Page 7 of Regally Binding

“Firstly, Alex,”—Liss jumped to her feet—“no one speaks to my grandma like that, so put your polite face back on. You know, the one you save for opening a supermarket or a politician’s toilet.”

Liss’s heart swelled and her shoulder gremlin growled when the corner of Bear’s mouth rose temporarily in a smile.

“Secondly, I don’t slum it in my world. I enjoy my life. At least I can leave the house looking like me and not Royal Barbie.” She looked Marianne up and down. “Finally, I will have the DNA test, but only because I want to prove my grandma right. Once we get the result, I’ll make a decision. Just because the King wants to admit he has a second family doesn’t mean I agree to be part of this shitshow.”

Dropped mouths and wide eyes faced her. Liss fiddled with her ring again. The King’s chest shuddered with each breath. She’d gone too far. Maybe she shouldn’t have brought the fire-filled pub version of herself. She usually saved her attitude for greasy drunks grumbling about the condom machine in the toilets, but this was the royal family, and she didn’t want to make the King’s health worse.

A cough from Bear drew her attention. He winked at her, fanning the fire and replacing her anxiety with pride.

“Right, well, if we’re done with thisPrincess Diariesshit, let’s get this DNA test over with,” she sassed with a smile.

Chapter Four

“That was eventful,” Liss announced to her grandma, who sat by her side, leaning as far away as possible. The bodyguard, who was in the front passenger seat when they’d arrived at Clarbon House, was driving, and Bear took his seat. They said a few indistinguishable words to each other, but the rest of the journey was in silence.

“I preferred the Bentley to this,” Nana commented as she stared out the window of the black Range Rover. At least she’d stopped waving to strangers. “I feel like I’m in a police corruption television show.”

“Are we seriously not going to talk about what happened, Nana? That whole thing was surreal. You’ve had sex with the King. Why didn’t you mention this sooner?” Liss turned in her seat, but her nana avoided eye contact.

“I didn’t think you’d find out.” Nana shrugged.

“Are you fucking kidding me?”

“Language,” Nana replied, her neck snapping as she stared Liss down.

Liss narrowed her eyes. What she said in front of the King about her grandma’s language was true, and if he’d spent time with her when she was young, it shouldn’t have been a surprise. “Did Mum know?”

Nana yawned.

Liss took deep breaths, although it didn’t stop her chest from tightening. “Did mum know who her dad was?”

Nana huffed and briefly touched her hair as if checking if the hairspray was still holding. It was her tick. She learnt as a dancernot to show anxiety, but Liss recognised the action from the brief parts of her childhood spent with her. “Stop being so dramatic, Felicity. None of it would have interested your mum. She was happy with her life.”

“I’m trying not to lose my shit with you, Nana, especially as I don’t know what will get back to the King. Yes, Bear and Bear’s mate, I know you’re listening,” Liss declared to the front seat. Bear shifted, but he didn’t say anything. “But I will be as dramatic as I want to be. Mum died a hideous, slow death from cancer—”

“I was there.”

“No, you weren’t.” Liss’s voice cracked, and she fisted her hands. “You were swanning around the world with your friends. I gave up university to be with her because she only had me. You didn’t fight the doctors daily to give her better support. I did. She could’ve received the best medical treatment as a member of the royal family. We wouldn’t have been alone.”

Flashbacks of her mother crying out in pain as she neared the end of her life stabbed at Liss’s heart, and tears brimmed her eyes. All that time, she had been alone, and her grandma knew it.

“Stop shouting at me. I’m an old lady.” Liss bit her tongue. Her nana only called herself old when it worked for her narrative. She was sprightly and adventurous when travelling the world. “Besides, if I’d told the King, I would have had to fight the royal family like you fought them today. That Marianne doesn’t like you, does she?”

So that was it. Altercation over. Liss learnt long ago that her nana didn’t discuss anything she didn’t want to. She was the queen of ignoring the bad, hoping it would disappear. Liss would let it lie for now. A heaviness filled her limbs. She was usually slow to anger unless she perceived injustice, but pain wasn’t unusual for her. However, she kept it locked in a box so as notto remember the sadness of her childhood before watching her mum suffer as she became an adult.

“No, I guess she doesn’t,” Liss replied with a slow sigh. Her body sagged as the last hours took their toll. “But I’m not sure why. Alexander will have the throne no matter what. The lineage is set even with this news of Mum.

“Make sure you tell the King that we’ve worked that out, Bear,” Liss shouted. Too many emotions were rushing through her body now that fatigue gripped her, revealing themselves without warning and at the wrong people. She should be taking this anger out on her grandma, not a stranger who’d helped her with the royals. “I’d hate for him to think a pleb with dirty boots and shit hair wanted to usurp Alex.”

“You could have made an effort,” her grandma retorted.

There was no point reasoning with her and explaining for the fifth time that her nana hadn’t told her where she was going or that she needed to make an effort.

“Your hair isn’t shit,” Bear grunted from the front. He didn’t look her way, but she knew what it was like to have those deep brown eyes staring at her. “And Strike and I are freelance.”

“I’m Strike,” the tall blond from the driver’s seat said, eyeballing her through the rear-view mirror. He was beautiful and reminded her of Thor. But it was Bear who held her attention.

“Hey, Strike. I won’t ask where you got your name. I will presume you’re also a naturist in your spare time and that it’s related to your baseball bat–sized meat.”

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