Page 37 of Royal Bargain

---

Liam lingers behind the couch for a moment, then slowly rounds it, his expression unreadable.

“You okay?” he asks, voice gentler now.

I nod without looking up. “Yeah.”

“Ana.”

His tone is more serious this time, edged with something heavier.

I sigh. “I’m fine, Liam.”

“You didn’t look fine.” His voice tightens, barely restrained. “Did he upset you? Because if he did—I’ll find him.”

That pulls a faint breath of air from me, almost a laugh. “You’re not gonna track down Aleksey.”

“Don’t test me.”

I shake my head and glance at him, finally meeting his eyes. “I wasn’t afraid of him.”

“I didn’t say you were.”

I finally glance up. He’s watching me carefully, the crease between his brows deep with concern.

“But,” he says, “I do want to know what the hell he meant. That comment he made—about you hiding something.”

I force a short laugh. “It’s not that deep. He was talking about the pregnancy. About me not telling you.”

Liam doesn’t look convinced. “That’s not how he said it.”

“It doesn’t matter.”

“It kind of does,” he says, softly but firmly. “Because if there’s something else going on—something I should know—you need to tell me.”

I look down again, tracing my thumb over the edge of Lily’s blanket. My throat feels tight.

“It’s nothing,” I whisper.

He crouches in front of me, resting one hand lightly on my knee. “Ana.”

I squeeze my eyes shut. My voice is small when it finally breaks free.

“It’s you.”

He blinks. “Me?”

“Not—” I shake my head, trying to collect the words. “Not you, you. Just… the way you are. The mess, the noise, the constant movement. I know you don’t mean anything by it, but it’s—” I pause, then admit, almost inaudibly, “It’s been pushing every single one of my triggers.”

Liam’s eyes narrow just slightly, not in anger—more like confusion tipping toward realization.

I exhale shakily. “Because I’m autistic.”

14

LIAM

She says it so suddenly, I almost think I imagined it.

But the way her eyes drop, the way her whole body curls in on itself like she’s bracing for a hit—no, she said it. And she meant it.

---