Page 80 of Regally Binding

His beaming smile was endearing. “Ma taught me to make them. I have a bit of a chocolate addiction,” he confessed.

“That explains a lot. No wonder you always have a bar of it in your pocket.”

Bear shrugged. “Got to be prepared, right? I work out a lot to keep these hips trim. Ma said if I was going to eat chocolate all the time, then I should learn to make something good rather than get my fix on the rubbish stuff.”

“She’s a wise woman.” The sweetness of the raspberry hit her tongue.

“She’d love you. You’ve got the right amount of feistiness combined with kindness. You should meet her when….” Bear tailed off.

This thing between them wouldn’t include meeting families or nights out with their friends. They’d agreed their lives needed to go in different directions, which meant they only had days left together. Liss gritted her teeth. She was making this decision for her mum and the life she never had. Liss needed to have that family too. Besides, Bear had been explicit; there wasn’t space for Liss in his future. He could only act like they were a couple because they’d agreed it was for days, not forever.

Her mobile rang loudly. “It’s my grandad.”

She swiped another cookie as she returned to the living room.

The King barely spoke between hacking coughs and agonising groans. Surely, it was a blip. She couldn’t lose him. Her future was rearing closer, yet even aware of how happy it would make him, something held her back from confirming her position in the royal family.

“Will you visit me on Thursday before the big press conference on Friday? I’d love to speak to you and have a proper chat before the circus begins,” he rasped.

“Of course, Grandad,” she said as Bear placed a cup of coffee on the table and left the room.

She couldn’t admit that the hope of a future with Bear might be holding her back. There was a connection between her and Archibald. He was caring. It was something she hadn’t had in a family member since her mum, but maybe that would change if she renounced the throne. Liss shook her head. “What are your doctors saying about your condition? I’m sure, as royal medics, they’ve seen a lot—”

“They’re not the royal medics,” her grandad replied between coughs. “They’re specialists that Marianne found. When mydoctors couldn’t decipher what was wrong with me, she made a stand.”

As the fine hairs rose on Liss’s arms, she sipped her coffee and considered her next question. “So it’s not cancer?”

“No. Sadly, no one knows what it is, including the medics who arrived two months ago.”

“Is that when you started taking the medication? The pills you carried at the party reminded me of the ones Mum took when she was dying.”

“I feel your care, dear Felicity, and I’m so grateful for it. If I’d known about your mum, my beautiful daughter, I wouldn’t have rested if there was treatment or support anywhere in the world available to her. Around six months ago, I was relatively healthy, but I started to take a vitamin drink due to being “beyond my health peak,” as Marianne and Alex called it. I remember it well because it was the day after their engagement, and she said she wanted me to be well enough to make speeches at the wedding.” He paused to cough so loudly that she closed her eyes and pressed a fist to her lips. His illness was breaking her heart. “But I started to get ill about three months ago. My tests drew no answers, so darling Marianne brought me those medics, but there’s nothing they can do. When the death toll chimes your name, then you go. I’m glad to have met you and to see you carry on the royal name.”

Heat filled Liss’s cheeks. He wasn’t trying to blackmail her, but guilt rested inside her. She needed to accept her lineage for him and her mum. But that didn’t take away from his illness and her suspicions. “And those pills you’re taking, what’s their name?”

“I’m taking a couple of pills for different things. But the ones you saw are experimental painkillers that are supposed to bolster my immune system and kill any infections. They’re sucha blessing. I’m unsure of their name, but they have eased the pain.”

“Who told you they did that?”

“I can’t remember. I must go. Marianne’s on her way back and likes to be around when I have calls or see visitors, but I wanted to speak to you alone and say that it will be lovely if you decide to take the throne. I will see you Thursday before the big press conference on Friday, my beautiful granddaughter.”

The phone went dead.

Liss ran to the door before turning back. She knew precisely what pills he was taking. The image of them at the party was fixed in her brain. They were a form of morphine given to her mum in her last weeks for pain relief. They didn’t do anything he said and weren’t experimental. That might be the only treatment he’d had. Liss laboured over her worries, shaking violently enough to make her teeth chatter. Even Marianne wouldn’t kill her future husband’s dad and Alex wouldn’t be party to that. The timing of the vitamin drink made her body sweat even as she shivered. She needed to stop what was happening to the King before it was too late, but she was nobody compared to Marianne and Alex.

“Bear,” she squeaked. She couldn’t do it alone. The shakes filled her entire body. Was this a panic attack? She attempted to call him again, but her mouth wouldn’t open. Her heart thudded. She was always alone. It was the same panic that controlled her after her mum had died. Suddenly, Bear appeared. He walked her to the sofa and sat her down before grabbing a blanket and covering her lap.

“What’s happening, Princess?” he asked, wrapping her legs tightly. “What did the King say?”

If Marianne heard them talking about the pills she might escalate his death. Liss opened her mouth, but words stuckto her tongue like someone had poured glue into her. As the thoughts clouded her brain, her body refused to stop trembling.

“Liss, you’re scaring me.”

Liss shook her head to reset herself, but her heart pounded harder and harder.

Chapter Thirty-Seven

Bear pushed her hand against her heart. “Breathe, Liss. Please close your eyes and focus on your breathing.”

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