Royal Prick (A Stepbrother Romance #2)(62)

I pulled my cell out of my back pocket and hit my mom’s contact, listening to the phone ringing on the other end. Two rings later and she finally answered. I had no idea what time it was but I hoped she wasn’t asleep or at work.

“Hi, sweetie!” She sounded happy to hear from me. Guess there was a first time for everything.

“Hi, Mom!” My voice went flat. I didn’t want to bring up what I was about to, but I needed to let her know that I knew.

“Is everything okay? You sound upset.” I could see her now, pacing the floor, wondering if I had gotten into another fight or did something else that would get me into trouble.

“I’m fine. Perfect actually, I just need to ask you something, and then I need to make a choice.” I was more so saying what I needed to do out loud instead of just explaining what I wanted to.

“Okay…” She trailed off, hesitation laced her voice.

“You knew this whole time and you didn’t tell me.” I left the comment open ended. I knew she would understand what I meant. There was a moment of silence before she started to speak.

“I didn’t think that it was something that would change things. You can’t dwell on the past, Royal. What your father and I had was amazing, but there wasn’t anything that could be done once Viviana became involved. I didn’t send you there to get involved in all of it, I sent you there because you needed a better relationship with your father.” She sighed.

“Well you got what you wanted there. I get him more than I ever did before, and I hate him less which I guess is a good thing. However, now that hate has shifted to Viviana, and I’m so angry, Mom…” I was gritting my teeth, and gripping my phone without meaning to. I took a deep breath so I could finish my sentence.

“I hate her, Mom! I hate her for hurting you, and for hurting me. I hate her for forcing my father to be married to her. I can’t stand her and because of that I think it would be best for everyone if I were to come home. If I don’t I’ll end up doing something I will one day regret.” As I spoke the words out loud, my chest constricted. Was this me walking away from Noelle?

I leaned against the exterior wall of the hospital, staring up at the light blue sky; the sun was shining down on me, reminding me of Noelle. Everything seemed to remind me of her.

“If you want to come home, sweetie, you can, but don’t leave because of her. If you’re finally getting things to a good place with your father, then I think you should stay.” My mother was trying to see the good in it all, but she wasn’t living with Viviana so she had no idea what kind of person she was or what it was like to live with her. I didn’t want to leave Noelle; even speaking about it was tearing me apart, but I had to do something to change the course of action I was on.

“I’ll talk to Mark, but you should know I’m coming home, Mom.” I assured her of that. I couldn’t stay here, not even for Noelle. Once gone I would do whatever I could to get her out of that mess, but until then I had to be okay with walking away from her for a while. No matter how much it ripped me apart. Maybe things with her mother would calm down with me out of the picture.

“Do what’s right for you, sweetie. If you want to come home, you know you have a room here and you always will. And one more thing, Royal. I’m very proud of you, son, for seeing that there was a problem and wanting to avoid a fight or doing something you shouldn’t.” I smiled, knowing I would soon get to see my mother. She was right about everything. Coming here and finding out the truth changed me. It made me a better person, it gave me Noelle, and I would forever be grateful for that even if it led to the dreadful truth.

“Okay! I’ll see you soon. I love you, Mom,” I spoke into the phone before hanging it up. I didn’t know what Mark would say about me coming home, or how he truly felt about any of it. I would find out tonight though. I headed back into the hospital and back to Noelle’s side. I had to see her beautiful face one last time before I left.





Chapter Twenty-Six


-Noelle


Time seemed to move at a snail's pace when you were left alone in a huge house like this. It’s been seven long ass boring days since I was released from the hospital, and even longer since I last saw Royal. The house was twice as quiet and twice as lonely without him here. I felt like I was going stir crazy locked inside with nothing but my thoughts to occupy myself with.

It was strange how much it could hurt when you had to go without seeing someone that had become a constant in your life. Someone you had every day for months. Everything went from being a norm, to being something that never happened again.

My fingers glided across the handwritten note I found left on my nightstand the night I came home from the hospital. It was a letter Royal left for me the night he left. This was the last thing I had left of Royal minus the shirt he left in his room.

I tried texting him and calling him. Nothing worked. He either blocked my number or he just didn’t care to respond. I read the letter to myself for the hundredth time as I laid in bed wondering what the hell happened between us.

-Noelle

Please understand that me leaving has nothing to do with you but everything to do with me. I’ve learned to deal with things so much differently because of you. You have changed me for the better and will forever hold a special place inside my heart. Even if it hurt to hear the truth of what happened between my father and Viviana, it hurt more to have to leave you there knowing that you would have to deal with her alone.