Page 22 of Regally Binding

“Scared you can’t handle it?” Did she want him to see it, or was she trying to get a reaction out of him after the lingering sensations from her dream?

Bear shifted in his seat and fumbled in his pocket. “Maybe you should call your grandma. She must be worried about you. I’ve got a spare burner.” He stood abruptly and turned away. He seemed to spend an age rummaging through his bag.

Her naked body made him think of her grandma! No wonder guys didn’t want her. Her skills in bed were probably as bad as her body.

Chapter Eleven

“Hey, Nana, how are you?” Liss asked with a singsong tone. She stretched against her headboard with the phone on speaker in her lap. The bed was like a cloud. If she were the King’s granddaughter, she’d be able to buy her perfect bed rather than the half-price one she got from her landlord. The sun streaking from the window warmed her arms, and she pulled her ponytail forward and twisted her hair around her fingers.

“I’m having a ball, darling. Sergio’s summer home is delightful. The sun is shining, and life couldn’t be better.” Liss’s false upbeat tone was a joke compared to her nana’s genuine joy.

Liss dropped her hair and flicked her ponytail back. “So you’re not coming home soon? I presumed you’d be back within the week.”

“I’ve barely been here three days and have a tan to top up. You know what the British weather does to my complexion. You’re sounding a bit desperate. Stop grinding your teeth.”

Liss forced her mouth closed and counted slowly to ten. Her grandma was impossible when it came to anything meaningful. As a teenager, her grandma sneaked her into clubs and bohemian bars where men shared poetry while swirling whisky around a glass and ageing creative types bemoaned the modern world while smoking dubious substances. The night Liss came home smelling of scotch and weed, all hell broke loose. Her mum was under the impression her grandma was showing her culture, not a “den of iniquity.” Her grandma stormed out of the house, declaring her family was the ultimate disappointment and that her friends were embarrassed her daughter was such a bore. Shevowed she’d never see either of them again, but Nana crawled back within a month when she ran out of money and owed a card shark a hundred pounds.

“Why are you calling? Talking twice a month is a bit much for us, let alone twice a week.”

“I was worried about you.” Liss lied. Her grandma looked after herself, but Liss was nervous about sharing her truth. “And I thought you might be worried about me.”

“Are Bear and Strike not protecting you properly? I’m surprised you don’t fancy them. You always develop crushes on the most unattainable men,” her grandma said matter-of-factly. “Do you remember that nurse who cared for your mum? He was engaged to a man, but you hung on his every word when he visited after her funeral.”

Liss snatched up the phone and turned the speaker off. “I listened to him because he cared for Mum, and I was grateful. I was nineteen years old and supporting a dying woman. He was my only help.” Liss tried not to snarl.

“If you say so. I’m not worried about you. You’ve always been able to deal with everything life throws at you.” It would have been a compliment from anyone else, but her grandma knew she had no choice. No one came to her rescue. Liss was alone, as always. But she didn’t want to be considered resilient when her trauma wasn’t her choice.

Liss attempted to count to ten but didn’t reach three when her grandma yawned. “Are we done?”

“Could we talk about this situation you’ve got me in?”

“That’s a funny way to describe a future of fame and fortune. Darling, you’re one of the luckiest women in the world. All little girls dream about being a princess. Trust you to find a negative.” Her nana huffed. She was overly pronouncing her T’s and speaking with a cut-glass accent. “And you get the perfect family you’ve always said you were missing.”

“Did Mum know?”

“Know what?” Liss caught a laugh in the distance before her grandma cackled to someone at the end of the call. “Be quiet, Sergio, you rogue.”

“Did Mum know that the King was her dad or did you lie to her about her past too?”

“Stop being so dramatic. I didn’t lie to either of you. I failed to tell you the entire truth. It’s not like it would have made any difference.”

“Mum could have received the best treatment. She wouldn’t have died.” Liss’s voice rose, and her chest tightened.

“You can’t know that.”

“It’s cocktail o’clock, Bets,” a male voice sang.

“I have to go, darling. I have a lot going on here.”

Liss pushed on, desperate for her grandma’s support. “I received a threat on my phone, and someone in the crowd outside my flat said something nasty to me. Bear and Strike moved me to a hotel.”

“Thank goodness I hired the boys then. I am clever. Anyway, take care and have fun. I’m sure you will be fine. Give my love to the King.” She laughed gaily before hanging up.

Tears stung Liss’s eyes. It was impossible to believe she was the same person who’d argued with the King days before. She couldn’t stand up to her grandma, and most others railroaded her.

“Don’t let it stress you. You make your own family in life.”

She jumped at Bear’s gruff voice coming from the doorway.

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