Page 70 of Tall, Royal and Grumpy

“That really wasn’t necessary, Mother,” Fay said with a face of disgust.

“Leila, dear,” Father said with a chuckle, “I think that’s enough. He’s a grown man, not a teenager.”

“Forget the condoms,” Gigi announced with a flick of one nimble hand. “Get her pregnant and she’ll have no choice but to marry you.”

My mouth fell open, Mother gasped, I think Adam choked on a cough, and Father and Uncle Arsh called out, “Mother,” in perfect sync. Fay was the only one cackling hysterically.

Gigi sniffed and haughtily tipped up her chin. “What? I said nothing wrong. And anyway, all those romance books you read, Leila, are exactly like that.”

It was Mother’s turn to blush as all eyes turned to her, but she held herself tall and regal and without shame. “It works in romance books, Gigi. Not in real life.”

A full-blown discussion broke out as to whether it would be acceptable for me to get Esmeralda pregnant or not so she would have to marry me as if I wasn’t even sitting there.

I wasn’t sure what surprised me more. That everyone in my family was talking about my marriage to Esmeralda as if I had already proposed to her. That Gigi wanted five great-grandchildren from me.

Or that I kept picturing Esmeralda waddling around Chaukham Palace by my side, her belly big and round with our child, while I held a little girl with her mother’s eyes and smile on my other hip.

Fuck. What had she done to me?

Chapter Twenty-One

ESMERALDA

“How could you be so bloody stupid?”

I flinched at Kareem’s vicious tone, shrinking into myself. I didn’t dare lift my gaze up from the dark red carpet where he was pacing in the middle of his bedroom.

My heart was pounding at the base of my throat, my hands clenched in fists. I was fighting the trembling fear pouring through me by focusing on the pain of my nails digging into my palms.

“Look at me when I’m talking to you!”

My head reflexively snapped up and I stood tall. Shoulders down, back straight, chin ninety-degrees to the floor, hands clasped in front of me. The perfect posture.

Face blank. Mouth shut. Silent unless spoken to. The perfect princess.

My older brother glared at me through his flaming eyes with his hands on his hips. “What did I say to you before we came to Touma?”

“That I wasn’t to cause any trouble,” I uttered as evenly as I could manage.

“Exactly,” he hissed, and that one word lashed at me like a whip. “So, what are you bloody doing disappearing off with Prince Kai and running around the palace half-naked?”

A pained blush of mortification burnt my cheeks at the way he spat out the words like they felt dirty on his tongue. “It’s not what you’re assuming. I fell asleep—”

Kareem scoffed. “Oh, it’s not, is it?” His scrutiny tracked down my body and he threw a hand towards me. “Then explain to me why you’re wearing nothing but a T-shirt that clearly doesn’t belong to you with love bites all down your legs.”

Humiliation stung wet and hot at the back of my eyes. I scrunched the front of the black T-shirt that fit me like a short dress in one hand, glancing down at myself.

I was wearing Kai’s T-shirt. The one he’d hurriedly grabbed from his room when he went to get a damp towel after he saw my pyjama shirt had his spend on it. He’d carefully dressed me in it too, and I’d felt so comfortable and safe then, wrapped in the soft fabric and his scent.

Kareem’s accusation made the T-shirt feel coarse and scratchy against my skin. Like I was wearing something that was burnt and shredded and dirty. I felt dirty. And humiliatingly bare.

The fabric that swallowed me up last night suddenly felt too short. Too exposing even though I was wearing my pyjama shorts underneath. My legs felt cold and naked, and I was so painfully aware of all the marks Kai had left on them that I was fighting the urge to crouch down and wrap my arms around my legs to hide the hickeys. When the previous night I had wanted him to leave more on me.

I didn’t regret it. Last night. I wasn’t ashamed of what I’d done with Kai. But I wished Kareem had never seen me like this. I wished I had gotten to my room instead of bumping into him not even ten seconds after I rushed out the TV room. I wished I hadn’t seen the shock and anger flash through his eyes like a still image film before he told me to follow him through gritted teeth.

I wished that last night’s ecstasy and joy hadn’t become another reason for Kareem to hate me.

“How many times do I have to remind you that your actions reflect on me?” Kareem bit out in my silence. I rapidly blinked back tears as my tongue swelled in my mouth. “You are my heir for fuck’s sake! Do you think it looked good that I had no idea where you bloody were?”

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