The Bad Royals Box Set: The Complete Royally Unexpected Series, page 89
How did the media know that?
My thoughts swirl around me, and I blink back a fresh wave of tears. Margot’s face is impassive, and Hunter motions toward the door.
“Let me grab a few things,” I say, squeezing the words out through my tightening throat. I trudge up the stairs and put my things into a bag, not even sure where I’ll sleep tonight. The bakery? Georgina and Giselle’s house?
When I go back downstairs, Hunter has his arms around Margot’s shoulders. They watch me leave, and the weight of their stares almost crushes me. When I get to my Vespa, I lean against it and let myself cry.
With trembling hands, I dial Luca’s number. He answers on the second ring.
“Hey, babe.” His voice is like a soothing balm on my aching heart.
“They know.”
“I shouldn’t have left.”
“They kicked me out,” I sob. “I’m going to the twins’ house. I knew Margot wouldn’t be happy.”
Luca lets out a string of expletives, saying he’ll be on the first flight back. As I cry, I manage to talk him out of it. I know he has to be with his family. We both have our own things to deal with, and I don’t want to be the one to pull him away from it.
Luca’s quiet for a second, and finally sighs. “Why would they think I would continue pretending to be with Margot after she gets out of the facility, when everyone knows that she overdosed? That wasn’t in the contract. I’m with you.”
I frown, taking a breath as I process his words. My head is a mess. I’m vaguely insulted by what he just said, but I can’t figure out why. He wouldn’t want to be seen with Margot when she gets out of the retreat?
I shake my head.
It doesn’t matter—he’s not with her. He’s with me.
He just said so.
Still, that familiar protective instinct arches up inside me. “What’s that supposed to mean? Why does it matter that Margot left to go heal herself? You should be supportive of her. You should be happy for her. For me.”
Luca lets out a sigh. I imagine him raking his fingers through his hair. “I am.”
“Didn’t sound like it.” I stare into nothing, trying to understand why I’m mad. Margot just kicked me out, and now I’m defending her? What’s wrong with me?
Maybe it’s just the tiredness that seems to be sinking deeper and deeper into my bones with every passing day. Maybe it’s the emotion of seeing those pictures online.
Maybe it’s the fact that after everything is said and done, I still care about my sister more than I care about anything else. Even when she hurts me, kicks me out, and treats me like I mean nothing to her.
Luca groans on the other side of the line. “I’m with you, Ivy. I didn’t mean to insult your sister. If I could, I’d jump on a jet and be there first thing in the morning. I love you, Ivy. It’s just…”
“Just what?”
“It’s just that, you know… Being seen with her would have a negative impact on the royal family of Argyle. You understand that, right? It would never be allowed. But it’s a moot point, because I’m not with her. I’m with you.”
I don’t know how to respond.
“So it’s okay to be with the sister of someone who overdosed? Wouldn’t that impact your reputation, too? Am I soiled goods now, as well?”
Luca takes a deep breath. “I’ll deal with my family. They’ve seen the articles, and they haven’t kicked me out.” I can hear the grin in his voice, but I don’t laugh.
“Too soon, Luca.”
“Sorry, babe. I just want to be with you, Ivy. You know that.”
I nod my head, sniffling, but a torrent of emotions is coursing through me. I’m being torn apart by everyone in my life.
Luca wants me to forget about my sister and pursue my own selfish dreams. Hunter wants me to be a doormat for him to walk over on his eternal climb up my sister’s ass.
But it’s Margot I’m most worried about. My sister, who’s relied on me since we were little, who has provided me a life I never could have created on my own, who’s everything to me, stared at me like she didn’t even know me.
I feel stupid for thinking she’d be happy for me. I’m an idiot for thinking she’d understand my relationship with Luca.
How am I supposed to choose between them?
“I got to go, Luca,” I say through gritted teeth.
“Call me when you get to the twins’ house, okay?”
“I’ll text you.”
“Ivy…”
“Bye, Luca.” I hang up the phone before he can say anything else.
Pain shatters through my chest. How is it that a few hours ago, his voice made me melt, and now it makes me recoil?
I can’t get rid of the nagging feeling that my fairytale is coming to an end. It was too good to last. There was too much happiness in a short amount of time, and I can feel it slipping away like sand through my fingers.
Texting Georgina that I’m coming over, I don’t even wait for a response. I know it’ll be okay for me to sleep there. That’s one good thing about having two best friends.
I swing my leg over the scooter, turning the key in the ignition. The scooter roars to life. There’s a finality to the sound that I don’t expect. I’m about to drive away from my sister. My family. My entire life.
For what? For a man who would toss my sister aside so easily?
I lean into the scooter, speeding down the streets. Even the whip of the air around my face does nothing to calm my nerves.
Something has changed, but I’m not sure what.
34
LUCA
Leaving Ivy behind feels wrong. Every hour I spend in Argyle feels wrong. The elation that I felt when the plane landed has evaporated, leaving a hole in my chest in its place.
Ivy needs me. I should be with her.
Taking a deep breath, I shake my head. She needs time with her sister. There have been huge changes in her life in the past couple of months, and I need to respect the time it takes for her to process things.
If she sounded distant, it’s because she needs to come to terms with things. Margot will come around. She has to.
I overanalyze the entire phone call as I make my way to my childhood bedroom. When I walk inside, a wave of nostalgia hits me.
I wish I could show this to Ivy. This room is where I grew up. This castle is my home.
As much as I resented my family sending me away, and as much as I hated the fact that they never visited, I know now that I pushed them away. A lot of the pain that I felt was my own mind. I tortured myself, and now it feels good to be home. The only thing that doesn’t feel good is the fact that Ivy isn’t beside me.
Cringing at my own comments over the phone, I promise myself I’ll make it up to Ivy. I know she cares about her sister very, very deeply—more deeply than I can understand.
Ivy sends me a message to let me know she’s safe at the twins’ house, and I breathe a sigh of relief.
Before I fall asleep, I vow to return to Farcliff as soon as I can.
The next day, there’s a big ceremony to welcome me back to Argyle. I’m surprised to see the crowds that gather in the streets as we drive through. People have t-shirts with my face on them, they wave signs, and scream my name.
Dante grins at me from the seat behind me, shielded from the crowds by dark-tinted windows. He hasn’t had his face shown to the public in years. “You’re a hero, Luca. We broadcasted a video of your first steps, and the whole Kingdom celebrated for three days.
“It did?” I frown, glancing at him. That was the day I found out about Cara and Theo. I don’t remember any celebrations about me.
Was I in such a dark hole that I didn’t even realize the impact my story was having?
Dante claps me on the shoulder. “It was a nightmare,” he laughs. “We kept trying to urge the banks and schools and garbage men to start working again, but everyone was just too giddy to do anything. The center square became this massive shrine to your recovery.”
Since my brother has shied away from the public, he’s used his tech expertise to help run the Kingdom. He’s the head of castle security, and comes up with lots of the systems that help make Argyle what it is. He’s a damn near genius, and almost no one in Argyle even knows.
“They love you,” he says.
My heart thumps, and I wave to the crowds. All I remember from that time is pain, and drugs, and crushing betrayal.
I didn’t realize that thousands of people cared about me like that. I didn’t know that my people were behind me, even if it felt like Theo and Cara had stabbed me in the back.
Dante clears his throat. “This girl of yours…”
I glance at him, stiffening. “What about her?”
“You love her?” My younger brother’s eyes search mine. He’s always been an expert at seeing through my bullshit, even when we were just little kids.
I let out a heavy breath and lift my eyes to him. “Yeah,” I answer simply. “I do.”
Dante’s face opens into a broad smile. “I’m happy for you, then.”
By the time the event is over, it’s late afternoon. I check my phone for the first time since this morning, and my heart sinks when I don’t see a message from Ivy. I tap a quick message out for her and attach a couple of photos of the Argyle Palace, the city, and the crowds that came out to see me.
Wish you were here, I write.
I stare at the screen for a few moments, and then slip the phone into my pocket.
The next three days continue in a whirlwind of activity. The days are packed with official events, and I’m whisked from one end of the Kingdom to the other. I speak to Ivy in the evenings, and her voice sounds flat and emotionless. It tugs at my heart, and I tell her that I’ll be back soon. I count down the days until I can go back to Farcliff.
On my fourth night in Argyle, my footsteps echo as I make my way to my chambers. I haven’t heard from Ivy all day, and last night she told me that Margot still hasn’t spoken to her. I can feel her slipping away from me, shutting herself off from my love. I need to go back there.
Every echoing footstep in the empty hallways sounds like a hammer pounding the final nail into my heart.
Something’s wrong.
I can feel it.
I need to fix it.
When I see that my chamber doors are ajar, alarm bells sound in my head. I slow down, peering through the opening before pushing the door open. It glides silently, and I see a man crouched over my bedside table.
“Who the fuck are you?”
The man yelps, jumping up as pills go scattering across the floor. My eyes widen when I see my half-brother, Beckett, staring back at me.
“Luca,” he manages to say as he clears his throat, his eyes bouncing around the room.
I frown. “What are you doing? Is that my medication?”
“I…” He rakes his fingers through his hair. “I got a new bottle off your doctor. I was just checking that you didn’t need any more.”
I frown. First of all, I don’t have a regular doctor in Argyle. I finished my prescriptions from Farcliff weeks ago, and never got a new one. I haven’t requested it from anyone, or even mentioned that I needed new pills.
Second of all, why would Beckett care about my medication? I hadn’t seen him in five years until we saw each other in Farcliff. Why is he all of a sudden invested in my recovery?
My brother’s cheeks grow bright red, and I know he’s lying.
“Why are you here?” My voice is hard.
Beckett lifts his eyes up to mine, and the mask on his face falls away. He sneers at me, shaking his head.
“It should have been you in that hospital bed, not Margot.”
“What?”
“These pills,” he says, sweeping his arm at the floor. “I know you depend on them.”
Taking a step, he grinds his heel onto a pill on the floor before kicking the powdery remains toward me.
I let my arms hang loosely at my sides, trying not to betray the tension that snakes through my muscles. I clench my fists and unclench them, looking Beckett up and down.
“I did depend on them,” I admit. “But that’s because I was a paraplegic and I broke my back. Or have you forgotten that?”
“How could I forget, when it’s all anyone ever talks about?” he spits.
Beckett shakes his head, and an ugliness in him shines through. My throat tightens as I look at my brother, my fists clenching once again. I just want him to leave. My emotions are too charged with everything that’s going on with Ivy. I need some time to myself to decompress and figure out what to do.
But I’m not going to get it.
Beckett takes another step, and I see a plastic bag of pills on the bedside table. Frowning, I take a step toward them. My half-brother scoffs, grabbing the bag and stuffing it in his breast pocket.
“What are those?”
“Doesn’t matter.”
“It does matter, Beckett. What the fuck are you doing in here? Are you fucking with my medication?”
“You’re just an addict, Luca. The sooner you admit it, the better off you’ll be.”
Leaning down to pick up one of the pills on the floor, I bring it close to my face. Noticing a T-shaped mark on one side of it, realization hits me like a sledgehammer to the gut.
These are the same pills that were in my room in Farcliff. The same ones I flushed down the toilet.
They’re not my painkillers.
Horror churns in my gut as I lift my eyes to my brother. He lets out a bark of a laugh, shaking his head.
“The look on your face is priceless, Luca. Did you finally figure things out?”
“What is this? Are you trying to poison me? Did you poison Margot?”
“I had nothing to do with Margot LeBlanc,” he spits.
I stare at the man in front of me, not recognizing any part of him. This is the boy I grew up with. The guy who would tag along when I played, the one who was by my side at every turn, the one that actually spoke to me when I left Argyle to get my surgery.
My brother.
And he tried to kill me?
It’s too horrific to accept, so I just stare at Beckett. My mind is completely blank. I can’t process any feelings or thoughts. A ringing sound pierces my ears, and I blink two or three times, swaying on my feet.
Finally, mustering all my courage, I croak out the one word that screams through my head:
“Why?”
Beckett’s eyes turn black. His lips twist, and his gaze pierces through me like a hot knife. “Why? You’re really asking me that? You’re wondering why I’m jealous of the golden boy who learned to walk again? The man who had women falling all over him? Who had Cara falling all over him before he threw her away? The man who overshadowed me every single fucking day of my life?”
Beckett shakes his head, kicking at the scattered pills on the ground.
“You drove yourself to a fucking pill addiction, and people still welcomed you back into the family with open arms. Me? I’m the perfect son, and I’m ostracized. I’m never good enough. I’m just the bastard son of a cheating mother, hated by every one of you fake fucks.”
“You know that’s not true.”
“Stop bullshitting me, Luca. The only way I would ever step out of your shadow is if your shadow didn’t exist.”
“I should have you arrested.”
“Do it,” he spits. “It won’t change what’s happening in Farcliff with your little girlfriend.”
My blood chills as Beckett’s lips curl into a smile. He arches his eyebrows, and all I can do in response is open my mouth. Nothing comes out.
“You never deserved Cara, or Margot, and you don’t even deserve her ugly little sister.”
The sound that rips through my throat is inhuman. It tears my vocal cords to shreds as I lunge at Beckett. He snaps his teeth as I crash into him, pummeling my sides with punches as we fall to the ground. Flipping me over, Beckett reaches back and brings his fist down onto my face.
I snap my head away at the last moment, and his blow glances off my cheekbone. Pain explodes across my face, but I grit my teeth and grab his wrist. Bucking him off me, I shield myself against a flurry of blows.
I can’t bring myself to hit him. Even as he punches my face, kicks me in the shin, knees me in the gut. Even as his dead eyes look into mine, I can’t hit my brother.
All these years, he felt inadequate. All these years, he thought of himself as less than us.
I never saw it.
Maybe I never cared. I was too invested in my own life—and then, my own pain, my own accident, my own heartbreak. I never stopped to think about my brother.
A punch cracks across my jaw. The metal tang of blood coats my tongue, and I wheeze to get a breath in. I hit Beckett in the gut, wincing as he cries out.
My brother pulls his arm back to hit me, and I know it’s going to be over. He’ll knock me out, because I can’t defend myself. I can’t hit him.
Before his fist comes down, though, another arm hooks around his and pulls him off me. He struggles against the guard, screaming and kicking as he’s pulled away.
Theo stands in the doorway, wide-eyed.
I roll onto my side, coughing as I wheeze and try to catch my breath. The King watches silently, scanning the room.
“What happened?” he asks.
I shake my head. “I’m not sure. I think Beckett has been trying to kill me. These aren’t my painkillers.”
Theo lets out a sigh. I glance up at him and my heart falls.
He doesn’t look surprised—only sad.
He knew.
35
IVY
I never knew likes on Instagram could cause such a big rift between family members. My latest post on my bakery account garnered more likes than Margot’s last picture, and I can see in Margot’s eyes that she’s upset about it.
Social media has been her mirror. It’s been millions of screaming fans telling her how wonderful she is. All day, every day.
Now, they’ve turned. She still has screaming fans, but the spotlight has turned to me.
