Chapter 34
LETICIA
AGAIN?
Royal wouldn’t lie to me.
Well, not again, right?
I shove the rampaging thoughts of pregnancy away. Even if he is lying to me, the risk is small. It’ll be fine.
It’s one thing to not flat-out tell me he’s been stalking me and watching me. It’s another to lie directly to my face.
Royal wouldn’t do that.
I draw steadying breaths. They come easier, and my heart doesn’t feel like it’s about to jump through my rib cage.
I love being the older cousin to what feels like hundreds of little D’Medici cousins, but kids have never been my calling.
I’m not like Antonella. I don’t particularly want to spend more time with children. I certainly don’t want any of my own.
Not that I expect to have a choice with an arranged marriage on the books. Some asshole is going to want kids, and it’ll be my responsibility to fulfill my duty.
Royal is telling me that we can’t have kids because I’m a human and he’s . . . not. I’m taking it at face value. We’re safe.
Cleaning up after sex was a unique experience.
His semen inside me sparked a whirlwind of internal screaming and what-ifs, but now that I’m clean and cozy in a pair of joggers and Royal’s T-shirt, I’m more at ease.
Maybe it’s because I’m wrapped up in his sweet chocolatey scent again that I feel so safe.
I hug my arms around myself, the smile returning to my face.
I had sex. My first time wasn’t some stupid wedding-night fuck to consummate a marriage I didn’t want.
It was scary, but it was good. He cared for me, and it wasn’t about what some asshole wanted. It was about me.
I chose this. Warmth floods my core.
I chose him. The butterflies are back.
When I wander back into Royal’s room, he’s standing over his desk, working on a keyboard that is seemingly stacked on top of one of his numerous monitors.
The light from the screen he’s working on highlights his features.
His strong jaw, with a short beard growing over it, is well paired with his broad shoulders and muscular arms.
“So.” He pulls me into his arms, kissing the top of my head.
I snuggle in tight against him, the attention and affection pushing any last thoughts of pregnancy from my mind.
A winterscape fills the screen before me, and the bright midday sun glistens off the snow. A large, imposing black wolf sits in stark contrast to the landscape, its head hung as it watches over a gray and white wolf with a red-tinged muzzle, lying flat on its side, panting.
“The one lying in the snow and panting is Antonella. The one looking like he’s incredibly sorry and trying to apologize for the fiftieth time is Valor.” Royal points between the two of them.
I instantly miss the way his arm held me tight to his body.
“How do you know he’s sorry and apologizing?” I squint at the screen and bring my hands up to where Royal’s other arm is wrapped around me, hooking my fingers on his forearm.
Like he knows what I’m asking for, Royal squeezes me a little tighter. The reassurance I’m here and still connected to him is a welcome reminder.
“Mmm, head low, shoulders hunched. It’s an apology.
And she is so not ready to hear it. She’s not even looking at him.
” Royal gestures to Valor and then indicates where the other wolf, Antonella, is looking somewhere off-screen, pretty much anywhere that isn’t Valor’s direction.
“I really don’t blame her. Valor fucked up.
He should be held accountable. I’m even mad at him for hurting her, and I don’t know her all that well. ”
“Well, unfortunately, Antonella’s temper is long. She gets really big mad. But, given some time and space, she usually forgives pretty easily, especially when she knows the other person is genuinely apologetic.” I let out a huge sigh.
But it doesn’t really make sense to me. That wolf is Antonella. It’s a beautiful animal. She’s fluffy, and white fur is intermixed with the gray and some black, giving a mottled color down its spine. But how can that be Antonella?
“Oh, he feels bad, alright. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him so upset over something he’s done, and he broke my leg in two places once,” Royal says with a laugh.
My fists clench, and I glance down at his legs, wide eyed. They’re obviously both there, and if the physical activity we just engaged in is any indication, they both work, but how does Valor get to behave like some sort of demon rampaging through a family?
I glower and grumble, “Is that supposed to make me feel better?”
Royal gives me a toothy grimace while wrapping his arms around me again. “Yeah, kinda?”
I shake my head and look back at the screen. “Is she safe?”
He speaks low to the top of my head. “She’s an apex predator with a man who will kill someone for looking at her wrong. When they come through this, Valor is going to worship the ground she walks on.”
“Swoon,” I murmur, hoping he doesn’t hear me.
If he does, Royal doesn’t say anything. But he closes out of the window.
“I hate to address the elephant in the room, but your dad texted you wanting an update.” He changes subjects.
“That’s the elephant in the room?” I turn and look up at him, eyebrows raised and mouth agape.
His cheeks are red, and it’s growing down his neck.
“It’s the most time sensitive one?” He shrugs and interlaces his fingers in mine before leading me over to the bed.
He’s made the bed in a more turned-down style, like at a fancy hotel. The covers are folded back, neat and inviting, all evidence of what we’d done cleared away. My phone is sitting atop the covers.
“What about the other elephant?” I sit down, not concerned with my phone.
“The one where we just had mind-blowing sex, and I fully plan on doing it again later?” His eyes are brown when he starts the sentence, but they turn gold — I watch them change color — as he finishes.
“Your eyes just changed color.” I get distracted from the conversation, looking at them and how they’re inhuman but soulful.
“Sorry.” He blinks a few times, breaking my trance. “Did I mention that my wolf really likes you?”
“That’s what that is?” The distance between us feels too far, so I pull on his hand, and Royal sits next to me on the bed.
“Yeah, he’s just really close to the surface, like we’re ready to shift and switch places.” Royal explains with a squeeze to my hand.
I settle in, pulling up a leg and hugging it to my chest.
Royal bites his bottom lip and hungrily rakes his eyes across my body.
“But about the whole sex elephant.” He shakes his head, and it looks like it takes tremendous effort for him to pull himself away from wherever his thoughts strayed to be more neutral.
“I want to circle back. Are you hurting? Are you okay? Do you want to talk about it? Would you maybe like to do that again sometime?”
“I’m a little sore.” Pulling my leg up has stretched muscles I didn’t know existed but are now making themselves known with a slight ache.
“But it’s nothing compared to what my cramps are normally like, so I’ll take it.
And that was amazing, so yeah, I would totally do that again, but maybe after I rest a little. ”
“Oh, absolutely, rest, food, water, snuggles, and probably a movie before we even consider round two.” Royal reaches over and runs his fingers through my hair, pushing it out of my face.
It’s a move straight out of a movie, and I let out a contented sigh.
But the real task at hand nags at the back of my mind as guilt eats away at me.
I only agreed to help Dad to spend time with Royal, but now this is the consequence of my own actions.
“Okay, the awful elephant, what do I even tell Dad? Because what we just did is absolutely out of the question.” I stare at my phone, not even wanting to look at the message myself.
Royal picks it up and hands it to me. “You’re going to tell him enough of the truth that it’s not suspicious. No embellishments that you’ll have to worry about keeping straight.”
“That I made it safely here, I met Betty and Ian. I noticed you keep a lot of weapons in the home?” I try for something that might appease my father.
“All of that is true and should be expected. It shows you have good observation skills. Why don’t you add on there that it’s an intelligent house and has a ton of security?” Royal offers while I unlock the phone.
A lonely notification sits in my inbox.
Dad:
Status update.
Leticia:
Made it to the Cavanaghs’ safely. It’s beautiful in the country. There are tons of security cameras. Royal calls it an ‘intelligent home’ with a lot of security. They have more weapons in their house than we do.
I hit send, and the message sits spinning in my inbox, looking like I have really spotty service.
Royal’s phone makes a noise, and he looks it over. “Sounds perfect.”
After a tap on his screen, the message shows as sending on my end, and finally, the checkmark indicates it’s been delivered.
“That’s so scary you can do that.” I put my phone aside. The little device that’s only one part of how he’s been watching me. “You can do it to everyone?”
“I mean, that would be incredibly inundating, and I’d never get anything done, but I can block just about any phone I can get access to,” he admits, running a hand across the back of his neck.
“The link I sent you for the first Late Nite Bytes was a Trojan horse. I admit it was wrong, but I wanted to know everything about you.”
Somehow that doesn’t sit right with me. But I can’t put my finger on it. “Me? Or Dad’s business.”
“You. It’s always been about you.” The look in his eyes is somber. And I want to believe what he’s saying. He elaborates. “To be honest, we couldn’t give two fucks about your dad’s business. All we cared about with the truce was stopping the bloodshed.”
Does he mean that? Or am I just a pawn in someone else’s chess game?
Royal reaches over to the nightstand and pulls out a remote control.
He looks back at me, and whatever he sees stops him.
He must see the hesitation on my face. “Leticia, I’m not joking.
Yes, we’re keeping eyes on your family. But I’m not supposed to look any deeper than just making sure your family is holding up their end of the truce.
Me watching you was purely, is purely, personal.
” He tosses the remote aside and puts a hand on top of mine in my lap.
“I’ve liked you since I first saw your text messages coming in on Antonella’s phone.
And the more I’ve talked to you, the more intense it’s gotten. ”
Swoon. Tears well up in my eyes, and I blink them away quickly. “I’m trusting you.”
“Good. Because I’m trusting you too. You know a life-changing secret.” He leans forward and presses his lips to mine. I kiss him back, but he breaks away. “Let’s throw on a movie. I’ll go up and get some snacks.”
After a quick how-to on the remote and a reveal of the childproof password to watch something more than a PG-rated movie, Royal drags himself away from me. I find a campy-mystery movie that I’ve seen before, but it isn’t showing up as watched in Royal’s system.
He’s back ten minutes later with a massive tray piled high with food.
“Normally, I lay this on half the bed and then lie next to it, but since I’ve got a much better partner to snuggle, I think if we put it on my desk chair, it’ll work?” Royal pulls out his chair with his foot and makes it look easy to place the board down, resting on the armrest.
“How much food do you think I can eat and still have room for dinner?” I gape at the board.
“Well, I wanted you to have options, and really, I figured you’d only eat a quarter of it. The rest is all me. Plus, whatever we don’t eat, we can put back.” Royal shrugs. His hair is disheveled, but he looks so perfect. He hands over a big forty-ounce cup of water. “Drink a little, please.”
The ‘please’ gets me. It’s not a command, but it’s definitely not a suggestion. It’s strong yet spoken with a soft tone. I take the straw between my lips and draw a few sips. It’s just ice water, but it hits the spot. I didn’t realize how thirsty I was.