Page 20 of The Royal Flame
“Lily.” Finn’s voice conveys a warning.
“Fine,” Lily scoffs. “I already know she left.”
“What?” Finn, River, Noah, and I all say simultaneously.
“How do you know that?” River steps away from me and toward Lily with his hands stuffed in the pockets of his hoodie. “Did you hear it on the news?”
“No,” Lily replies evasively. She’s clutching her diamond-encrusted purse and anxiously chewing on her lip. “I knew before.”
River crosses his arms. “Before what?”
Lily shrugs and then sighs. “Look, I can’t tell you. All I can say is that she’s probably okay and that everyone else needs to believe she’s missing.” She turns on her heel and strides down the wide hallway.
“Lily.” Finn chases after her, but Lily quickens the pace and sprints around the corner, her heels clicking against the floor.
River, Noah, and I all gape at each other.
“You know, Lily’s always been a bit weird,” Noah says as he draws the hood of his jacket off his head. “But I feel like she’s gotten weirder lately.”
River makes no effort to argue, his expression etched in deep thought. He has dirt smudged on his forehead, locks of his dark hair are sticking up all over the place and flakes of leaves and twigs are in it, and his pants and shoes are covered in mud.
I glance down at my outfit and cringe at not only how dirty I am but at the muddy mess O made all over the polished marble floor.
“I don’t know if I should be relieved or not about what she said,” River mumbles, flicking a piece of mud off his jacket sleeve. “
“Maybe Finn will get some answers from her,” I suggest. “But I don’t think she would’ve said that if she didn’t know something.”
River scratches at his neck. “What could she know, though?”
“Maybe your mom did take off, but she wants everyone to believe she’s missing because she’s worried about your father,” I offer one scenario. “However, she told Lily because she was worried about her.”
He considers this with his gaze on me. “That kind of makes sense, but I still don’t like the idea of that we have to lie to the police now.”
“Maybe they’ll realize she took off on her own once they dig into the case.” Noah unzips his jacket.
“Yeah, maybe.” River rubs his wrist as he processes all of this. A chunk of mud falls off his sleeve and lands on the floor. He stares down at it. “I need to shower and change.”
“Yeah, I do, too.” My gaze drops to the floor again. “I feel bad. I’m making a mess all over the floor.”
River smiles for some reason. So does Noah.
“What?” I wonder in puzzlement.
“Nothing. You worrying about the mess is just cute.” River tucks a strand of my hair behind my ear. “Don’t worry about the mess. Housekeeping will be here tomorrow to clean the place up.”
“I’m still going to worry about it,” I tell him. “I don’t like other people having to clean up after me.”
His eyes search mine, and then he dips his lips, surprising me with a kiss. “Like I said, so cute,” he murmurs, his lips brushing mine again.
Noah clears his throat. “And that’s my cue to leave.”
By the time River and I move away from one another, Noah’s already at the end of the hallway.
“I’m glad you’re being nice to him,” I tell River as I place my hand on his chest.
“It’s easier doing that knowing that there’s more to what happened. I just wish he’d tell us the entire story.”
“Give him some time. Maybe he will.”
