Vicious Prince (Royal Elite, #5)

by Rina Kent

However, I do know who went to Birmingham on Dad’s behalf. I know who took care of the business and used the Astor name as he saw fit.

Lars has never hidden the fact that he doesn’t like Eduard, but since he never actually confirmed what happened that night, he couldn’t be Dad’s informant.

This fucker didn’t only ruin my life, he also destroyed Teal’s.

I jam my fist straight into his nose.

“Their mother was selling them.

He falls limp on the ground, blood oozing from a wound in his nape.

“He just passed out. His pulse is steady.”

I have the urge to finish him off once and for all, but before I can do that, Teal needs to know the truth. She has the wrong brother. Dad was never a criminal, even if he housed one.

“No.”

“But she took my car and left me this fucking note saying she loves me and she’s sorry. Teal doesn’t say that, mate. Besides, Agnus just told me he gave her some paralysing drug.”

I have a GPS tracker on my car, or rather Dad does so he can locate me whenever he wants. I’ll send you the signal — it’s closer to you.”

A banging sounds on the door and I startle. Shit. No one is supposed to come this far out. I hit the ignition and spring into action.

Ronan is holding up a half-conscious Eduard, his face nearly

unrecognisable.

“He’s the only paedophile in our family.”

My jaw drops open as Ronan tells me the story of how his uncle used to go to Birmingham and how Charlotte was sick at the time so Edric never left her side, not even for a minute.

That’s why Eduard seemed familiar when he was talking to Ronan in his room that day…the tenor of his voice, his back.

He’s the man who molested Ronan, isn’t he? Why had I thought the secret was that Eduard was Ronan’s biological father? He couldn’t be; the similarities between Edric and Ronan are undeniable.

“I was abused too,”

my first stepfather used to do things to me, Edric. Your father saved me.

Ronan growls and drags Eduard to the cliff.

The door of the car opens, and Edric slowly pulls himself out.

And then he pulls Ronan with him over the cliff.

When the doctor said her health might not allow her to birth any children, I went against my family’s rules about procreation and told her I didn’t need them.

When she became pregnant, she begged me to keep the baby.

I know how it feels to have a strained relationship with your father, and I didn’t want to repeat it with my son.

After I heard Teal in the car, everything else fell into place. I recalled how Ronan wouldn’t join

He has been doing that since he was a boy. My son has been pretending he was fine since he was eight. That was around the time he stopped coming to me.

Eduard and Ronan are similar in hiding, in pretending, but I of all people shouldn’t have missed it. I can blame it on my preoccupation with Charlotte’s illness, but that doesn’t, under any circumstances, forgive the fact that I let my son down.

Knox caught up to us in the forest and held me all the way here, but I didn’t stop crying, not even after Dad, Agnus, and Elsa followed.

The guys follow. Aiden, Xander, and Cole are standing near the corner,

The image of when Eduard pulled Ronan with him keeps flashing before my eyes. I reached a hand out for him, but all I could catch was thin air.

After we graduated, we spent the summer travelling. Just that, travelling, from one country to another and from one city to the next.

Ronan will be Ronan no matter what happens. Fun and parties are in his soul.

The last was Aiden and Elsa’s marriage.

What he doesn’t tell them is that the horsemen saved him from his head several times in the past.

We go to joint therapy now, and it’s the best therapy I’ve had in my life.

We came to his parents’ house for dinner. Charlotte is finally out of the danger zone. Those couple of months after Eduard’s death were complete hell. Edric had to make his brother’s death seem like an accident, and Charlotte’s illness was taking its toll on him and Ronan.

the results came out and the doctor said the last surgery had been a success.

She had to do a lot of recovery therapy, and Edric didn’t leave her side through it ...

Edric and Ronan grew so close during Charlotte’s recovery journey. I think seeing them together by her side helped her mental state more than any doctor would tell them.

Lars and I have grown close over time.

The best thing about being bosses in both our families’ companies is the fact that we get to mix business with pleasure.

Mum and Dad are travelling — for tourism, not medical treatment — and they usually drag a grumpy Lars with them.

Teal and I also go to friends’ gatherings, and I still throw parties Aiden usually doesn’t appear at because he takes Elsa somewhere no one knows about.

Xan and Cole do, and since we all work together in one way or another, we never actually broke apart after RES.