Page 10 of Vicious Desire (Fallen Royals 4)

“Fine. Spill.”

“I hated it.”

He waits for more.

There’s always more.

I scowl. “I wasn’t as good at it as I thought.”

He sighs and stands. His movements are methodical, tucking in the chair, running a hand down his tie. “We’ll talk about this at home.”

I glance behind me. His paralegal stands at the door with a client. The man appraises me through the glass.

There are some things you can’t hide—the dead look in his gaze is one of them.

Tattoos crawl up his neck, out from under his white collared shirt. There’s a pair of tattooed eyes on his neck that catch my attention.

You can dress a man up, but…

“Eli,” Dad says. “Time to go.”

I jerk. “Right. Sorry.”

It feels like I’ve walked through a spiderweb. I shiver. The strangest urge to duck for cover washes through me, but I ignore it.

The elevator doesn’t come fast enough. Once it arrives, I stand in the back corner and discreetly pat myself down.

I don’t know who that man was, but I don’t think I want to know. At all.

I shoot a quick text to the driver I hired, then slip into the café on the corner. It buzzes with chatter from patrons, and the smell of toasted sugar and fresh ground coffee lingers on the air.

I order a latte—hey, a guy can get a fancy drink every now and then—and my phone buzzes. My driver has arrived, speedier than usual. Especially in Manhattan.

Then again, I was only in Dad’s office for twenty minutes. There isn’t much to say when my presence speaks volumes.

The decision to come home wasn’t done lightly, no matter how few words I used to explain it to Dad. I don’t understand half of it myself.

I slide into the waiting car, and it pulls away from the curb.

Still, I’m convinced there’s a method to my madness—and at times, I’m positive it is madness that racks through me. I can’t sleep, I can’t eat. I lived in a state of near-starvation for the better part of a year.

When I close my eyes, I see her and her irrational anger.

It’s a mirror for mine.

We’re almost home, the trip from the city passing deceptively smooth. Unbeknownst to my parents, I’ve been home for three days. It’s them who have only just arrived back home.

Where they were, I couldn’t say. But this morning, the housekeeper’s surprised yelp startled me awake. She didn’t have it in her to scold me. She wasn’t like the last one, who knew me from when I was in diapers. This woman was older, kept her head down, did what my parents asked.

She told me they had been staying in the city but were expected back tonight.

The best defense is a good offense. Thanks for that one, Dad. So what else was I to do? I didn’t sit around waiting for them to get home. I went to him.

My mood darkens when we pass the Entering Rose Hill sign.

I lean forward and tap the driver’s shoulder. “Turn here.”

“My instructions were to take you—”

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