Page 10 of Royal Fling
She stopped and pondered my question.
“Well, it’s too late for dinner, but I can certainly do some dessert,” she said with a smirk. “What were you going to order?”
I shrugged and noticed the letter on the counter again. I grabbed it and unfolded it.
I didn’t want to say anything before, but I took the liberty of doing some digging.
The address below is your birth mom’s in case you chickened out.
Love,
Leo.
Why would I chicken out of meeting her?
I looked at the address, but naturally it meant nothing to me. Other than the fact I recognized the Hyde Park part of it.
“What is that?” she asked, glancing down at the letter.
I sighed.
“That is my birth mom’s address. That’s why I came to London. To meet my parents,” I said.
Beth’s eyes popped, and she walked around the island to read the letter. I normally would hide private stuff like this from a stranger, but something told me this was natural behavior between her and my brother, so I didn’t stop her.
“Wow. Your parents must be loaded. That is one expensive address,” she said.
“Really?” I asked.
Maybe that was why Leo thought I might chicken out. If my parentswere,in fact, loaded, then why on earth did they give me up?
“Yup. One Hyde Park is literally the most expensive apartment complex in this entire city. I don’t think even your brother could afford to live there.”
“Wow. Okay,” I said.
“Sorry,” Beth said and turned her back to the kitchen island, leaning against it and crossing her arms. “I didn’t mean to make this awkward.”
I shook my head and chuckled at her comment dismissively. Something told me she didn’t quite believe me.
“I guess it’s better to know what I’m dealing with now then be sucker-punched by it.”
She nodded and rubbed my arm with an affection I could imagine she offered Leo, too.
“How the hell did he get this letter here? He’s still back home dealing with his new house.”
“Probably Milo, his agent. I saw him pop by yesterday.”
I nodded, only half-listening.
My mother was rich. They were both rich. So maybe I wasn’t wanted. Maybe they didn’t want kids, or they didn’t like me.
Fuck. I had anticipated a lot of this shit in all the years I’d been trying to find them, but I never thought I’d actually chicken out from meeting them.
I didn’t care that they gave me up. They gave me a beautiful, amazing family that I absolutely loved. An incredible mom, a supportive dad, and the best brothers and sister I could have asked for.
But somehow, for some stupid reason, it still felt like a sucker punch.
“Okay. Let’s go,” she said.
