Page 31 of Royal Bargain

I glance toward the bed.

Annika’s already asleep, one arm curled under her head. She looks peaceful. And I’ll be damned if I let anything take that from her again. I fall into bed beside her, my eyes shutting as I drift off almost instantly.

The next morning,I rub at my eyes as I shuffle into the kitchen, blearily reaching for the coffee grounds—except they’re not in the cabinet I always keep them in.

I frown, open the next one. Still nothing. Third cabinet—nope. What the hell?

“Where’s the coffee?” I mutter.

Annika, standing at the stove in one of my old band tees and a pair of flannel pajama shorts, looks up from stirring a pot. “Top left cabinet, next to the spices.”

“Why?”

She blinks. “Because it makes sense? The mugs are right there.”

“That’s not where the coffee goes,” I say, already opening another drawer and finding… forks? Where the hell are my spatulas?

She crosses her arms. “It was chaos in here, Liam. Nothing was grouped by function. You had canned goods next to the cleaning supplies.”

“I knew where everything was, though,” I snap. “Now I can’t find a damn thing.”

Annika sighs, tight and irritated. “I was just trying to help.”

I pinch the bridge of my nose. “I didn’t ask for your help.”

The air goes still.

She turns away, shoulders rigid. “Right. Of course you didn’t.”

The silence stretches. My jaw is tight, her posture defensive. Neither of us is really mad about the kitchen, and we both know it. It’s the stress. The fact that someone I trusted put his hands on her. The fact that she had to defend herself again. The fact that I wasn’t here when she needed me.

And probably a dozen things she hasn’t said out loud yet.

The baby makes a little fuss from the playpen and both Ana and I get up at the same time, moving toward her.

But Ana gets there first, scooping her up as she sways Lily from side to side.

“She probably needs a change,” she says quietly.

“Yeah.” I nod. “I’ve got her.”

She hesitates, then lets me take Lily into my arms. The baby gurgles, fist curled against her cheek, and I let out a slow breath as she settles against my chest.

“We’re both tired,” I say after a minute, not looking at Annika. “Let’s just… not fight today.”

She nods. “Okay.”

The tension’s still there, stretched thin like an old rubber band. I don’t know how long it’s gonna hold.

Lily’s calm now, changed and fed, kicking her legs on the blanket in the middle of the floor. She’s got her eye on the little hanging toys like they personally offended her. I flop down beside her, one elbow on the floor, waving a stuffed giraffe through the air.

“And then,” I say, deep and dramatically, “the brave knight leapt over the lava moat. No sword. No armor. No idea what he was doing?—”

Lily latches onto the giraffe’s ear like she’s been planning it all day.

“Okay, yeah. He chewed a lot of things,” I nod. “It was part of his charm.”

From the couch, Annika snorts as she folds laundry. “Where do you even come up with this crap?”