Page 6 of Reign By Wrath

Alistair dropped back, head tilted to the ceiling. “I met Eloise by chance. Woke up early one morning to surf and she was there on the beach, lost in her thoughts as she watched the sunrise. I left her to it—not bothering or sparing her a second glance. Then, I wiped out,” he said. “Board smacked me over the head and knocked me out. I was dead...” A smile stretched his lips. “Until I woke up on the beach with this sand-covered vision staring down at me.”

“Sounds veryLittle Mermaid.”

“It does, doesn’t it?” He laughed. “Your mom always said we were something out of a fairy tale. After she saved me, I refused to go to the hospital, so she insisted on staying with me. Making sure I was okay and didn’t have a concussion. We spent the whole day together, and by the end of it, I knew she was the only one for me.”

I sat up and scooted farther away, pressing my back against the armrest. But I didn’t leave.

“But if you loved each other so much, and your relationship wasn’t a secret, why was your relationship forbidden?”

“You’ve been in Regalia long enough to know about its twisted medieval caste system. There are those at the bottom and those on top. The Royals.”

I nodded. “You’re a Royal.”

He didn’t answer, which was answer enough.

“So, you couldn’t be together because Mom was aDreg? Was it different back then?” I asked. “Plenty of Royals marry Dregs. Victor is marrying me.”

“For most Royals, it doesn’t matter who they marry. They’re low enough on the hierarchy that no one cares. But for those at the top of the line, their marriages aren’t about love, they’re about power. How to get more so that you’re lifted even higher than the desperate hands trying to tear you from the throne.

“My father picked out a match that would do just that. She wasn’t a Royal in that she’d never been to Regalia before. She was the daughter of a Japanese business tycoon,” he explained. “Marrying her and merging our companies would’ve given our business global recognition the likes of McDonald’s. Didn’t matter that I didn’t know a thing about his plans until after I introduced Eloise to him. I was expected to break up with her and marry a perfect stranger for the good of the family and company.”

My brows blew up my forehead. This shouldn’t surprise me after Adonis was kicked out of the family because his fiancée left him, but I didn’t think I’d ever stop being shocked by the bonkers things the Royals did. Ordering your son to leave the woman he loved to marry someone he never met? What era did the Royals think they were living in?

“That’s rough,” I admitted. “But I still don’t see why Mom couldn’t tell us all of this. We didn’t know you our whole lives because your dad is a douchebag?”

“This is only the beginning of the story, Luna.”

I quieted, tipping my chin for him to finish.

“My father’s disapproval of Eloise and her part in me turning down his handpicked fiancée is why you don’t know him or anyone from my side of the family—despite them being so close your whole life.” Alistair balled his fists, muscle ticcing in his jaw. “Your mother didn’t want you and Winter to be rejected or looked down on by your own family, and it’s my greatest shame to admit that you would’ve been. My family would not have treated you well.”

My eyes narrowed to slits. “Why won’t you say it? Who is your family and— And why do you look so familiar!”

“Can’t help it. The Burkhardt family resemblance is strong.”

The air whooshed out of my lungs. He said the name, then I saw it clear as day. The shape of her eyes. The curve of her nose.

Saylor Burkhardt.

“No. No, no, no, no, no. No!” I cried. “You’re lying.”

“Afraid not.”

Tossing my head, my mind rebelled. “I’m not related to Saylor. I can’t be.”

“You can be,” he said mildly. “She’s your cousin.”

“No!”

I choked on the word. After everything that’s happened between us. The horrible things she’s said about Winter and done to me, and the vicious things I’ve done in response. After all that time, we were... family?

“That just can’t be true. Me? A Burkhardt? I refuse to believe it.”

“Why?” he asked, cocking his head. “Haven’t you been asking why Martha and John Wilson are so eager for you to marry their son?”

I opened my mouth, but nothing came out.Martha and John? The whole time... this was the answer?

“They know who I am?” I rasped.

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