Page 41 of Regally Binding

“Wake up, Princess. We’ve got to go in ten minutes,” someone shouted. It was like she was flailing at the bottom of a well full of water and couldn’t bring herself out. A hand touched her cheek, slowly coaxing her awake.

Eventually, she opened her eyes. She rubbed the exhaustion away from them and yawned loudly. “Ouch.Motherfucker.” Suddenly, the last week came flooding back: the meeting with royalty, the fall at the pub, and Bear. Her sleep had been so deep.

“How many painkillers did you take last night?” Bear asked as his thumb brushed her cheek. His face was close, and he furrowed his brow as he touched her. She remembered Strike’s warning to stay away from Bear and recoiled from his touch. As much as she didn’t respect Strike’s words, she didn’t want to cause problems for Bear or have anything to do with him.

He stepped back, and his face momentarily dropped before he replaced it with a mask of ambivalence. “You needed rest, but that means we’ve only got ten minutes. I’ll leave you to get dressed and see you by the lift ASAP.”

He strode out of the room before she could explain her flinch. Not that she owed him that.

It was her DNA test results day, and she didn’t have time to shower. They should have roused her sooner.

Liss braved the mirror and blanched. Dark circles settled under her eyes, and her hair desperately attempted to leave her scalp at multiple angles. A quick smell of her underarms made her reel. She couldn’t go to the palace smelling like off cheese.

Everything hurt as she moved around the room. With the pain in her arm and a time limit, she’d only manage a sink shower. Isla had named it that during university when she dramatically threw water at herself and practically flooded the shared bathroom.

Liss smiled at the memory until Bear bellowed, “Eight minutes!” from the other room.

She quickly cleaned her teeth, tossed water at herself, and dressed. She paraded into the room with one minute to spare.

“You okay?” Bear asked as they stepped into the lift. Liss caught her reflection. She resembled a hungover ghost.

“I’m fine,” she replied curtly.

“You seem off.” He side-eyed her, and she shrugged. If he was waiting for an explanation, he was out of luck. Strike’s warning replayed as the plinky-plonky lift music encroached on her thoughts. Maybe Bear woke her late because he’d only just returned from seeing Mazdy or another fuck buddy. She stared anywhere but at him as jealousy pinched her belly. Liss grimaced as she shifted her arm in the sling. The painkillers hadn’t kicked in, but it was a little better. “Is your arm okay? Are you nervous about today?”

“I said I’m fine, Bear.” She winced at her tone.

“Right.” He released a huff of air.

The wounds in Liss’s heart opened deeper. Liss kicked herself at her teen behaviour.

The lift doors opened at the parking garage, and Bear led her to the four-by-four where Strike waited.

He offered to help her in. “Because of your arm.” But Liss shrugged him off and struggled into the car by herself.

Again, he huffed but didn’t say anything. Liss caught Strike’s reflection in the rear-view mirror. He gave her a nod.I didn’t do it for you.The words teased the tip of her tongue, but she stared out the window.

The car was silent, but Liss reflected on her future as the green parks turned into skyscrapers and the vivid spring colours became muted greys and concrete shelters with no spaces between them. Everything would change after this meeting. Today, she’d learn if she was royalty and part of an establishment. Maybe the test would be negative, and she’d return to her life, pulling pints and laughing with punters about the royals by the evening.

Her nana was adamant she was the King’s granddaughter. What would it mean to have a family? Growing up without money and struggling for every meal was okay. She and her mum were a force against the world and made the best of all they had, but there was something else. Liss had always missed having siblings or cousins to play with. Her dad had disappeared before her birth. He didn’t want children and made that clear by avoiding all contact. She’d tried to find him when her mum was ill, but either he’d left the country or changed his name, because he remained incommunicado. That’s when the pub and the strangers in it became her family.

But today, all that might change. Liss couldn’t ignore ties to the royal family and their history anymore. She twisted her hair with trembling fingers, and her teeth quietly chattered. The situation was epic. Bigger than epic.

I can’t do this.

She’d been confident and rude when she’d met with them last time, but her nana had been with her, and Liss hadn’t understood the moment’s importance. Everything with Bear over the previous days was a distraction, but today, she was alone. The King or his family might talk her into making a decision she didn’t want. She could destroy her whole life in one meeting.

“Are you okay, Liss?” Bear’s eyes were like saucers.

Her mouth turned down, and she squeezed her lips together. She tried to keep it together on the surface. She wasn’t ready to change her life forever. She fisted her hands.I don’t know if I want this.

“She’s fine,” Strike snapped. “She’s a big girl who can handle her own problems.”

A look of confusion and annoyance passed between Bear and Strike. But the conflict between the two of them couldn’t stop her rapid breathing.

“We’re here,” Strike announced, nodding to the gatekeeper. The car rolled down a long driveway. They were in a different place this time. “It’s St. Peter’s Palace.”

Her trembles turned to shakes and traversed her body. Her shoulders wouldn’t keep still.

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