Page 68 of The Royal's Pet: A MMF Ménage Royal Romance

“I’ll wait in the car,” she announces as though it was her own idea. She sniffs. “I hate hospitals anyway.”

Ah. The last time she was here was probably—right.

With her dying husband.

I feel a wave of empathy for her, a twinge of regret that I didn’t say anything to make her feel a little more at ease… but what do you say to warm the heart of an ice queen anyway? I let the moment pass, and the queen vanishes, the click of her heels growing quieter as she makes her way down the hall.

Roland crumples into his seat once more with a hefty sigh, so I take my place beside him.

“You’re off,” I tell him. It’s a statement, not a question. He can tell me what’s wrong with him or not, but now he knows that I know.

I expect him to come back with some snide comment or cutting quip. Instead, Roland is abnormally quiet. He sits with his thoughts for a moment, not even looking at me. Finally, he murmurs, “I broke it off with Rory.”

There’s a second after you’ve been slapped, when the pain vibrates through your face with a prickly tingling. I feel that now as I stare at him. “What? Why?”

“She could have died, Ben.” Roland’s voice is hard and polished. That stone-cold Pennington denial.

“You’re right.” Sarcasm drips on my tongue. “What better way to protect her than to release her onto the London streets on her own?”

“I can’t lose another person I love.” The sharpness in Roland’s voice makes me hold my tongue. “I can’t.”

“You had no right,” I growl.

Roland turns to me finally and blinks with surprise. “Pardon?”

“She was ours,” I snap. “You don’t get to make that call.”

“Watch your tongue,” Roland hisses.

“Should I bow to you now?” I stand. I need to stand over him. “After everything I’ve done for you… the years I’ve spent going above and beyond my station to make you happy. Everything I’ve done has been for you. And you can’t do this one thing for me.”

“Ben.” Roland stands now, as patient as a parent. “You’re not listening to me.”

“I am listening to you. For six years, I’ve done nothing but listen—”

“Ben, you’re fired.”

My words dry up on my tongue. My heartbeat pulses in my ears, feverish, and I must look like a fucking idiot, staring at him with not a damn thing to say.

“I meant what I said,” he continues, coaxingly. For once, he’s the calm and collected, and I’m spinning out of control. “I can’t lose another person I love. That includes you. You put yourself in front of the line of fire for me, time and again… and I couldn’t bear it if I lost you.”

“You couldn’t bear it,” I repeat.

“No,” he shakes his head. “I couldn’t.”

“And it’s all about you, isn’t it?”

Roland’s shoulders sag. “I’m just trying to protect you.”

“Stop protecting us,” I tell him. “I’m your bodyguard. That’s my bloody job.”

“You were my bodyguard,” he corrects.

I put my hand on the door to Rory’s room. “May I be dismissed, Your Highness?”

“Ben. Don’t hate me.”

“Is that a royal decree or a request?”

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