Page 51 of Royally Bad

Sitting up, I pulled out of his arms. I saw the horses milling nearby, neither of them seeming to be worse for wear. Gripping the grass by my thighs, I looked at him and smiled sadly. “How did you come after me so fast?”

“The second we pulled in, Matilda ran up and yanked me toward the stables, telling me what had happened.”

My heart sank. “Is she going to get in trouble? It wasn’t her fault, I just—”

“You didn’t need to go thisfar, Sammy!”

“What else was I supposed to do? Let your father keep me trapped here? Letyoukeep me trapped here?”

“It’s only temporary until we figure everything out!”

Studying his face—the hard lines that crossed his cheeks, the hollow indents beneath his eyes—I paused. “And did you figure everything out?”

Scraping fingers through his wind-tossed hair, Kain shut his eyes. “I know who did it, yes.”

Prickling with surprise, I leaned toward him. “Please tell me he’ll be taken care of so I can get out of here.” Kain kept his head down, and my spirit joined him. “You’re about to give me bad news.”

“Sammy ...” Filling his chest, he breathed out, meeting my wary stare. “The people who organized the raid? They’re a gang that goes by the name of the Deep Shots. They’re ... not as powerful as my family, but they still have pull.”

“What does that even mean?”

“It means we confronted them, and they denied everything.”

“Sowhat?”I dug my nails into the dirt. “I saw his face, I know who did it!”

“That’s not enough!”

“Why?” Throwing up my arms, I shouted, “Bring me to them, let me call him out! That’s what they do on TV, right? A lineup, a—”

“It doesn’t work like that!” he snapped, two fingers massaging his temples. “Listen. Please. I want to get this fucker out of the way, to make sure he’ll leave you alone, but it’s your word against his ... and to them, you’re no one.”

Barking out a sour laugh, I shook my head. “I’m not no one. Dammit, this is stupid. Maybe the cops really do need to take care of this if you guys can’t.”

“I am taking care of it,”he hissed. His intensity made me sit back; he saw me move, and his next words came out so very, very tired. “Sammy, I don’t want anything to happen to you. Not just you, but anyone you care about. I promise that I won’t even sleep until I’m sure everything is under control.”

Baffled, I tuned in to his promise.

Kain said, “The man who attacked you is the son of the Deep Shots’ leader, a guy named Brick. I wanted to bust his face in when I recognized him from the photo, but ...”

Brick? Not Jameson?Of course he’d use a fake name.

His fist was so tight I heard his tendons creak. That wasn’t what I was focused on. Kain’s exhaustion had felt out of place to me this morning. All day, I’d wondered about what he’d done that had made him so tired.

When he’d said he wouldn’t sleep, it had clicked.

“Last night,” I whispered, “I asked you to check in on my mother. I never got to ask you if you had.” My fingertips swayed forward, gently brushing the bruises under his eyes. “You watched her all night, just to make sure she’d be safe. Didn’t you?”

Kain’s shoulders hunched. “Yes.”

The snow that had started to crust on my heart melted away. I didn’t move my palm from his cheek. “Why didn’t you tell me you were a prince?”

There—that made his eyes flash to me. His surprise shifted, a smirk growing as he chuckled. “Who told you?” Before I answered, he said, “I don’t know. It didn’t come up.”

Hesitating, I said, “I’d heard that you use that line to get girls in bed. You were trying so hard to get me to sleep with you, so why not try that if it worked before?”

His fingers circled my wrist, forcing my hand to remain on his jaw. The core of his voice was hot and smoky. “Because I didn’t want you to care about it. I didn’t want my blood to be what made you want me. Is that what you want to hear?”

Licking my lips, I said, “Yes.”

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