Page 32 of Royal Shark
I text Dylan.Where are you? I’m here.
Meet me at Tazza Café.
I look around and spot the café across the street. I head over with my guard, Jack, trailing me, and go inside. I don’t see anyone who looks like they’re in construction in here. Just a few hipster types with laptops. Now I’m getting irritated.
I find a table in the back and text him to let him know where I’m sitting. Jack stands in the corner adjacent to me.
Finally, a guy walks in who I think could be him. He’s in his thirties, tall and fit in a blue Byrne Construction T-shirt, jeans, and black work boots. His black hair is on the longish side, his cheekbones sharp, his square jaw sporting a neatly trimmed beard. A tribal tattoo over one bulging bicep peeks out of his shirtsleeve. Royals can’t have tattoos in my kingdom. It’s considered desecration of the body, and we wouldn’t be buried in the royal plot because of it. Dylan has unknowingly made it so he’s denied his place in death there, after being denied his place there in life. It strikes me as horribly unfair. I hadn’t given much thought to it before. It was simply a fact—my uncle’s family was exiled. They were foggy in my mind, there were no pictures of them at home, but seeing him here in the flesh, it strikes me how wrong it is.
I stand, adrenaline rushing through me. I’m about to meet my long-lost cousin! “Dylan?”
He strides over and stops in front of me. His eyes are a piercing blue, not the Rourke aquamarine. He stares for a moment, taking me in. “You’re not cute like your twin.”
I bark out a laugh. “I don’t aspire to be cute.” I gesture toward my table. “Have a seat.”
“I’m gonna get a sandwich first. Want anything?”
He’s strangely casual about meeting me for the first time. Maybe it’s to cover the awkwardness of the situation, or maybe that’s just how laid-back he always is.
“Actually, Silvia is having me and a couple of friends over for dinner tonight. You’re welcome to join us.”
He doesn’t accept or decline. “I skipped lunch. Gotta eat.”
“I’ll take an espresso, thanks.” I pull my wallet out, but he holds up a palm, declining the gesture.
I take a seat. Another surreal moment—my long-lost cousin is buying me an espresso. My first surreal moment was seeing Sara Travers after so many years. I’m excited to meet him and hope to meet his brothers and parents too.
He takes a seat a few minutes later, shoving my espresso across the table to me. “That your muscle?” he asks, jerking his chin toward Jack.
“I have a guard, yes. Sometimes people are overzealous. I haven’t had any issues since I arrived in New York.”
He takes a bite of roast beef sandwich. After he chews, he says, “Yeah, give it time. You show your face enough, the paps will show up.”
I take a sip of espresso, thinking we should get back to the basics. I mean, this is a big moment—long-lost cousins meeting for the first time. “It’s great to meet you. Silvia told me about you and your brothers. It’s strange to have cousins I’ve never met.”
He lifts his gaze to mine. “Not so strange. Your family kicked us out for good. Kinda squashed the idea of any reunions.”
I lean forward. “Things are different now at the palace. My oldest brother, Gabriel, is king now. His wife is an American, a very down-to-earth woman. Maybe now that they’re in charge, they’d be open to you and your family coming for a visit.”
He snorts. “Yeah.”
“Really. I’ll make it right. You should see where you came from.”
He takes a big bite of sandwich and chews.
I press on. “Silvia says you’ve met my brother Phillip a few times too. So now you already know three of the seven of us. The rest are great.”
He chews and then takes a sip of water. “Yeah. Phillip visits the city a lot. Silvia insisted I meet him. Bit uppity for me.”
“He works with poor communities to bring them clean water. He’s not really uppity. He’s the UN Ambassador for Clean Water.”
Dylan looks unimpressed. “A position they give to famous faces. He’s the spare heir, isn’t he?”
“He was before the new heiress was born. Gabriel has a one-year-old daughter now. Mila.”
He goes back to eating. Finally he says, “There you go.”
Maybe I’ll work on a reconciliation from my family’s side first. See if maybe Gabriel can make some headway. Dylan reminds me of Gabriel a bit in looks and manner, direct and authoritative.
