Crown Jewels (Off-Limits Romance #1)(34)

I think about Prince Liam’s hands in my hair at Declan’s house that night, and it depresses me. He wasn’t being nice. He was trying to get into my panties. Now that I’m knocked up, he won’t care about that anymore, and he won’t care about me, either.

I watch the ocean roll and try to tell myself it doesn’t matter. I can handle life on my own terms. I’m a big girl. And I’ll be a good mom. I just know I will. I watch the white sky and the gray sea until tiny, cold raindrops start to hit my scalp. Then I hurry to my car, where Grey is perched up on the dash.

I can’t help laughing at him as I get back in.

I rub his head. He purrs, making me feel a little less guilty for dragging him on this trip with me.

I pull my map back out, then take off, west-bound down the tiny streets. Several minutes later, I leave the quaint neighborhood I’d passed through and drive into the forest. The road is paved but narrow, twisting through the trees. I roll my window down to feel the air, to ground myself. I glance down at my map once, but it looks like I’m on the right path.

And then the trees clear some and I can see the castle. Damn. It’s gorgeous. Nothing like the one I saw earlier today. This one is made of ancient-looking, dark gray stones and looks as old as time—or at least the middle ages—with spots of green moss in some places. As I drive closer, I notice something glinting…

Oh my heavens, that’s a moat! It encircles the castle. There’s no gate or wall, only this moat and what, from here, looks like a bridge. The grass around the castle is a vibrant green, with groves of trees. I notice something to my left and slow down, finding it’s a piece of an old wall. So the castle was surrounded by a wall. It’s crumpled now.

I’m a little disoriented, unsure where the ocean should be, but I think I hear it through my cracked window. Rain is coming down as fine mist.

“Shit…”

I rub my hair back off my face and exhale slowly, still pressing the brakes. It’s sort of late now. Maybe I should come back tomorrow.

I’m looking at the road that leads up to the moat, wondering if I could do a three-point-turn without driving on the pretty grass, when there’s a bump on my car window.

“Aaaaah!”

My head whips to the left, where there’s a bearded man wearing…some kind of uniform. My pulse slows, slowly.

“Shit.” I roll my window down and realize there’s a small building behind him.

“May I help you?” he asks in a Scottish-sounding accent.

“God. Sorry. You scared me.” I laugh.

“Sorry about that. It wasn’t my intention. Are you lost?”

I shake my head. “Not really.”

His thick brows narrow.

“I was wondering…um…does Prince Liam live here?”

“And who are you?”

“I’m Lucy Rhodes. A friend of his.”





FIFTEEN Liam





I haven’t seen another human being in days—since Ain drove me back from Clary. When we got here, I asked him to take a few days off and have most of the household do the same. With pay, of course. I kept a skeleton crew: a part-time groundskeeper, two security guards, two watchman who monitor traffic.

Since then I’ve been feeling…strange.

I can’t settle. Not hungry. Can’t sleep. I don’t want to shower, lift, ride, shoot, or even check my phone. I’ve been getting texts, snaps, and emails—and ignoring them all.

I drop the towel around my waist and pull on black lounge pants. I think of Lucy as I reach for the decanter on the bathroom counter.

I see her bruised face as I take a nice, long pull of whiskey. It’s Maith, a local brand that is my favorite. I can’t feel it really, but the twitch around my left eye settles, so I guess it’s done its job.

I rub the towel over my hair, walk into my room, and lie on my back across my bed, facing the canopy. It’s dark green, like a forest. I shut my eyes and try to see a forest, not her face.

I should really try to sleep…

Instead, I hear Lucy’s ghost voice in my ear. Strange how I miss her. As if I know her. As if she knows me. Loneliness is strange, though.

I’m not calling. Not anymore. It’s better not to, with what’s going on.

In lieu of human contact, I navigate to Audible and select a book: The Necessary Death of Lewis Winter by Malcolm Mackay. It’s a relief to hear another person’s voice, after hours of nothing but birds outside my window and the swish of fabric. I let my eyelids sag as I follow the narrator’s words. So I’m confused when I hear someone else’s voice come over his.

I push up on my elbow. My eyes settle on the speaker in the wall beside my dresser. I hear static, but whatever was said to me, I missed.

I get down off the bed and press the button. “Yes?” I ask. My voice is scratchy from disuse.

“Prince Liam. There you are! You have a visitor.”

“I…what?”

“A young lady. She says you’re friends.”





*





Lucy





Fuck me, fuck me, fuck me! I am such a moron.

Why am I here?

What am I doing?

I’ll tell you what I’m doing: I’m sipping tea from a dainty, off-white teacup while Grey licks his paws on the rug beside me.