Cracked Kingdom (The Royals #5)(2)

Wright yells something back, but I’m not paying attention. I’m too busy watching Hartley. Since her car collided with the twins’ Range Rover outside her father’s mansion, she’s insisted she’s fine. Not to me, of course—nope, she hasn’t looked my way even once. I don’t blame her.

I did this. I destroyed her life tonight. My actions drove her to get into that car, at the exact moment my brothers were speeding around the curve. If she hadn’t been upset, maybe she would’ve seen them sooner. Maybe Sebastian wouldn’t be… dead? Alive?

Goddammit, why aren’t there any updates?

Hartley keeps insisting she’s not hurt, and the EMTs obviously concurred because they examined her and then let her come to the waiting room, but she doesn’t look so good right now. She’s swaying slightly on her feet. Her breathing is short. She’s also paler than the white wall behind her head, creating a shocking contrast between her skin and jet-black hair. There isn’t a drop of blood on her, though. None. It makes me weak with relief to see that, because Sebastian was covered in it.

Bile coats my throat as the scene of the accident flashes through my mind. Shards of the broken windshield littering the pavement. Sebastian’s body. The red puddle. Lauren’s shrieks. The Donovans already picked up Lauren and took her home, thank God. The girl didn’t stop screaming from the second she got to Bayview General to the second she left it.

“Hartley,” comes Ella’s quiet voice, and I know my stepsister has noticed Hartley’s ashen state. “Come sit down. You’re not looking too good. Sawyer, go get Hartley some water.”

My younger brother disappears without a word. He’s been a zombie since his twin was taken away.

“I’m fine!” Hartley spits out, shoving Ella’s small hand off her arm. She turns back to her father, still wobbly on her knees. “You’re the reason Sebastian Royal got hurt!”

Wright’s jaw drops. “How dare you insinuate—”

“Insinuate?” she interrupts angrily. “I’m not insinuating! I’m stating a fact! Easton wouldn’t have been at the house tonight if you hadn’t threatened to send my sister away! I wouldn’t have come after him if he hadn’t come to see you!”

That makes it my fault, I want to object, but I’m too weak and too fucking cowardly to do it. But it’s true. I’m the reason this happened. I caused the accident, not Hartley’s dad.

Hartley wobbles again, and this time Ella doesn’t hesitate—she clamps a hand around Hartley’s upper arm and forces her to a chair.

“Sit,” Ella orders.

Meanwhile, my father and Hartley’s father are staring each other down again. I’ve never seen my dad so pissed.

“You’re not going to be able to buy yourself out of this one, Royal.”

“Your daughter was driving the car, Wright. She’ll be lucky if she doesn’t spend her next birthday in juvie.”

“If anyone’s going to jail, it’s your son. Hell, all of your sons belong there.”

“Don’t you dare threaten me, Wright. I can have the mayor here in five minutes.”

“The mayor? You think that sniveling pencil-dick has the balls to fire me? I’ve won more cases in this godforsaken county than any other DA in the history of Bayview. The citizens would crucify him and you—”

For the first time in three hours, I find my voice.

“Hartley,” I say hoarsely.

Mr. Wright stops mid-sentence. He whirls around to face me, daggers in his eyes. “Don’t speak to my daughter! You hear me, you little bastard! Don’t say a word to her.”

I ignore him. My gaze is glued to Hartley’s pale face.

“I’m sorry,” I whisper to her. “This was all my fault. I caused the accident.”

Her eyes widen.

“Don’t say a word to her!” Shockingly, this comes from my father, not hers.

“Callum,” Ella says, looking as astonished as I feel.

“No,” he booms, his Royal-blue eyes fixed on me. “Not one word, Easton. Criminal charges could come into play here. And he”—Dad glances at John Wright as if he’s a living manifestation of the Ebola virus—“is an assistant district attorney. Not another word about the accident without our lawyers present.”

“Typical Royals,” Wright sneers. “Always covering each other’s asses.”

“Your daughter hit my sons’ car,” Dad hisses back. “She is the only one responsible.”

Hartley makes a whimpering sound. Ella sighs and strokes her shoulder.

“You’re not responsible,” I tell Hartley, ignoring everyone else. It’s like we’re the only two people in the room. Me and this girl. The first girl I’ve wanted to spend time with without getting naked. A girl I consider a friend. A girl I wanted to be more than friends with.

Because of me, this girl is facing my father’s wrath. And she’s wracked with guilt over an accident that wouldn’t have happened if I wasn’t in the picture. My older brother Reed used to call himself the Destroyer. He thought he ruined the lives of everyone he loved.

Reed’s wrong. I’m the one who screws everything up.

“Don’t worry, we’re leaving,” Wright growls.