Page 49 of Royal Shark

“That is old enough to marry.”

“I—” Chloe starts.

I finish for her. “Chloe is here for me.” I keep my voice upbeat. “And you’re too old for her anyway.”

“Come sit with me, little Chloe,” Sergei croons from a seating area in the back.

“No, thanks,” she says. “I’m sitting with Sara.”

Sergei gestures to me. “Sunny Sara, join us. Let us all get to know each other better.”

Adrian turns to Sergei. “Back off.”

“You can’t have both women,” Sergei says. “Do not be selfish.”

Adrian’s voice is a near growl. “There’s no shortage of women at the casinos on Villroy or Monte Carlo. This will all be so much more pleasant if you respect Sara’s wishes. I don’t want to have to kick anyone off the jet before takeoff.”

Everyone shuts up.

I take a seat in the first row next to Chloe. She does her seatbelt and unzips her backpack, removing a statistics textbook.

I do my seatbelt too. “I’m not sure how much studying you’ll get done with these guys around.”

“Sara,” she hisses, “you embarrassed me. You treat me like a child.”

I’m taken aback.Me? Embarrassing?I’m totally chill. “These guys are too old for you.”

“They look like twenties, thirties at the most.”

“And you’re only eighteen.”

Her eyes narrow. “You do know I’m an adult, right? I’ve been taking care of myself for a long time.”

“I took care of you.”

“When you weren’t working.”

I suck in air. “Ihadto work. Someone had to bring in money.”

The flight attendant does the safety rundown on exits and such, and we get quiet.

“I know that,” she says gently once the safety speech ends. “I’m just saying that when you were working, I was on my own, and I did fine.”

“You need to meet someone more like you. An academic. Sweet and gentle.”

She rolls her eyes.

“What’s that about? Since when do you roll your eyes at me?”

She lowers her voice. “Since you treat me like a know-nothing virgin. I can handle men fine.”

My jaw gapes. She’s not a virgin anymore? When did this happen? Why didn’t she tell me? She tells me everything. Well, I thought she did. Then I focus on the most important thing. “Are you okay?”

“Yes. It was two summers ago.”

“Two summers ago!”

She gestures to keep it down.