Page 79 of Royally Arranged

My mother caught my eye. She sprinted at me and hugged me hard. “Thorne! Your face, are you hurt?”

“I’m fine,” I said, unable to keep from wincing when she touched my bruised cheek.

“Lord, I was so worried! No one would tell us where you were! We confronted the Valentines and they played dumb!” Her eyes narrowed on Nova.

“She wasn’t behind this.” I looped my arm around Nova’s waist possessively. My mother stared harder, looking uncertain. “She found out where I was and rescued me.”

“I’m so sorry this all happened,” Nova said. She clasped her hands in front of her in a tight ball. “My parents didn’t tell me they were going to do all this once I had a baby on the way. I was a pawn. Really, I’m sorry.”

My mother covered her mouth with both hands. “Did you say baby? Then the rumor ... Oh—oh, I’m going to be a grandma! A ma-maw!Me!”

I debated pointing out that she’d forgottenSammy, Kain’s wife, was due in three months. But Mom looked so relieved I let it go. My soft spot for seeing her happy was always getting bigger.

“Son,” Maverick said, coming beside us. “The police are going to need to talk to you.”

Helping Nova to her feet, I nodded. “I’ve got a lot to say.” I paused. “To everyone, actually.”

All of us walked through the front doors together. Larchmont was thrashing and yelling as the police shoved him into the back of a car. The rest of the Valentines stood in a circle as the police spoke to them. The tension was different, now, but it was still there. “I don’t know why you’re talking to me,” Kurtis said. He spotted me and pointed. “If you’re looking for someone who’s committed a crime, arrest him.”

“Arrest who, the king?” the police officer scoffed.

“Yes!” Kurtis shouted. “Didn’t you see the photo? That man had sex in the royal graveyard. He broke the law, there need to be consequences. Punishments!”

I thought about what Nova had said to me the first day I’d arrived in this country. She asked me what kind of king I would be if I were in charge. At the time, I hadn’t considered that ruling was a possibility for me. Now here I was, listening to someone else decide what should happen to me for breaking the law.

The police and the royal guards stood there, looking unsure. I didn’t see the ones who had allowed me to be led to the small room and beaten bloody yesterday. I wondered if they’d sensed that things had gone out of control and it was best to hide out until they saw where the chips were going to fall.

“If you’re going to arrest Thorne,” Nova said, stepping forward, “then you have to arrest me, too. Remember? It was me that was breaking the same law as the king was.”

Valencia narrowed her eyes. “You’re seriously going to do this, you’d sacrifice everything we’ve worked so hard for just to defy us? After all that I did for you?”

“I’ll forever be thankful that you saved my life, Mom,” Nova said, striding closer to the group, as if she was trying to make her mother understand ... like she thought it was possible to appeal to her. “But I’m not going to let you control me with that anymore.” Holding herself to her full height, she took a solid breath. In that instant she transformed into a natural queen. “Guards, arrest my family. They’re enemies of the crown, their goal was always to steal the throne.”

“Ungrateful,” Valencia spit. She was bristling with so much anger that the cops looked ready to handcuff her next. “You’re ungrateful! Why did I ever think we could rely on you to do what’s best for this family? I wish I’d never saved your life!”

Nova didn’t even flinch. She was rooted to the earth, looking like a calm statue of a regal knight on his way into battle. But even if she was steady, I was flooding with sorrow for her. I had issues with my family, but I never once thought they’d be happy if I was dead.

Curling my arm around her hip, I held her against me. She flashed me an appreciative smile.

My father scanned the Valentines, his tone as cold as a melting icicle. “Did you seriously try to overthrow the king?”

“Earlier,” I said, finally speaking up, “Larch shouted as much from the balcony. He wasn’t afraid to try and murder me with everyone watching. From the beginning, the Valentines have wanted us gone. When they heard that their daughter was pregnant with my child, they realized they had an opportunity to ensure the crown would stay in their control without us around to interfere.”

“It’s true,” Richard agreed, drawing some surprised glances from his own family. Larch, sequestered in the cop car, had his face pressed to the window.

“Richard!” Kurtis gasped, reaching for his son with a vein in his neck bulging. The officer nearest him grabbed him before he could get there. Two other cops handcuffed Kurtis’s hands as he struggled. “How could you say that? What’s wrong with you? Treason in this country—they kill you for that!”

Richard looked toward me, then settled his stare on Nova. “It’s one thing to make a power grab. It’s another to willingly risk your sister’s life. When Larch pulled that gun, he didn’t care if he hit her accidentally. I couldn’t stand by and watch that happen. Sorry, Nova. Sorry this went so far.”

She held my arm with both of hers, squeezing, talking to her brother. “It’s okay. I get it. Thank you, Richard. I mean it.”

Glen cleared his throat. Every one of the guards and officers looked at him with a respect that had no doubt grown firmly over the years of his service. “You heard the king, these people worked together to commit conspiracy against the crown. Arrest them all.”

“And what about what he did?” Kurtis yelled, fighting the officers who shoved him into the back of a different car.

“He’s the king,” Glen said, shrugging. “No one here is going to arrest him for using his own land however he wants. Especially not when he’s given the monarchy its first child in decades.”

The paparazzi from earlier surrounded us, snapping photos as the Valentines were driven off the property. There was a constant buzz of talking now. Every microphone was shoved in our faces.

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