Page 92 of Reveal Me
Ben and Anderson are sitting on a bench near the Duck Island bridge; they gave up trying to convince me to go back to the hotel hours ago. Pretty sure they think I’ve lost my mind. Maybe I have.
My phone rings in my pocket. Hope jolts through me like an electric shock. I pull it out of my suit trousers with shaky fingers and squint at the screen.
Fucking Rian.
I cancel the call, and it rings again immediately. This time it’s Killian.
I sigh, then swipe to answer. Out of all of my brothers, I trust him the most. ‘Killian.’
‘Is there a reason you were outside Westminster today?’ He asks dryly. ‘Or were you just watching history be made?’
‘Did you put a tracker on me?’ I snap.
‘No. My girlfriend is a royal fanatic. The coverage was on the TV all damn day. Imagine my surprise when I caught sight of my younger, anguished looking brother in the sea of faces.’
‘Don’t tell the others.’
‘As if I would,’ he scoffs. ‘Are you okay? I don’t want to pry…’ he trails off.
‘Then don’t.’ I round past the memorial statue and glance up at the dark midnight sky. Any second now, it’s going to piss down. I can feel it in the air. ‘Just do me a favour.’
‘Anything.’
‘Double up everyone’s security for the next couple of months. Don’t ask me why. Just do it.’
‘Are you in trouble?’ It’s not the first time he’s asked, and it won’t be the last.
‘No. But I’m hoping to be.’ While I don’t think the Royal family would physically hurt any of us, when my relationship with Layla eventually does become public knowledge, we’re going to be mobbed.
‘This woman…’ he trails off.
‘I told you, it’s complicated. Please, Killian, I’ll explain everything when I can.’
The line goes silent. He doesn’t like being kept in the dark, but he gets it.
‘Do you need anything else?’
‘No.’ Even my resourceful big brother can’t get me into Wyndham Palace. ‘Actually, have Jenkins come to my place next week.’ Surely by next week this princess will have managed to extract herself from the clutches of her controlling mother?
‘Jenkins? Now you’re worrying me, Sean.’
Jenkins is our family lawyer. He’s the best in the world. It could take months to sort through the legalities of her officially stepping down from duties. Not to mention the media shitshow that will inevitably follow.
‘Trust me. I’m okay.’ I will be anyway, just as soon as I get the princess back where she belongs. With me.
‘Consider it done.’ Killian says curtly. ‘Call if I can help you.’ I swear he thinks I’m shacking up with a mafia princess. He’ll find out the truth soon enough. They all will.
‘I will, thanks, man.’
I shove the phone back into my pocket as the sky opens. The first drops of rain smash into my face like cold bullets, and within seconds it’s a torrential downpour. Water streams down my face, soaking through my suit jacket, turning the manicured park paths into rivers of mud and fallen petals.
I should find shelter. Join Ben and Anderson under the bridge where they’re no doubt cursing my stubbornness.
But I can’t move. From this spot, I can see the palace gates through the sheets of rain. To my left, the lake churns with the impact of thousands of raindrops. To my right, the streetlights blur into halos of yellow light through the downpour.
My hair plasters to my skull. My shirt clings to my chest, but I don’t give a fuck. Let it rain. Let it pour. I’m not going anywhere.
Not tonight. Not ever. Not until I see her.
