Twisted Kingdom (Royal Elite, #3)

by Rina Kent

“Right. Okay.” She lifts her head, a crease etching between her brows. “I meant you don’t need to apologise for something you didn’t do.” “See?” Kn...

“Although you do look so much like that woman, I keep thinking about stabbing you to death with a fork while you sleep.”

“No. Thank you. Ted was the first toy Teal and I received. Dad says it was your favourite. Children don’t give their favourite toys to anyone. Hell, I don’t give away my things now either.” I swallow. “It was nothing.” “It was something for both of us. T and I were the kind of children who weren’t allowed hope, but you gave it to us in the form of Ted.” He smirks. “We took great care of it, by the way.”

I gently pull my hand from her. “I’m staying.” Uncle briefly closes his eyes with a pained expression.

“Is that your final decision, pumpkin?” Uncle asks with a note of sadness. I nod once. He passes me my backpack. “Your phone and necessities are in here.” “Thank you.” “No. No, Elsie. Don’t do this.” Aunt grabs me by both my arms like a dying woman holding onto her last breath. “You can’t leave us.” “I’m not leaving you, Aunt. I’ll visit.” A sob catches in her throat as Uncle pulls her back. I watch them as Uncle drags a numb Aunt towards his car.

:/ i kinda feel bad for them

“I thought that was you, Ellie!” I’m attacked by a hug from behind. Before I know it, I’m lifted off the ground and spun around. I laugh as Ronan finally puts me back onto my feet. “Hey, Ronan.” “Don’t give me that, petit traitre.” He glares down at me jokingly. “How can you disappear on me like that? I’m having withdrawals. I demand payback.”

I love him so bad

“Where were we? Right. When are you coming back, Ellie? I need my dose of you like I need weed.” “Did you just compare me to weed?” “Hey! Weed is cool. It relaxes you and makes you happy.” “Well,” Xander laughs. “Ronan and weed share an endless love story, so comparing you to it is kind of a compliment.” “Exactement!” Ronan clasps Xander’s shoulder in a bro hug. “So Ellie, when are you coming back to be my happy place?”

He has a penetrating gaze that dissects me and sees straight into the darkest depths of my soul.

My monster is all tall, powerful, and beautiful. My monster is Aiden King.

I’m sure with time, I won’t run away. There will be a day when I’ll see Aiden and walk right past him without sparing him a glance. I hope so. I really hope so. Pain is temporary. Pain dulls over time. However, I doubt there’ll be a day when I think about him and don’t feel ache, but I’m sure it won’t be this sharp or damning.

However, I remain silent. Aiden is the type of deviant who feeds on hysterics. The best way to win against him is to reverse his own tactics, disrupt his thought process, and keep him in the dark.

he has a knack for reading people. He relies so much on intuition and logic; they’re his greatest assets.

I have one advantage. I know him so well that I’m able to look him in the eye and seal all my emotions inside.

He has no side of the story. He kept a fucking engagement a secret while I was going berserker on the girl who had more right to him than I ever would. The bastard reduced me to being the other woman. It’s such a dirty, humiliating place to be, and I’ll never forgive him for that.

His touch would’ve set me on fire before, now it’s just… so cold. So freezing. So wrong.

“You made a promise, Elsa. Fucking keep it.”

“If you don’t keep your promises, why should I keep mine?” My voice is so calm, it’s kind of haunting.

I don’t turn around or face him. He chose this. He chose to have us in a place where my back...

“I don’t give promises I don’t keep. You’re the one who does that over and over again. I told you loving me is a one-way road. I told you not to say t...

“I meant those words. I love you, Aiden, but I also love myself enough to walk away from you.” And then I head back inside.

Oh she ate him up with this

Still, I don’t cry. I won’t shed tears for him. I won’t be reduced to the victim he wants me to become.

“King doesn’t see Silver as a woman. Cross my heart and hope to die.” Kim places a hand over her breast. “I would bet Kir’s life on it and you know I’d never do that unless I was sure.”

Silver is the type of person who hides her real favourites so no one snatches them away.

I hate her, but thinking logically, if she really loves Aiden, she wouldn’t be all territorial about him in public. She would’ve made her moves in the background.”

Aiden spins around and his cloudy eyes meet mine. He doesn’t have to search for me as if he knew exactly where I stood. Even though his expression is unreadable, I’m almost sure that his thoughts match mine. The real war has started.

She smells of marshmallow, honey, and the beginning of spring. If light has a smell then Elsa is it. Just like Mum smells like warmth.

“Can’t you add one more friend?” I open my mouth to agree. “Wait!” She reaches into her pocket and retrieves a small pack of chocolate balls. “I’ll give you two of my Maltesers. They’re my favourites.”

She bites her lower lip, eyes squinting hard, then retrieves another one. “Okay, I’ll give you three.” She reaches out her hand then drops the three pieces back into the bag and offers it to me with a resigned sigh. “You can have them all if you become my friend.”

awee

“Okay, I’ll be your friend.” She claps, giggling. “Yes!” I take one chocolate ball and offer her the rest. “We can share.”

“When I grow up, I’m gonna buy you a bucket of Maltesers.” “Why?” “Because Dad says you have to buy gifts for the one you marry.” “Marry?” I whisper. “Yup!” She grins. “When I grow up, I’m going to marry you.” “You can’t marry me.” Her face contorts. “Why not?” “Mum says you have to love someone to marry them.” “Then you can just love me.” She throws her hand in the air. “What’s so hard about that?” I remain silent. This girl is crazy.

dont make me cry rn

“Hey, Grey Eyes.” She scoots closer. “When I give you the bucket of Maltesers, are you going to share it with me?”

I laugh and she laugh...

Her laughter is like the sunshine after a rainy day. It’s the sun peeking through the cloudy sky. As I watch her, I realise I want to see her laugh all the time. Maybe she’s right. Maybe after we grow up, she needs to stay close so I can see her laugh this way every day. She has the most beautiful laughter I’ve ever seen.

Im actually going to start crying

“Promise you’ll marry me.” She holds out her pinkie. I curl mine around hers. “I promise.”

the promise he still remembers :')

every day I wake up, get ready, and hope against hope she’ll show up.

It’s been more than thirteen days since she left to Birmingham and didn’t return. Five days since the Rhodes’ fundraiser. Five whole fucking days of sleepless nights.

Five days of contemplating how to barge into her world without making her hate me even more.

How the fuck am I supposed to get her back if she’s on the other side of the country? How am I supposed to reach her if she won’t hear me out? The numb, apathetic expression on her face at the party still guts me every time I think about it.

Elsa is slowly pulling away from me. I can feel it down to my soul and damn bones.

I can’t even push back when she’s volatile. Elsa is so closed off about my involvement with Queens, she won’t hear anything contrary to what she already believes in.

“She likes and trusts you more than ever after you ran your fucking mouth about the kidnapping.” “She does, doesn’t she?” His lips curl into a smirk. Fucker knows his strengths all too well. He didn’t only tell Elsa about the kidnapping to get back at me, he also did it so she’d trust him.

“I’ll owe you one.” He stops and slowly turns around. Nash, of all people, knows I don’t like owing anyone shit. This is a drastic measure. I’m giving him the chance to make the first move and strike.

“Elsa isn’t like us. She needs to hear it straight from you and Silver or she won’t believe it.” “She wouldn’t fucking talk to me.” “You deserve it.”

“Just saying. Ask for forgiveness and show her your true feelings — as fucked up as they are. Knight, Astor, and I can talk to her all day, but if she shuts down from you, there’s no bringing her back.”

There’s no one before Elsa and no one after her. She’s a constant, and soon everyone will know that. Elsa fucking included.

“When are you going to apologise to Ellie and bring her back? Hmm? Hmm?” I glare at him. “Knight and I can prepare a carriage filled with flowers and chocolate and shit.”

Elsa doesn’t like chocolate. Well, except for Maltesers. I wonder if she’ll remember anything if I give her those little chocolate balls.

My feet come to a halt of their own volition. Blonde hair bounces down slender shoulders with blinding elegance. Like a light in the darkness, Elsa walks down the hall

I’m pushed back to that basement when she brought light with her. Literally. Figuratively.

This thing inside me that beats for her is boundless. I can’t stop looking at her. At her electric blue eyes, her radiant face, and thos...