well does matter when I tell you that I’m really in love with you,” he growls.
I let out a frustrated sigh. Saying he loves me now is nothing more than another ploy to keep me where he wants me.
“It does matter, because someone wants me dead, Rhys. I can’t be here anymore,” I say, trying to rationalize with him. He has to understand what’s really at stake.
“It was an accident—” he starts.
“It wasn’t,” I tell him. “Something wasn’t right in the car. We all knew it. But before that was the vipers.”
“What?” he asks, his focus zeroing in like a laser.
“Someone filled my bed with snakes while you were gone, Rhys. I can’t live like this. I’m not safe.”
“You’re not safe alone either. The world will know who you really are soon enough, but the Golden Serpents clearly already know who you are.”
“They just want me away from you—” I start. If I go away, if I’m no longer on the island, I’ll be safe and so will he. He has to be.
“No, darlin’,” he says gently. “They don’t want an alliance between me and your uncle, Matteo. But it doesn’t matter because you’re an heir of the Guardians of the Crown.”
“I don’t know what that means.”
“I know and I’ll tell you, I promise. But right now, we have to get you safe. Will you trust me?” he asks. I hesitate before slowly nodding my head. The look of pure relief that washes across his face is shocking to see. “Thank you.”
“What next?” I ask. I know I said I’d trust him but really, I’m not ready for that and I don’t know if I ever will be.
What I do know is that the rose colored glasses have been ripped clean off my face now, and I’m going to have to keep my eyes open to all things around me.
Because the only one who’s going to protect me is me.
“People are going to come to the hospital and help you get ready. The news broke three days ago that you were in a bad wreck and my people have been holding vigil. They need to see that you’re alive and well.
We’ll walk down the steps together and someone will hand you flowers.
After that, we’ll get in a car and drive back to the castle. All right?”
“All right,” I repeat, giving him the words he wants. But nothing is all right and I don’t know if it ever will be again.
“We’ll go from there,” he says. “But for now, we’re closing ranks until we can flush out the traitor and make it through the coronation.”
“I don’t—”
He stops me before I can tell him that I don’t want to be a party to his coronation. I don’t want any part of it. “Let’s just take it one day at a time. Okay?”
I sigh again. “Okay.” I guess that’s the best I can hope for, aside from magically being returned to America to live anonymously as I had for years.
“Good.” He s presses a gentle kiss to my mouth before whispering, “And I know you like it when I’m gentle too.”
“Rhys—” I start. I’m not ready for his romantic onslaught again. I know how convincing he can be and I’m not ready. I can’t.
“I missed my hen.” He presses his mouth to mine again before dropping his forehead to mine. “Don’t ever scare me like that again. Don’t ever run again.”
I let him hold me in his arms, but what I don’t do is make promises that I’m not sure I can keep. And by the sharp look on his handsome face, Rhys is all too aware that I haven’t said I’m here for good.