Page 57 of Royal Bargain
He shakes his head. “I don’t have the energy to argue today.”
Something about the way he says it makes the hairs on my arms rise.
“What happened?”
Liam exhales, eyes drifting toward the dark TV screen as if he’s seeing something far away. “They found the shooter.”
My heart skips. “Already?”
He nods. “Police tracked him down this morning. Said he was holed up in some warehouse in East Thornville. There was a standoff.”
“And?”
Liam’s jaw tightens. “He’s dead.”
The silence stretches between us.
“They didn’t even try to arrest him?” I ask.
“Said he fired first.” Liam’s voice is flat. “But what’s weird is… I didn’t even see any cops at the gala until after Burns was already taken away. It all happened so fast. And now, just like that—it’s tied up with a bow.”
I sink slowly into the armchair across from him, the folder still clutched in my lap.
He glances at me. “Doesn’t that seem off to you?”
I don’t answer right away.
Because it does.
And I hate how the first thought that creeps into my mind isn’t about the police, or Burns, or even the campaign.
It’s about my father.
He wouldn’t have sent someone to kill Burns in public… would he?
But if he did, and the man failed—wouldn’t he make sure the loose end was tied up before anyone could talk?
A cold weight settles deep in my stomach, heavy and hard.
“I don’t know what to think,” I whisper.
Liam watches me, but doesn’t press.
And for the first time since the shooting, I’m not sure who I’m more afraid of—my father… or the silence that follows when you realize he might be protecting you in the worst way possible.
The silence hangs between us like smoke—thick, cloying, impossible to ignore.
“We need a release,” I murmur.
He goes still. “Yeah?”
“Yeah.” I press a kiss between his shoulder blades. “Something fun. Something stupid. Something that doesn’t make me feel like I’m being hunted, or handled, or watched.”
He turns in my arms, brow arching. “Are you suggesting what I think you’re suggesting?”
I look up at him and smile, slow and wicked. “I’m saying I have a disguise in the closet and some pent-up energy to burn.”
His eyes darken immediately. “God, yes. Please tell me we’re doing another roleplay.”
