Page 93 of Regally Binding

“Does he always sound like a Ghostbuster?” Liss asked a still laughing Bear.

“If only you knew.” Bear chuckled.

The men left the car and helped her out after they checked for safety.

The three of them barrelled up to the security as a unit. “We need to see the King,” Strike shouted, drawing the attention of the odd passer-by from the street. If the sudden braking of their massive four-by-four wasn’t dramatic enough, their behaviour might get them arrested before they saved anyone.

The guard eyeballed Liss. “You’re not seeing the King. We’ve been given strict instructions not to let anyone in.”

“I’m his granddaughter,” she protested, adrenaline soaring.

“We know who you are.” Another guard walked from around the corner. “You’re the one we definitely can’t let in. The King is too sick to have visitors. We’re following orders.”

“Call Alex now,” Liss snapped. “And before you tell me what time it is, remember that I will be living here soon, and I can make your life a nightmare. Call him.”

Liss couldn’t make their lives a nightmare even if she wanted to, but the threat worked. The guard stepped away and mumbled to whoever answered his call. He hung up quickly.

“They said you can’t see the King. They added that if you don’t renounce your title, you’re putting yourself and all those you care about at ‘deathly risk.’” The guard winced. “Don’t shoot the messenger. Marianne is a witch. But you didn’t hear that from me.”

Liss’s mouth twisted as she considered her options.

“I’m not backing down no matter what happens to me now or in the future,” she whispered between gritted teeth to Bear and Strike. “I’m not letting my grandad die because someone’s obsessed with power and status. Not ever.”

“I’ve got you,” Bear grunted.

“What do you want to do?” Strike’s nostrils flared.

“This is fucking ridiculous,” Liss raged, throwing her hands in the air. Strangers stared.

Bear grimaced. “Princess, chill.”

“Shout ‘Princess, chill’ to me loudly. I have a plan.”

Bear’s brows furrowed, and Strike shook his head.

“Trust me, okay? Remember, I’m the woman who saved you from Mazdy’s agent. I’ve sorted out your invoices and paperwork, put the Prime Minister’s operations director in his place, and got you more work.” Her pulse was out of control. “So trust me.”

“You might as well.” Strike shrugged. “We’re running out of things to lose anyway.”

“And I need your most dramatic ways. Think falling doorman who trips on a DJ booth,” she cheeked Bear.

He glared at her but still hollered, “Princess Felicity, I need you to please chill the hell out. If Marianne and Prince Alex won’t let you see the King, there’s nothing we can do.”

“I fucking adore you,” she whispered to Bear before jumping up and down and shouting, “But I need to see my grandad. He’s dying, and I need to talk to him about whether I should renounce my title tomorrow.”

Passers-by pulled out their phones to record her, but she needed the press. Liss shoved her hands high and screamed as loud as she could, “I have secrets I need to tell my grandad, the King. Shameful things for a future princess. I need to confess.”

She covered her smile with her hand as more people stopped. Her ranting continued until the press flooded the street, quickly followed by a car with blacked-out windows.

“Beatrice and Gable.” Strike nodded towards the vehicle. “I called them from the lab.”

“Clever man,” she said, shoving Strike playfully.

He beamed as he pretended to jolt from the power of her hit.

Journalists and strangers wielding cameras surrounded Liss before Gable and Beatrice reached them.

“What’s going on, Princess Felicity? Has the King locked you out the gates already?”

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