Page 73 of King of Lies
Chapter 28
And so it goes
Run!
My brain is screaming at me to run. I have to go. I have to get out of here. I’m not safe here anymore. I think, in my heart of hearts, I knew all along that I wasn’t safe here, but I was living in a dream. A beautiful dream where Prince Charming fell for a shy, mousy girl like me and swept her off her feet and straight into the pages of a fairytale.
I should have known that it was all a lie.
Guys like that don’t fall for girls like me. I wasn’t cut out to be a princess and I never will be. I should have kept my eyes open and not fallen for the fantasy.
Even with a viper in my bed, I should have run but I didn’t. I can only hope now, that it isn’t too late.
He promised me long ago that if I ever wanted to, I was free to go, but that I wouldn’t be welcome back. It was a quietly spoken threat with the intention to keep me in line.
I know that now. I was so dumb and so blind,I wanted him to want me.
Now, I pray he keeps his end of the promise.
I pack only what I need in a backpack and shove the stack of papers and photographs, the truth to his lies on top. I zip it closed and sling one strap over my shoulder. He can keep the dresses and jewels; I don’t have any use for fancy things like that back home in my bookstore.
“Ma’am?” Leo asks when I open the door.
“I need to get to the airport,” I tell him. “Right away.”
He looks at me, his blue eyes watch and survey and I know that they see the truth. I’m running and I’m not even going to try and hide it.
“Have you spoken to His Royal Highness about this urgent matter?”
“Not yet,” I reply.
“Maybe you should—” he starts.
“The car, Leo,” I interrupt him. It’s direct and a little rude, something they’ve been drilling into me since I’ve been here. Act like a royal, walk like a royal,talk like a royal. It was all so unlike me, so against the grain. Now, look at me go.
“Yes, ma’am,” he says. “I’ll get it straight away.”
“Thank you, Leo … for everything,” I tell him with the full weight of my meaning in my tone. Leo was a friend when he didn’t have to be. He’s put his life on the line for me more than he ever should have had to and I thank him for all of it because I am grateful to him.
“It’s been my pleasure, ma’am.”
And then he heads down the hall to arrange the car. I follow on his heels. There’s so much I will miss here, mostly people I have met. And there is also a lot that I won’t miss at all. Again, mostly people.
Harris, the driver assigned to me when I leave the castle without Rhys, pulls around the corner in one of the king’s BMW sedans and jumps out of the driver’s seat. He opens the rear door for me and I slide inside. Leo climbs in the front passenger seat with his phone to his ear. He might be tattling on me but I don’t care.
Not anymore.
“Where to, Miss?”
“The airport.”
“Are you meeting His Royal Highness?” he asks me. “And should I return to the castle for the rest of your luggage, ma’am?”
“No,” I answer his questions softly. I can hear the catch in my voice and so can Harris and Leo. “I won’t be coming back.”
“Yes, ma’am,” he says quietly before shutting my door.
Harris drives us through the castle gates and down the long and winding road that leads to the highway or whatever it is they call it here. It’s a two-lane road that twists and turns down through the hills before it spreads out to four lanes under a huge bridge.
