Royal Line by Carrie Ryan (lightweight ebook reader .txt) 📗

“I’m not good for her,” I whispered.

“And that is for her to decide. Not you.”

And then the three brothers left me standing there wondering what the fuck I was going to do.

That’s how I somehow found myself standing in front of a fucking palace.

Roman and Wilder had already left to do their thing, and I stood next to Breck, who just raised a brow at me.

“Still going to remain silent? You spent enough time being that way on the plane.”

“There wasn’t much to say on the plane.”

“At least you showed up. I was pretty sure Wilder was going to truss you up and stuff you in the back if you hadn’t.”

I looked over at London’s brother and frowned, trying to size him up, but I really couldn’t. He laughed, and he joked, and he acted like he had not a care in the world, but I had a feeling there was something else beneath the surface.

It seemed there always was when it came to this family.

“What do you want me to say?” I asked.

“That’s up to you. Wilder and Roman will probably kill you if you do anything to hurt her.”

“And you?”

Something dark came over his eyes, and he shook his head. “You won’t know what I plan to do in advance.”

“You know what I do for a living, don’t you? And you’re threatening me?” I asked, confused by this man.

“I know exactly what you do, Kannon Adams. I know exactly who you are. I also know that you protected my sister and that she loves you. So don’t fuck this up. Now, come into the palace, and we can show you how the royals live.”

“I don’t think I’m ready for this.”

“Nobody ever is. But we’re the Waterfords, the royals of Alden.”

We made our way through the castle, and I could barely take it all in. It was large, clean, and people seemed to be moving about all the time as if they had places to go and a right to be there. This was where London lived? No wonder she wanted to travel the world and look through her camera lens. This wasn’t what she wanted, this life that seemed to be closing in around her.

But I didn’t think she had a choice.

And yet somehow, I needed to make her see that I could be a choice for her.

“Okay, here she is. Don’t fuck it up.” Breck practically pushed me through a set of doors to a courtyard and then closed them behind me.

I looked over my shoulder while Breck saluted before walking away. I turned around, noticing the trees and the flowers and benches everywhere. It seemed to be a private area, with only one person in attendance.

London. She was turned away from me, her hair flowing down her back, and she stood in front of a fountain, her shoulders set, looking regal, like she was set in stone.

I moved closer, one step, and then another.

And London whirled, her eyes wide, her face pale and bruises still evident, and she just looked at me and blinked.

“Kannon?” she asked. She took a step forward, but then she seemed to remember our last meeting and froze.

“London.”

“What are you doing here?” she asked with a frown.

“I wanted to talk to you.”

She shook her head. “Why? Why do you want to talk to me? You’re the one who pushed me away.” She held up her hand. “No, I don’t want to rehash that. I don’t want to feel like I did before. How did you even get here?”

I was determined to be honest. “Your brothers found me and brought me here. And Breck practically pushed me into this courtyard.” I cringed as her face paled even more, but I continued. “I would have found my own way here sooner or later, but I was too chicken shit to take the first step and I needed time to collect my thoughts.”

She blinked in disbelief, and I didn’t blame her. “I’m going to ask again. Why are you here?”

“Because I was an idiot.”

“I’m not going to correct you there. You are an idiot. About many things. But why don’t you tell me exactly what you mean?”

“You’re not going to make this easy, are you?”

“Why should I? I don’t even know what this is.” London let out a breath, and then she narrowed her eyes at my arm. “How is your arm? Are you okay? I’ll get back to being annoyed with you in a minute, but you were literally sliced open a week ago. Should you even be here? How did you even travel?”

I took a step forward and reached out to brush my knuckle against her jaw, but she took a step away. I ignored the hurt I felt. After all, I’d earned it.

“I’m fine. It’s not the first time.”

She swallowed hard, tears swelling in her eyes before she blinked them away and rage filled them instead. Good, she was still the fiery London I had fallen for.

I just hoped to hell she could forgive me.

“I’m so sorry.”

“You said that, but you haven’t told me why you’re sorry.”

“I’ll never get the picture of you hurt and bleeding out of my mind. And it’s my fault that you were even hurt to begin with.”

“How could you blame yourself for that? My aunt orchestrated all of this so that she could have the throne for her son. And yet you’re blaming yourself? You did everything to protect me. I’m the one who ran out because I couldn’t stand to look at you.”

“And if I hadn’t pushed you away, if I hadn’t acted like a dick because I was scared about what I was feeling for you and my own inadequacies, maybe you wouldn’t have run straight into danger. Maybe neither you nor Sparrow would have been hurt.”

“Is she really okay? She and I have been texting a bit, but I don’t know if she’s lying to me or not.”

“You’re checking up on her?” I asked.

“Of course, I am. She was