Twisted Games (Twisted, #2)

by Ana Huang

Whatever this was between us, it had been building since the moment Rhys stepped out of his car outside my house at Thayer, and I couldn’t stop it even if I wanted to.

I was a rule follower by nature. It was how I’d survived most of my life. But for Bridget, I would break every rule in the book.

“But first, I want to make one thing clear. From this point on, you’re mine. No other man touches you. If they do…” My fingers dug into her skin. “I know seventy-nine ways to kill a man, and I can make seventy of them look like an accident. Understand?”

I kept an arm around her, still holding her up. A fierce protectiveness washed over me as she pressed her face into my chest. God, this woman. She had no idea the things I would do for her.

I kissed the top of her head, my heart still aching. If only she could see herself the way I saw her. Beautiful, smart, strong. Perfect in every way that mattered. By

“Because you’re ready for it.” Rhys said it like it wasn’t even a question. “You’re a fucking queen, and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. Including yourself.”

She snorted out a laugh, which she cut off halfway with a gasp. I broke into a laugh of my own. “Did you just snort?” “No.” “Not very princess-like of you.” “I did not snort.” I could practically see her face glowing red on the other end of the line. She was so fucking adorable.

“Easy for you to say. You’re not the one at risk of dying.” “Trust me, Princess. I would rather end my own life than ask you to do anything that might hurt you.”

THIIS MANNNN

“We’ve come a long way, haven’t we?” I drawled, finally breaking the tension before I did—or said—something I would regret. Something neither of us was ready to acknowledge.

The only thing at fault was the system that forced him to choose.

“I hope you find that kind of love one day too. Whether it’s with Steffan or someone else.” Trust me, Princess. I would rather end my own life than ask you to do anything that might hurt you. I forced a smile. “One day.” But later that night, as I stared at the ceiling and thought about Rhys, Steffan, and my less-than-certain efforts to repeal the Royal Marriages Law, I couldn’t help but wonder if there was only room for one happy ending in this kingdom…and if it wasn’t already too late for mine.

OH MY GOD CONFESS ALREADY BEFORE I JUMP INTO THIS SCREEN.

I trailed off again when he fiddled with something on his phone and soft music filled the air. “We never got to dance at the wedding,” he said simply.

“You don’t dance.” “Only with you.” The burn intensified. “Careful, Mr. Larsen, or I’ll think you actually like me.” His mouth curled into a grin. “Baby, we’re way beyond like.”

“Come here, Princess.” I opened my arms. Bridget hesitated for a beat before she finally closed the distance between us and buried her face in my chest, her shoulders shaking. “Shh, it’s okay.” I kissed the top of her head and stroked her hair, a heaviness sinking into my bones at the sound of her soft sniffles. I’d weathered artillery fire, nighttime missions in subarctic temperatures, and more broken bones and near-fatal injuries than I could count, but Bridget crying came closer to breaking me than all those things combined.

“I don’t need a happily ever after. I need to be by your side. I need you happy and healthy and safe. Goddammit, Bridget, I need you. In any way I can have you.”

“You asked me if I’d ever been in love. I said no.” He pressed a soft kiss to my mouth. “Ask me again, Princess.”

THANK THE LORD. WE HAVE WAITED LONG ENOUGH FOR A CONFESSION

“Royal marriage isn’t about knowing someone. It’s about suitability, and the fact is, he’s suitable and you’re not.” I hoped Rhys didn’t notice the wobble in my voice. “Plus, Steffan and I have the rest of our lives to get to know each other.” A shudder rippled through his body, and hurt slashed across his face, so raw and visceral it cut through my soul.

“I’m meant to be with a duke. We both know that.” Rhys flinched. One tiny movement, but it would haunt me forever.

It didn’t matter that she’d ripped my heart out the other day. If anyone hurt my princess in any way—physically, mentally, or emotionally—there would be hell to pay.

I might not know what love was, but I knew I was in love with Bridget von Ascheberg, to the point where even I—the man who was so good at denying himself anything good in life—couldn’t deny it. The realization hit me like a bullet in the chest,

I wondered if Rhys had left Eldorra yet and if he’d remember us ten, twenty, thirty years from now. I wondered if, when he saw me on TV or in a magazine, he would think about Costa Rica and storms in a gazebo and lazy afternoons in a hotel room, or if he’d flip past with nothing more than a spark of nostalgia. I wondered if I would haunt him as much as he haunted me.

“You are my granddaughter, and I want you to be happy.” Edvard squeezed me tight. “We can’t break the law, but you’re a smart girl, and you have nine months. Do what you have to do. Do you understand what I’m saying?” “I think so,” I whispered.

When Ava turned away, Jules leaned in and whispered, “He’s totally whipped. Watch.” She raised her voice to a panicked level. “Oh my God! Ava, are you bleeding?” Alex’s head snapped up. Less than five seconds later, he ended his call and crossed the room to a confused-looking Ava, whose hand froze halfway to the scones on the table.

THESE MEN WILL BE THE DEATH OF ME

But another, selfish part hoped I’d haunted her as she had me. That every breath was a struggle to draw enough oxygen into her lungs, and every mention of my name caused a sharp needle of pain to pierce her chest. Because hurt meant she still cared.

he’d guessed Bridget and I really did have something going on. Booth could lose his job if someone found out he was smuggling notes from me to Bridget, but he’d taken the risk anyway. I owed that man a nice, cold beer and a steak dinner in the future.

“I’m not leaving you. If you’re in Eldorra, I’m in Eldorra. If you’re in Antarctica, the Sahara, or the middle of the fucking ocean, I’m there. I’m as much yours as you are mine, Princess, and a law isn’t keeping me away. I don’t care what a piece of paper says. I’ll burn down the entire fucking Parliament if I have to.”

the fierce need to protect her—from the world, from her own doubts and insecurities—consumed me. I wished she could see herself as I saw her. Fucking perfect. I framed her face with my hands. “If we do it, we do it together. You and me against the world, Princess.”

“I missed you.” The mood shifted, transitioning from the brisk practicality of our plan to something softer and achingly vulnerable. “I’m right here. I’m not leaving.” I swept my thumb over her bottom lip. “I take care of what’s mine, and you’ve been mine since the moment I saw you outside your poorly secured house at Thayer. Until I fixed it, of course.” A

“In Costa Rica, you asked if I’d ever been in love. I said no.” I lowered my head until our foreheads touched and her lips were scant inches from mine. “Ask me again.” It was the same request I’d made at the hospital, but this time, Bridget didn’t break our gaze as she asked, “Have you ever been in love, Mr. Larsen?” “Only once.” I slid my hand up from her neck to the back of her head, cupping it. “And you, Princess. Have you ever been in love?” “Only once,” she whispered. I

“I love you.” Another breath rushed out of me. “I love you too,” I said, my voice gruff with long-buried emotion.

Bridget felt better than heaven. She felt like home.

And as Bridget wrapped her arms around my waist and Andreas returned, grumbling about a delayed bachelor trip to Santorini, I finally identified the odd sensation gripping me. It was the feeling of having a family.

SOBBING

“I’m not the best at flowery language, so I’ll keep it simple.” Fuck, was my voice shaking? I hoped not. “I never believed in love. Never wanted it. I didn’t see the practical value, and to be honest, I was doing just fine without it. But then I met you. Your smile, your strength, your intelligence and compassion. Even your stubbornness and hardheadedness. You filled a part of my soul I always thought would be empty, and you healed scars I never knew existed. And I realized…it’s not that I didn’t believe in love before. It’s that I was saving it all for you.” A

I didn’t know what I’d done to deserve her, but she was here, she was mine, and I was never letting her go. “You and me.” I cupped her face and brushed my lips over hers. “Always.”

He hadn’t expected his military buddies to come, since he hadn’t spoken to them in so long, but they’d all showed up. Whatever worries he might’ve had about seeing them again, they seemed to have disappeared. Rhys was smiling and laughing and looked perfectly at peace. “Barely,”