Page 36
Story: Princes of Legacy
I wince at the coming headache. “We talked about this. The Princes have a contract with the?—”
“They’d honor your decision,” he snaps. “You know they would. If you tell them you want to stay in the palace, they’d tear up the contract.”
Gently, I remind him, “I made a contract with the Dukes, too.”
Pace scoffs. “That’s not why you’re going.”
“You’re right,” I say, throwing my hands up. “I’m going because I’m tired. And because I miss being somewhere I don’t have to constantly worry about our torture victim being found.”
Finally, Wicker cuts in, eyes rolling as he tosses the massage ball in the air. “Give her a break, Pace. This shit is obviously stressing her out. That’s not good for the baby, right? Let the Dicks worry about protecting her for a while. They’re gutter rats, but they’re well-armed gutter rats.”
I send him a glare.Not helpful!
The look he gives me in return? Butter couldn’t melt.
“You just want her to leave so you can avoid acknowledging the baby for the next few weeks,” Pace snaps back.
His expression hardening, Wicker replies, “I want her to leave so we can handle our shit without worrying about her.” He pushes up, propped on his elbows as he levels me with a stare. “Look, no offense, but this baby thing is putting a real damper on our extracurricular activities.”
“None taken.” I think.At first. When it begins flaring in my chest, I blurt, “I’ve been really on board with the torture stuff, thank you very much.”
He snorts, giving the massage ball a squeeze. “Chill, Red. No one here doubts your commitment to Sparkle Motion. But let's stop bullshitting ourselves. Our focus has been divided.”
“And now it won’t be?” Pace runs his hand through his hair, frustration evident in his tone. “What about Lex? What if he’s sleeping and we’re not there to pull him off you?”
I feel my face soften at the knowledge I hold, deep down. “Lex would never let himself hurt me, and everyone in this room knows it—even if he doesn’t.”
“And what about William?” Pace’s eyes blaze with fury. “What about the fact someone’s snatching Royal assets, and the last one to be taken was driving your car?”
There’s nothing being said that wasn’t gone over last night. “I’m safe in West End,” I insist, for the millionth time. I’m expecting the same old rebuttal—blah blah, gutter rats—but I’m not anticipating the way he springs forward, words slicing through the air like a knife.
“When are you going to get it?!” he roars, uncaring that Wicker has jumped from the bed, grabbing him by the arm.
“Hey, chill,” Wicker tells him, but Pace jerks away from him.
“You’re not safe anywhere!” he snaps. “And if that hasn’t sunk in yet, then the last place I want you and our kid is somewhere I can’t protect you. Someone has to think ofhim.”
“I am thinking of him!” But before I can make him even angrier by mentioning that this baby has family in West End too—family he’s entitled to, and family that will protect him—I see the icy shutters falling over Pace’s eyes.
“No, you aren’t,” he says, the coldness in his voice cutting. “Just like you weren’t the night you ran out of here, right into William’s stupid fucking trap.”
For a moment, it feels like all the air has been punched out of my lungs. “That’s not fair,” I say, struggling to inhale. But when I glance at Wicker, his blue eyes dart away from me, the cut of his jaw suddenly tense.
Clearly, he agrees.
Pace allows his brother’s silence to speak for itself. “What’s not fair is that every time you make some rash, half-cocked decision to step foot into danger, you’re taking us with you. Not just our baby. Not even just my brothers. The Dukes, too. Your mother. Lavinia.” A new arrogance curls his mouth into a snarl. “Stella.”
The name lands exactly as he means it to, painful and jarring, snatching my breath away. It twists inside my chest, this knot of agony and shock, and I’m taken by the thought that Pace would have hurt me less if he’d punched me.
“How dare you.” My vision blurs, tears filling the edges, but I can see Wicker stepping between us, a hand fisted into his brother’s shirt.
“That’s enough,” he hisses. “You’re not putting that shit on her!”
Pace doesn’t break my stare. Not until the first tear makes a track down my cheek. “I didn’t mean—” The words bite off, and then he clenches his teeth. “Whatever. Doesn’t matter what I think, right?” His chest jumps with a clipped, humorless laugh. “This is the deal we made that day in the solarium. You get to do anything you want, and we get to deal with the consequences.” He makes a snide, mocking bow. “May she reign.”
“Fuck you,” I spit, but Pace is already retreating from the room, his footfalls nearly as loud as the hammering down the hall.
Wicker sucks in a long, fortifying breath before turning to me. “He didn’t mean it like that.”
Table of Contents
- Page 1
- Page 2
- Page 3
- Page 4
- Page 5
- Page 6
- Page 7
- Page 8
- Page 9
- Page 10
- Page 11
- Page 12
- Page 13
- Page 14
- Page 15
- Page 16
- Page 17
- Page 18
- Page 19
- Page 20
- Page 21
- Page 22
- Page 23
- Page 24
- Page 25
- Page 26
- Page 27
- Page 28
- Page 29
- Page 30
- Page 31
- Page 32
- Page 33
- Page 34
- Page 35
- Page 36
- Page 37
- Page 38
- Page 39
- Page 40
- Page 41
- Page 42
- Page 43
- Page 44
- Page 45
- Page 46
- Page 47
- Page 48
- Page 49
- Page 50
- Page 51
- Page 52
- Page 53
- Page 54
- Page 55
- Page 56
- Page 57
- Page 58
- Page 59
- Page 60
- Page 61
- Page 62
- Page 63
- Page 64
- Page 65
- Page 66
- Page 67
- Page 68
- Page 69
- Page 70
- Page 71
- Page 72
- Page 73
- Page 74
- Page 75
- Page 76
- Page 77
- Page 78
- Page 79
- Page 80
- Page 81
- Page 82
- Page 83
- Page 84
- Page 85
- Page 86
- Page 87
- Page 88
- Page 89
- Page 90
- Page 91
- Page 92
- Page 93
- Page 94
- Page 95
- Page 96
- Page 97
- Page 98
- Page 99
- Page 100
- Page 101
- Page 102
- Page 103
- Page 104
- Page 105
- Page 106
- Page 107
- Page 108
- Page 109
- Page 110
- Page 111
- Page 112
- Page 113
- Page 114
- Page 115
- Page 116
- Page 117
- Page 118
- Page 119
- Page 120
- Page 121
- Page 122
- Page 123
- Page 124
- Page 125
- Page 126
- Page 127
- Page 128
- Page 129
- Page 130
- Page 131
- Page 132
- Page 133
- Page 134
- Page 135
- Page 136
- Page 137
- Page 138
- Page 139
- Page 140
- Page 141
- Page 142
- Page 143
- Page 144
- Page 145
- Page 146
- Page 147
- Page 148
- Page 149
- Page 150
- Page 151
- Page 152
- Page 153
- Page 154
- Page 155
- Page 156
- Page 157
- Page 158
- Page 159
- Page 160
- Page 161
- Page 162
- Page 163
- Page 164
- Page 165
- Page 166
- Page 167
- Page 168
- Page 169
- Page 170
- Page 171
- Page 172
- Page 173
- Page 174
- Page 175
- Page 176
- Page 177
- Page 178
- Page 179
- Page 180
- Page 181
- Page 182