Twisted Kingdom (Royal Elite, #3)

by Rina Kent

I focus on her. The girl who looks exactly like one of Silver and Kimberly’s dolls. The girl with golden blonde hair and sparkly blue eyes watching me with a frown.

“Are you real?” My voice sounds far away as if I’m speaking from another room. I touched her yesterday. I grabbed her hand and asked her to help me, but maybe I’m seeing ghosts.

She rises and wraps something fluffy and warm around my shoulders. “It’s freezing in here.”

Something warm connects with my skin and I pause chewing to stare at the girl again. She’s wiping my face with a wet cotton cloth, but the more she wipes the more her expression falls. Her fingers comb through my tangled hair then she glides the cloth over my arm, forcing me to eat with one hand.

“I’m sorry them monsters did this to you. They took Eli, but don't worry.” Her palm flattens on my cheek, determination shining in her sparkling blue eyes. “I won’t allow them to take you, too.”

After last night, I wanted her to have a peaceful birthday without allowing the outside world to ruin it. Result: I’ve been caught off guard.

Elsa’s father just shuffled all the chess pieces by showing up from the dead like a fucking ghost.

Now he’s back and he’ll take her away from me after I’ve finally found her. Who the fuck does he think he is to waltz in after ten years of playing dead and take away what’s mine? It’s time for us to go home? Fuck no. Fucking never.

The only person I care about is this beautiful girl who won’t even acknowledge my existence.

“Elsa, look at me.” She doesn’t. I stroke my thumb along her arm, caressing softly. “Sweetheart, look at me.” “Are you engaged to Silver?” Elsa continues staring at her father, but her words are directed at me.

“Yes or no?” She cuts me off, still not sparing me a glance. I grind my molars at the apathetic way she’s addressing me. I can’t blame her, but my brain crowds with only one thought: throw her over my shoulder and get her the fuck out of here.

And while I don’t give a fuck about him or anyone else in this room, I give lots of fucks about her.

“It’s a simple question, Aiden. Yes or no?” “Yes.” My left eye twitches as I say the word. Elsa goes completely still; she doesn’t even blink.

I expect her to turn around and hit me. I would let her. If it’ll help her blow off steam, I’ll let her hit me all she likes. As long as she finally fucking faces me, I’m ready to do just about anything.

She jerks her arm out of my grip. My hand curls into a fist by my side, but I don’t grab her again. It guts me to have her close and not touch her, but if I reach out for her,...

Go after her. Bring her back. Kidnap her if you have to. It takes everything in me not to follow my beast’s demands. If I use any type of force with her it’ll only backfire and burn me. If some distance will help cool her down, then so fucking be it. For now.

“You deserve it, by the way,” she whispers so I’m the only one who hears. “This is what happens when you fuck people over. You get fucked over in return.”

He stands and buttons his jacket. “Call Levi. We have a war to plot.”

Knox lifts a shoulder. “Just saying, Dad.” Dad? My gaze snaps to Knox. Did he just call my dad his dad?

“Are you…” I clear my throat. “Are you my brother?” Knox lifts his gaze from his phone and winks. “Foster brother, babe.”

“I kept an eye on you,” Dad says. “I just didn’t show myself.” I gasp. “The black Mercedes.” He nods. “And Knox.” The latter waves two fingers my way. “Always at your service, my lady.” Pieces start falling into place. Since Knox showed up in my life, he has always been near even when I didn’t need him to.

He taps the bruise at the side of his mouth. “And your green-haired friend owes me for this.” “Kim?” “That Xander bloke did this.” He leans in to whisper. “Your Aiden watched, by the way, then he drove off into the sunset as if he saw nothing.”

Silver was right all along — he never belonged to me. He reduced me to playing the most loathsome, despicable role: the other woman.

My home. Maybe, just maybe, this is where I’m supposed to be.

Or maybe, just maybe, this isnt your home and you're not supposed to be there, but rather aiden is your home

She throws one last glance at us with worry etching deep between her brows. Levi, being a proclaimed gentleman, gives her a reassuring nod as if saying ‘No, we won’t eat each other for dinner.’

LOL

Since Levi started his relationship with Astrid and moved out, he barely shows up anymore, and when he does it’s only with her by his side. Jonathan and I both know Astrid coaxes him to keep in touch with his family. That’s the reason my father accepted her over time despite the fact that she’s a Clifford.

My thoughts keep spiralling back to how Elsa left yesterday. The numbness on her face still lurks inside me, tying a noose around my heart.

It’s only been a day, but it feels like we’ve been apart for an eternity — and I don’t even believe in eternity and all that shit. I sit here, wondering when exactly it was she became such an integral part of my life and the fucking air I breathe.

“I know my enemy.” Jonathan smirks as he takes a bite of his food. “A lot more than I know myself.”

Imagine they wanna be lovers

Both of you will be attending.” “Pass.” Levi feigns a yawn. “Not interested,” I say at the same time.

There’s a ton of things I need to do and they all lead back to Elsa, not my family name.

She didn’t show up for school today. I shouldn’t have been surprised, but a part of me hoped she would. A part of me thought she’d confront me and drive me crazy with her stubbornness like before.

Being away from her for an entire day is messing with my senses. I’m on a fucking withdrawal and it’s irritating and pissing me off. I can only return to normal when Elsa’s beside me where she belongs. She promised. She fucking promised.

Ethan will seize the chance to show off his daughter and Steel Empire’s heir to the world. She’ll be there. I can almost smell her coconut scent all the way to Friday.

“This is about Elsa, isn’t it?” he asks. I lift a shoulder. Everything is about Elsa, but neither he nor Jonathan need to know that.

“You don’t deserve her.” “Just like you don’t deserve Astrid?” “At least I changed for her. What did you do for Elsa?” “I found her again.” And no one will take her away from me.

After telling him the details about Ethan’s reappearance, I hang up with a smile on my face. I might not be able to bring her back, but her aunt and uncle will.

Knox always joined us on our walks, challenging me about beating him in becoming Dad’s favourite. They’re jokes on the outside, but I can feel the rivalry deep inside him. While he appears lighthearted, Knox is in fact lethal when it comes to what he wants.

It pains me how much I miss Kim and Ronan and even Xander and Cole. I miss the easy friendship we share, the laughs, and even the secrets lurking under the surface. The horsemen might be royalty in RES, but each of them carries a mystery so tangible, it’s enticing.

The dark-grey clouds hang above us with a sinister promise of a starless night in the near future. Like Aiden’s eyes.

Why the hell does he have eyes the colour of the clouds before the rain? Now he’ll barge into my mind whenever it rains. In a country like England, that’s pure torture. It’s like being caught in the eye of a hurricane, smashed and wrecked to pieces, and having no way out.

“But she did hurt me, Dad.” My voice trembles like the tree branches. “She hit me on the back with a horsewhip.”

almost makes me want to stop talking, but I don’t. I’ve been silent for ten years, and now that I started speaking, it’s impossible to go back. I owe myself this much.

Ma ruined his innocence. She smashed and crushed it to the ground, leaving a broken boy in her wake. No wonder he’s chosen to be a monster. In his warped logic, being a monster is better than being a weak mess. I can’t even blame him.

In my small mind, I used to categorise Ma’s manic episodes as monsters. She wore white, hugged me to death, and took me to the lake. When she was white Ma, she never smiled and always seemed out of this world. She was a monster.

“Two of them?” He throws a fleeting glance in my direction. “You saw them back then, but you don’t remember.”

Teal and knox?

Not only was he watching me the entire time on Dad’s behalf, but he’s also Uncle Reg’s twin. One was Ma’s supplier of orphan boys and the other is Dad’s right hand. Weird dynamics.

Knox and Teal are the first ones Ma hurt. Aiden and I aren’t the only survivors.

“Your apology means shit to me,” Teal speaks casually as she sips her coffee. “It doesn’t give me back what I lost.” I wince.

“You sound like a bitch, T,” Knox says with nonchalance like it’s a normal occurrence. “There’s something you need to know about Teal, Ellie. She has a weird way of expressing herself. Okay, now, T. Repeat that after thinking about the words.”