Page 64 of Royal Crush

His ears bloomed pink, and he glanced away. “I was angry for a long time. I blamed you for being foolish enough to kiss a boy in public. We were already being stalked, and everyone was on edge.”

My eyes narrowed. He blamedme? “Get out.”

“No, listen.” He sounded desperate. Grabbing the bottom of the chair seat, he dragged it forward until he could grip the handle on my bed. “I know I was a complete fucking asshole. I get that. I shut it all down because the reality sucked, and I didn’t know how to be a good brother while also being the person Mom and Dad need me to be. I…I didn’t know how I could be both. They’re not exactly the best role models for that.”

My head dropped toward my chest, and I took several calming breaths. He was right. My parents were not bothparents and king and queen. They tried for a while and loved us as best they could, but it wasn’t the same as what other kids got.

Their neglect was not only expected but praised for putting the country in front of their own family. It was just how things were done. There was no changing it.

“I panicked when I realized that could be me with my kids.” I looked up at that and saw the terror in his eyes. “I love my girls more than life itself.” Now, there was a ferocity in his voice I’d never heard before. “I love my wife. I can’t imagine a moment where I’ll be expected to care less about them than a country full of strangers.”

“You don’t have to,” I told him.

He reached for me, and I let him snag my hand. His own was softer than mine, and his grip was weaker. “You’re still warm.”

“I have a fever,” I told him with a laugh, then rolled my eyes when he looked panicked again. “Relax. I’m out of the woods.”

He took a trembling breath, then said, “If anything like this ever happened to my girls, I would have lost my mind. But Mom and Dad—they’ve never been here, have they?”

“In the beginning,” I said. “When I was still young and the doctors weren’t sure if my paralysis was complete or not.” But once they’d gotten the news that there was zero chance for even a partial recovery, that had been it. “They’ve never come when I was sick, but you know that would have caused pandemonium.”

Carlo shook his head. “No. I mean, well, yes. I had a tail on my way here, and I have no doubt there’s three dozen media outlets waiting for me at the line. But none of that would matter if it was Bea or Maria. And if it had been me…” He trailed off, but I knew what he was going to say.

“We’ve always been different, Carlo.”

“We shouldn’t have been that different. I’m so fucking sorry, Cam. Seriously. Jesus, I can’t—you looked so goddamn palewhen I got here. You had oxygen on, and you were shaking, and all these machines were beeping.”

Waving him off, I pointed to the IV pole. “And then they dump all this into my veins and the infection clears up and I’m fine. I’ll be back up tomorrow.”

He squeezed my hand once more, then let me go. “This guy—Aleric—you know him, right? I mean, you’re on set telling him what to do?”

My cheeks flushed, which made me a little dizzy. “Yeah. Yes.”

Carlo’s eyes narrowed. “You like him.”

“Carlo—”

“No, I—that’s great. It’s fine. Right? Because he likes you too?” When I didn’t answer, he sat back and folded his arms over his chest. “I could see it in his face. He said your name differently than most people do.”

Maybe this could be it—my moment. The world didn’t have to know, but my brother could. “We haven’t told anyone. It’s…new. And I don’t know if it’ll go anywhere.”

“You think Mom and Dad will care?”

I laughed. “No. And even if they did,Idon’t. But like you said, there’s three dozen media outlets waiting for a photo of you—and later of me. That’s a lot to ask of him.”

“Well, he’s a celebrity,” Carlo pointed out. “Isn’t he used to that shit?”

If only my brother knew the half of it, but in all honesty, I didn’t want him to. I wanted everyone to know Aleric with fresh eyes and a clean slate, the way he deserved to be known. Eventually, he’d find out. If this became something—if we went public—the story would resurface.

All the ugly lies would hit the headlines, and Aleric would either have to lean in or confess the truth to people who wouldalways be unwilling to believe him. A burden would fall on me, and my parents would have to deal with the optics.

If it got bad enough, I’d have to make a choice between him and family, though right now, that didn’t feel like much of a choice at all. I appreciated my brother’s awakening, but it had taken nearly two decades for him to look at me and actually see me.

“Can I use your phone?”

Carlo stared at me.

“I’m pretty sure Cillian has mine, and he doesn’t approve of me making calls while I’m in bed like this.”

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