Page 17 of Royal Sin

I balked. She never used my full name. “Serena, I—”

“I said go.”

I stood frozen, the full weight of her rejection hitting me like a physical blow. Her use of my full name carved a chasm between us that hadn’t existed moments before.

“Serena, please,” I tried again, my voice barely above a whisper. “I was trying to protect you.”

“By lying to me for years?” Her eyes, usually so warm, were now cold and distant. “By pretending to be my friend while keeping secrets?”

“I wasn’t pretending!” The words burst from me. “Everything between us has been real.”

She shook her head, a bitter laugh escaping her lips. “A real friendship doesn’t have secrets like this. Real friends don’t spy on each other’s families.”

“I wasn’t spying on you,” I insisted, desperation clawing at my throat. “I was curious, and then when I found out, I was scared for you.”

“Don’t call me—ever.”

The way she said it—cold, distant—sent a chill through me. I’d never heard that tone from her before. It was as if a wall had suddenly risen between us, turning my best friend into a stranger.

“I understand you’re upset,” I said, reaching for her hand one more time. “But I came to you as soon as I knew. I couldn’t let your family be blindsided.”

Serena simply walked past me, opened the sliding glass door, and let herself into the house. A crack, deep and painful, formed in my chest. I opened my mouth, but the strangled noise was halfcry, half sob. This was it? Was my best friend just going to shut me out of her life?

For a secret?

The drive home felt endless, my mind replaying Serena’s expression—the hurt, the betrayal, the fear. In trying to help her, I’d exposed a wound between us that I hadn’t even realized existed. All these years, I’d carried her secret, thinking I was protecting our friendship. Instead, I’d been erecting a wall brick by brick.

As I pulled into my family’s circular driveway, my phone buzzed with a text. I snatched it, hoping it was Serena coming to her senses. Or at least offering me another chance to talk!

Shadow Prince: Dinner tomorrow? I have something important to discuss.

“Are you going to act the same way when I tell you?” I whispered to the phone.

There was a lesson to be learned with Serena. It didn’t have to end that way with Leonard, I just needed to find a way out. But no ideas came readily to mind. I stared at the message, suddenly exhausted by all the secrets, all the half-truths. Leonard still didn’t know who I really was. My parents didn’t know about Leonard. Serena was furious with me for knowing about her family. Everything was tangled in a web of my own making, and I was starting to forget which threads led where.

Chapter 8

Ishivered as another gust of wind barreled through the parking ramp. This was a stupid idea. It had been since I first thought of it, but now that I was actively doing it—had been sitting here for nearly an hour, freezing—it was even dumber than when I first thought.

It might be early summer, but a cold front plus the turbulent feelings in my chest made this feel like late fall.

Half past one, and finally, the roar of a motorbike broke the quiet. I pushed to my feet, body numb from sitting so long. Gathering my most seductive smile, I changed from a heartbroken, trapped girl, into a woman of the night.

The bike stopped beside my car. Gone was the three-piece suit that he’d worn hours ago at the restaurant. The dark jeans were stained with an even darker substance. Black leather gloves and jacket covered his skin, but a black tee poked from the top behind the jacket’s zipper.

I smiled at my reflection in the matte black helmet. “Can I interest you in a nightcap?”

After the shitty date, eavesdropping on my father, and the blow up with Serena, it was now the middle of the night and I needed a distraction.

Slowly, Leonard lifted the visor. “You can’t be here.”

Rage spiked higher in my veins than the hurt of his rejection. It was a gamble coming here, and clearly, I lost. Turning sharply, I ripped open my door.

It slammed shut, nearly catching my fingers.

Leonard leaned over my car, breathing hard. “This isn’t a good time.”

He removed his helmet completely, revealing a hardness in his features I hadn't seen before. The playful, intellectual man who'd kissed me in an empty museum seemed miles away from this stern-faced stranger.

---