Page 3 of Reckless Royalty

“We’ll leave at six tomorrow morning,” Mihai says, his tone clipped as he turns to leave the room. He doesn’t spare me a second glance when he walks out.

My bodyguard might as well be a block of concrete.

The door clicks shut behind him, and I’m left alone with Ion Vasile again.

“I know this is a lot to take in,” he says, his tone softening again. “But you need to trust me, Madison. My primary concern is your safety, and this is the best way to keep you safe.”

Trust. It’s a foreign concept to me now. I trusted that I’d be safe with my family, that nothing bad would happen if we went to dinner. I trusted that everything would be fine, that life would go on like it always had.

But now, everything is different. Everything is broken.I’mbroken.

Ion rises from his seat and walks around the desk, coming to stand in front of me.

“My son will protect you,” he says, his gaze steady. “I know he seems … distant, but he understands the importance of this. You will be safe with him.”

I nod again, my hands gripping the arms of the chair tightly. There’s nothing left for me to say. Not that I can, even if I wanted to.

“Boris will take you to your bedroom, everything you need is there. Get some rest,” he says, stepping back. “Tomorrow, we’ll leave this all behind.”

As if it’s that easy. As if leaving means the memories won’t follow me wherever I go.

I stand up, feeling like the air has been knocked out of me. Ion watches me for a moment longer before nodding toward the door.

“Goodnight, Maddy.”

My heart leaps into my throat at the casual way he says my nickname, and I turn and walk out, the silence heavy around me.

Mihai is waiting in the hallway, leaning against the wall, his arms crossed over his chest. He glances at me with an unreadable expression, before pushing off the wall and walking toward the front door.

No words. No comfort. Just the cold reminder that I’m a job to him.

And that’s all I’ll ever be.

MIHAI

Iclimb into the driver’s seat, slamming the door harder than I mean to. My hands grip the steering wheel so tight my knuckles turn white.

Three days. It’s been three days since the hit, and now I’m babysitting some girl who hasn’t said a word since the murders. My father says she’s important.Fine. But this isn’t my job.

I’m still fuming when I hear Nikolai chuckling in the passenger seat, his feet kicked up on the dashboard like he owns the place.

“Meet her?” he asks, smirking without even looking at me.

“Yeah,” I mutter, jamming the key into the ignition. The engine roars to life, but I don’t pull out of the estate just yet. I need a second. Or maybe I need to hit something.

“Babysitting isn’t your thing, huh?” Nikolai continues, finally turning his head to look at me. His blue eyes glint with amusement, and I resist the urge to punch him. Barely.

“You think this is funny?” I snap, glaring at him. “I’m supposed to be handling real shit, not watching over some girl who can’t even talk.”

“Touchy.” He chuckles, clearly enjoying this way too much. “What’s the matter? You don’t like your new job? Maybe you’reafraid she’ll be too much work. Or maybe,” he pauses, tapping his chin theatrically, “you’re pissed because it’s not Sofia they’re asking you to look after. That’d be more fun, right?”

“Shut the fuck up, Nikolai,” I growl, finally pulling the car out of the driveway. The tires crunch against the gravel as we speed away from the estate. “This is bullshit, and you know it.”

He chuckles under his breath. “Yeah, but it’s your bullshit now.”

“I remember not too long ago when you had to play babysitter to Chiara, asshole.”

“And look how that turned out; she ended up getting engaged to G,” he says and I don’t miss the regretful look in his eye.

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