Page 9 of Broken King

An engagement ring is going to look so perfect on me.

“Something happened, Kate.”

His words come out like they’re being dragged from his mouth. I don’t understand. Did something happen with his father or one of his brothers?

“What? What’s wrong? Is it something bad? I hope your family is okay.”

I wait for him to answer, but he doesn’t say anything. He simply lowers his gaze to the ground. What could be going on that’s so terrible he’s acting like this?

Sure it can’t be that bad, I take his hand and give it a gentle, sympathetic squeeze. “Whatever it is, I’m here for you, Ronan. You can tell me. Whatever you need, you can count on me.”

He clears his throat but still doesn’t say anything. I wait to hear what’s troubling him, worried more with each second that passes that he still doesn’t tell me.

I bring his hand to my lips and press a tiny kiss on his knuckles. “It’s okay. If you need some time, we can sit here all night.”

Ronan swallows hard, and I see his Adam’s apple bob up and down. I’ve always loved that, even though I have no idea why. Something about it seems so masculine.

As I think about how even such a minor thing about him makes me smile, he finally speaks, and in a flat voice devoid of any emotion, he quietly says, “I slept with someone, Kate.”

At first, his words don’t register in my mind. I can’t comprehend them, even though they’re only six short syllables.

I slept with someone, Kate.

When I finally realize what he meant, I shake my head. It’s all I can do. I can’t think of anything else to do. There are no words in my head I wish I could say. There’s nothing else my body seems to be able to do but that one motion of shaking my head over and over.

Now he can’t seem to stop talking. He turns his body toward me, and I see worry written all over his face.

“It didn’t mean a thing. I swear. I don’t know how it happened. I was at this party one night right after I got back to school from winter break, and we were all just having a good time. One thing lead to another, and I ended up alone with someone when everyone else passed out.”

He stops, I assume to let me say something about what he just confessed, but I have no words in my head. All I feel is sick, like my entire body aches.

Ronan takes my other hand in his. In his eyes, I see how upset this had made him. “It was just one time. I swear. I’ve felt like shit ever since. I should have told you before this, but I didn’t want to do it over the phone or in a text. Say something. Say anything. Just don’t stay quiet. Tell me I’m a bastard. Tell me it’s going to take me doing something pretty damnincredible to forgive me. I get that. I promise I’m going to do so many wonderful things from now on that you’ll be able to forget this stupid mistake.”

He finally stops talking, but I still don’t know what to say. He cheated on me. He slept with some girl at his school. How could he do that to us?

Then all I want to know is who. Who was this girl he forgot all about me for that night? We’ve spoken every night since winter break, so who was she that made him able to simply forget he loved me?

“What girl, Ronan? What’s her name?”

He winces, as if telling me her name hurts him. “Amanda Isaacson.”

In my mind, I repeat her name as my stomach roils, threatening to make me vomit all over him and me. Amanda Isaacson, the cheerleader from high school who’s always wanted to have Ronan all to herself. She told me those exact words when she heard we’d begun dating.

Amanda Isaacson, the only child of the man who owns half of the island of Manhattan. The one person from high school who comes from a family as wealthy as the Kings.

Beautiful Amanda with the blond hair and the nose job her father got her for her sixteenth birthday and the big fake boobs he got her for graduation.

I tug my hands from his hold and stand up, still not sure what to say. But now that I know who he cheated on me with, words begin to form. If I should say them is another story because all I’ve got is hurt fueling my thoughts.

Ronan looks up at me with those soulful brown eyes I’ve always loved, and in them I see worry but even more, I see fear. “Please, Kate. It meant nothing to me. I know I’m going to have to do a ton to make it up to you, but I’m ready to makethis right. Just give me the chance. Please. Don’t let this ruin everything we have.”

Tears begin to burn at the back of my eyes, but I refuse to cry. “We have nothing, Ronan. Whatever we had, you killed it that night you slept with her.”

Jumping up from the park bench, he shakes his head wildly as he tries to get me to give him his hand again, but I won’t. “No! Trust me. It meant nothing. I was drunk. She was there. That was it. Please, Kate! Just let me fix this, and we’ll be good like we’ve always been. Nothing’s changed between us. I still love you, and I know you love me. We’ve got our future together all planned out. I’ll be playing ball somewhere, and you’ll be right there with me teaching kids like we’ve always dreamed. Don’t do this, Kate. Don’t give up on us because of one stupid mistake.”

As much as I swore to myself I wouldn’t cry, I can’t stop the tears as they stream down my cheeks. “It meant nothing? Nice. So you got drunk, and the one girl who’s always wanted to get with you is the person you cheat on me with? I told you what she said to me when she heard we started dating, and still you decided to go with her? It wasn’t nothing, Ronan. You broke us. You broke us, Ronan! I loved you more than I ever thought possible, and you broke us. And for what? To sleep with the one person I always worried you’d choose over me.”

He tries to explain himself more, but I can’t stand here and listen to any more about him cheating on me. I run away, unsure where I want to go but knowing I can’t be anywhere near him anymore. My tears make seeing next to impossible, but it doesn’t matter.

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