Twisted Games (Twisted, #2)(118)

“Princess, I’m never wrong.”

I released a half laugh, breaking some of the tension. “I can think of a few instances when you were.”

“Yeah? Like when?” Rhys challenged, a hint of amusement shining through.

I deepened my voice to mimic him. “One, I do not become personally involved in my clients’ lives. I am here to safeguard you from physical harm. That is all. I am not here to be your friend, confidant, or anything else. This ensures my judgment remains uncompromised.” I reverted to my regular voice. “How’d that work out for you, Mr. Larsen?”

He stopped massaging my shoulders and curled one hand around my throat. My pulse jumped as he lowered his head until his lips grazed my ear. “Mocking me? Do you need a refresher lesson already, Your Highness?”

Another piece of tension cracked.

“Maybe. You might want to brush up on your teaching skills, Mr. Larsen,” I said, playing along. “The lessons should last longer than a couple hours.”

Another laugh escaped when Rhys picked me up and swung me around until we faced each other, and my limbs wrapped around his neck and waist.

“I knew you were trouble the moment I saw you.” He squeezed my ass, hard, but those steel-gray eyes were soft as he examined me. “You did what you had to do, princess.”

Despite the gruff delivery, his single short sentence comforted me more an entire speech from someone else could.

“I know.” I rested my forehead against his, tightness ballooning in my chest. “But there are so few people I can turn to here, and I just lost two of them in one day.”

Too much was changing too fast. Some of it was good, some of it was nerve-wracking. Either way, I could barely keep up.

“You have me.”

“I know,” I repeated, softer this time.

“Good. And for the record…” Rhys’s lips tilted up into a small smile. “I’ve never been happier to be wrong. Fuck personally involved. That’s not good enough. I want to be in your mind, in your heart, and in your fucking soul the way you are in mine. You and me, princess…”

“…Against the world,” I finished. The tightness in my chest no longer had anything to do with Elin and Mikaela.

“That’s right. You’re never alone, princess,” he whispered against my mouth. “Remember that.”

Rhys and I hadn’t officially celebrated yesterday’s victory yet, but as he kissed me, I realized we didn’t need champagne and fireworks. We’d always been best when it was just us, no pomp and circumstance required, and the best celebration was being together without having to hide.

No shame, no guilt, no impending vote or tough conversations with soon-to-be ex-friends and ex-employees hanging over our heads.

Just us.

That was all we needed.





50





Rhys





“You can’t sit by a queen’s side if you don’t know which fork to use. You’ll embarrass yourself at state functions.” Andreas crossed his arms over his chest. “Did you not look at the diagram I sent you?”

“They’re. All. Forks,” I bit out. “They serve the same function.”

“I’d like to see you try to use an oyster fork to eat steak.”

A dull ache throbbed at my temple. We’d been reviewing dinner etiquette for the past hour, and I was one second away from stabbing Andreas with one of his beloved forks.

He’d officially moved out of the palace and back into his townhouse last week, after the parliamentary vote, and we were reviewing place settings in his kitchen.

I’d asked him to help me acclimate to the whole royal lifestyle thing. Diplomatic protocol, who’s who in Eldorran society, and so on.

I already regretted it, and we hadn’t even finished our first lesson.

Before I could respond, the doorbell rang, saving Andreas from death by utensil.

“Study the diagram,” he said before answering the door.

My temple throbbed harder. I should’ve asked the palace’s protocol office for help instead. They were humorless automatons, but at least I didn’t want to murder them every five minutes.

I heard faint voices, followed by the sound of footsteps.

“Rhys?”

I looked up and saw Bridget standing in the doorway with Booth. I wasn’t sure who was more surprised, her or me.

“What are you doing here?” we asked at the same time.

“It seems I’m now the most popular person in the family.” Andreas stepped around Bridget. “Ironic.”

She walked to me and gave me a quick kiss before sliding a cool glance in Andreas’s direction. “You’re not the most popular person anywhere except in your head.”

I didn’t bother hiding my smile. Snarky Bridget was one of my favorite Bridgets.

Andreas arched an eyebrow. “Care to explain why you’re here then, Your Highness? I assumed you’d be too busy to visit little ol’ me.”

Good question. Bridget was supposed to be at a coronation planning meeting.

“My meeting ended early, so I thought I’d come by to say thank you. I didn’t get a chance to say it before, but I appreciate you helping Rhys with Erhall.” It came out grudgingly. Bridget’s relationship with Andreas had warmed a few degrees since she found out he’d been trying to help her in his own fucked-up way, but they would never be best friends. They were too different and had too much history.