Page 95 of Royal
Chapter 22
Gray
The line at the damn coffee shop was long. Everyone and their fucking brother had decided to go to that place for coffee that morning. I shifted from foot to foot as I waited, debating on beingthatasshole and flashing my badge to cut ahead of everyone else. I didn’t. But it was tempting.
By the time I finally got to the counter and ordered, it’d been twenty minutes.
Royal better fucking thank me for this, the sexy, spoiled rotten douche.
It was another five-minute wait to actually get the coffee, and right as they called my name, I stepped forward and snatched the venti latte off the counter before turning and storming out. I inwardly snarled at the instant change in the air, going from the nice air-conditioned coffee shop and straight into the muggy, end-of-spring weather.
Technically, summer wasn’t for another few weeks, but it already felt like it.
Yeah. I was more agitated than normal. While the past five days had been pretty awesome with Royal, sleeping beside him each night and waking up to him every morning, I was ready for the case to close. I just wanted him to be safe, and each day that passed without us catching Ameinias was another day he was in danger.
I reached the hotel and entered the lobby, heading for the elevator. The thing took its sweet-ass time getting to me, and I stepped into it before hitting the button to the fourth floor. The scent of caramel from Royal’s latte drifted upward, and I peeked at it before taking a small sip.
The dude got his coffee too damn sweet. I could barely swallow it.
Phoenix stood outside his room as I walked down the hall toward mine.
“Morning,” he said, looking classy as ever in his dark suit.
“Good morning,” I echoed before holding up the latte. “Just gotta drop this off to Prince Charming and then we can head out.”
Reaching my room, I slid the keycard into the reader, waited for the light to turn green, and then stepped inside. The room was empty. Confused, I walked in farther, thinking maybe he was in the bathroom. But the bathroom door was open and the light was off.
“Royal?”
I placed the coffee on the table and looked around. He wasn’t on the couch, the bed, or by the window.
“Motherfucker,” I growled.
The bastard had left the room after I told him it was too dangerous. I didn’t give a damn if he needed fresh air or not, I was going to kick his ass when I saw him.
“Everything okay?” Phoenix asked from the doorway.
“No.” I flipped around to him. “Royal probably got tired of waiting on me and went downstairs to get a coffee from the breakfast area after I told him not to leave.”
“I was just down there and didn’t see him,” Phoenix said, a crease in his brow. “I came back up here to grab something from my room when you came up in the elevator.”
For the first time since finding Royal gone, nerves swarmed my chest. I pulled my phone from my back pocket and called him. It rang…and rang…before going to voicemail. I called again, getting the same result. The nerves intensified, and I strode past Phoenix and out into the empty hall.
“Something’s wrong,” I said before hitting thecallbutton again. “He’s not answering his phone.”
I pushed open the doors to the stairwell and took the stairs down, calling Royal yet again. Steps sounded behind me, and I knew Phoenix was following.
Don’t panic,I told myself.He’s probably at breakfast and Phoenix just missed him.
Once on the main floor, I hurried to the breakfast area and scanned over people’s faces. A bunch of little kids with jelly all over their mouths and exhausted-looking parents. But no Royal.
“We need help out here!” someone called from down the hall.
I looked that way and saw an older man at the exit door, his expression wide and fearful. I ran toward him, fishing out my badge and flashing it. He nodded and pointed over to the alley.
“There’s a kid out there,” he said, out of breath. “I think he got mugged.”
When I got outside, I ran toward the alleyway, my heart in my throat. My fear got the better of me, and I imagined finding Royal’s dead body. It would kill me. Literally.
