Page 203 of Mad As Hell

Corinne stifled a laugh. “Beast.” She patted his still bowed head. “You’re the best beast, Royal.”

He grinned at her, dimples flashing. “Well you’re the prettiest princess I’ve ever seen.”

Ms. Wallace clucked her tongue from the doorway with an indulgent smile. “This pretty princess needs to get upstairs and take a bath if she still wants to have movie night with her grandfather before bed.”

Cori scrambled back, bumping into me where I sat at the island. She spun and gave me a hasty hug before hurtling back into Royal’s arms for another hug.

“G’night, Maddie. Love you, Prince Royal!” She danced her way out of the kitchen.

Royal shook his head, the affection in his eyes palpable as he watched her leave.

I cleared my throat. “You’re really good with her.”

I half-expected the usual walls he wore like armor to snap back into place, but he smiled at me.

“She’s an amazing kid,” he admitted, surprising me by coming over and sitting beside me. “Has a shithead for a father, but that seems to be on trend around here. But she’s still innocent. Still sees the good.”

“Not like the rest of us,” I murmured.

He nodded slowly. “Yeah. The rest of us are… Well, we never really had a chance, did we?”

I hesitated. “Ryan told me a little bit about your father. About your brother.”

His jaw tightened, but he didn’t cut me off.

“Anyway, I just wanted to say I was sorry.” The words felt lame coming out, the regrets sounding pathetically insignificant to the pain he likely carried.

Again, though, Royal surprised me. “Thanks. King was a good kid. Cori reminds me a lot of him. Same innocence, same way of seeing good in the world.”

“How did you get involved with Phoenix?” I asked, putting my arm on the counter and leaning my cheek against my palm.

He frowned, thinking back. “Ry told you about Jasper’s plan for having his own little army of militant sons?”

“Yeah. But clearly you’re not working for him, since you’re here.”

The tiniest of smiles tipped up a corner of his mouth. “That’s thanks to Ash. He found some leverage I could use to get out from under Jasper. I used it to help my brothers, too, but the bastard still has a chokehold on our mom. Even after King and the baby died—”

“Your sister, right?” I interrupted.

“The only girl my mom had. She was between Knight and Castle, but she was stillborn.” A dark shadow passed over his face. “Mom was never really right after that. She was never very strong to begin with, but losing the baby killed whatever fight she had left. She does whatever Jasper wants, and he’s not above using her to get us to bend to his will. It’s why Rook agreed to go play Navy SEAL and why Castle graduated early with his GED so he could enlist at seventeen.”

“But not you?”

He met my gaze. “Not me. Not ever again. When I got out of the army, I told Jasper I was done with him. Bishop did the same. Jasper washed his hands of us, called us a disgrace and cut us off financially.” He snorted derisively. “As if we need his money. I’d rather live in the gutter and drink sewer water.”

I wrinkled my nose. “I’ve done that. If you can get past the smell, it’s not half bad.”

He stared at me for a minute before laughing. “You’re definitely not like your sister.”

I stiffened. “You knew Madelaine?”

“Nah. After I rolled out of Jasper’s good graces, Court came to me with a proposition. They were starting Phoenix, told me about the side hustle Linc’s daddy has of buying and selling more than stocks and bonds. When I was still in the army, I saw shit that would give your nightmares nightmares. If I could help tip the scales and fuck over Jasper and his friends in the process, I was in.”

He gave me a curious look. “I met Ryan through Court a few years ago. They brought Bishop and me here—” he waved a hand around at the room “—and Grandpa invited us to help them. We never looked back, and when Knight was injured in the line of duty, we brought him in, too. Rook and Castle will join Phoenix one day when their tours are done.”

“Wow,” I murmured, absorbing that info dump.

“Anyway,” he went on, “I was helping Ry with something last year. I was picking him up and saw Madelaine. Never met her, but I didn’t have to. She screamed spoiled, entitled bitch without opening her mouth.”

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