Page 128 of Royal Bargain

“… we take both of you. And I kill them all while your daughter watches.”

My throat closes. My heart slams so hard I’m afraid it might stop entirely. I look down at Lily—her red face, her tiny fists curled around my shirt. She doesn’t understand what’s happening. Not yet.

But she will.

Unless I stop this.

My breath shudders in and out as I stare at Dariy, trying to think. Trying to breathe.

There’s no way out of this.

No guards left standing. No escape plan. No Liam.

Just me, Lily, and the man who’s always been lurking in the shadows, waiting for the perfect moment to strike.

For all my running… Papa was never the real threat.

It was always him.

Dariy’s hand tightens around my arm. “Well?”

I look down at Lily. She’s still crying, squirming in my arms, red-faced and panicked. Every sound she makes is like a knife in my spine.

She doesn’t deserve this. She never asked to be born into a world like this.

And if I scream, if I run, if I try to fight…

He’ll take her too.

He’ll kill for the inconvenience.

I meet his eyes, hatred and horror boiling in my chest. “I’ll go,” I whisper. “Just… don’t hurt her.”

His expression doesn’t change. But his silence says enough.

“I just—” I swallow hard. “Let me calm her down. Change her diaper, settle her. Please. Let me say goodbye.”

He narrows his eyes, as if weighing the request like it’s a trick.

“She’s just going to keep screaming,” mutters one of the other men behind him, annoyed. “It’s going to draw attention. Let her deal with it.”

Dariy huffs a short breath—almost amused—and finally, finally lets go of my arm.

“You have two minutes.”

I stagger backward, clutching Lily to my chest, my hands trembling as I carry her to the changing table. My mind races.

There’s no way to warn anyone. No way to call Liam. No miracle coming.

All I can do now is give Lily peace.

I move quickly, fingers fumbling with the snaps on her onesie. She quiets just a little, hiccupping as I lay her on the changing mat on the bed. I bend over, kissing her little soft spot.

“I love you,” I whisper into her hair, so feather-light it barely exists. “So, so much. You’re going to be okay. You have to be okay.”

But how?

If Liam comes back and finds us gone—how will he know where to look? How will he find me?