Page 32 of A True King

“What do you mean?” Logan asks.

“I got to go. Talk to you both tomorrow,” she says as she clicks something and our screen goes blank.

“Are you alright?” Christian asks me. He pulls me onto his lap to face him. His hand reaches out to my cheek, and he runs his thumb over my jawbone.

I take a deep breath, trying to make heads or tails of everything Princess Anna has just disclosed to me. “I don’t know.”

Before I can say another word, Christian rises and I wrap my legs around his waist and my arms around his neck. He carries me up to his quarters and shuts the door. Placing me on the bed, he reaches for the drawer of the nightstand and grabs a pillbox.

“Take these,” he commands as he hands me a glass of water.

“What are they?” I almost make a snide remark about the pills causing me to grow large or small and if I’m already down the rabbit hole, but I get the feeling my Alice in Wonderland reference would be ill-timed.

“They will help you sleep. You need sleep, Mia. Everything else can wait until the morning.”

Cautiously, I reach out and accept the pills and the water from him. The water is cool as though the staff had just poured it. As I swallow the pills, I note the carafe of ice water sitting on a nearby table. Of course, they had already filled it. I’m sure his staff check on his room hourly when he’s not here. Such a strange life, to be a royal. I feel myself grow faint at that thought. A royal. How can it be? I thought I was just an illegitimate princess, a royal by name and nothing more, but instead, here I am, the possible next heir to the throne of an entire nation.

I’m only half-aware that Christian is standing in front of me holding something. It’s not until he reaches out and grabs the hem of my top that I realize he’s trying to undress me. Glancing over, I find him holding a shirt in one hand while tugging at mine with his other.

With a sigh, I take off my top and leggings. He holds out one of his workout shirts and pulls it over my head.

“Time for bed,” he says softly as he helps me get under his soft sheets and blanket. My head begins to feel groggy and the last thing that I remember is curling up against him, his arms wrapping around me as my consciousness wanes.

Chapter Eighteen

Christian

I’m not sure when I fall asleep. At some point, I had extricated myself from Mia’s grasp and changed out of my clothes before tucking her right back into my arms. I watched her sleep for hours. Re-memorizing each freckle and line on her face. Feeling her chest rise and fall with each slow breath. Sensing her enter a dream as her eyelids fluttered. Hearing her sigh and moan in her sleep. Something about this woman fascinated me more than any other woman ever had. I could never put my finger on it, and I probably never will. But that chemistry between us has pulled me back to her, even after everything that happened.

When I do wake, I sense that it’s early morning. The sky isn’t bright but enough light emanates from beneath my curtains to tell me that sunrise is nearing. I reach for my phone and see that I have a missed call from Auggie. Frowning, I gently move Mia onto a pillow and head out to my balcony, shutting the door behind me and walking to the far side.

I press the call button and wait for him to answer. Auggie is most definitely either hungover or at the gym. The man only has two modes, one of which has gotten less pervasive since being with Kate.

“Fuck, it’s early. What are you doing?” Auggie says, his voice raspy.

“You called me, you twat.”

I hear Auggie gulping something. “That was six hours ago.”

“My bad, I didn’t know playboy princes slept in.” It’s a childish dig at my brother, but old habits die hard.

“Fuck off. Kate and I…were busy last night. I decided to have a lie-in this morning. And besides, it’s not even six in the morning.”

“What did you want?” I ask.

“Oh, uh, Anna mentioned something about crazy shit going on, and I wanted to know what. I called her but Logan chewed me out and told me she was sleeping.”

I lean on the rock wall of the palace and tell my brother everything that I’ve learned about Mia’s family and The 44. When I finish, he’s oddly quiet.

“No snide remarks from the peanut gallery?” I ask.

“Fuck no. I got nothing. Shit. That’s intense. I guess that explains the urging for Kate and me to take this vacation. Does no one tell us anything? I’m fucking part of our national security,” Auggie grumbles.

“I know. I assume Jack is waiting to debrief all of us until he has conclusive information.”

“Well, he’s about to get a call from me. I need to know everything and so does Dad.”

“Agreed. I will message Jack and tell him everyone needs updates.”

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