Page 22 of The Royal Flame (The Royal Academy #3)

CHAPTER

MADDISON

N oah isn’t in his dorm. River messages him and we discover he’s not at the Academy.

He’s vague about his whereabouts, saying he’s doing a favor for someone.

It makes me worried that the guys he owned drugs too came after him.

While he was able to pay off his debt, that doesn’t mean much in the drug world, even the Royal drug world.

Drugs make people do messed up things—both my parents were drug addicts.

Or the people I believed were my parents.

And even then, they were shells of the people they could be as they main goal was to stay high.

“You know what I wonder?” I ask River as we make our way back to River’s dorm from Noah’s.

He yanks his fingers through his hair. “What?”

“If my mother—the woman who I thought was my mother—knows the truth about why she raised me. Think about it. Ellie had to do something to convince her to raise me. Did she pay her? Bribe her? Blackmail her? I doubt she told her the truth.” I give River a look.

“You saw how she screwed me over while I was in jail. If she knew I had Royal blood in me and that Royals were looking for me, she would’ve ratted me out for sure.

And then there was the guy that was my,” I make air quotes, “ ‘father.’ He would’ve given me up the instant I was under his roof. ”

Pity reflects through his stormy eyes. “Maddy,” he stars, taking my hand.

“No pitying me,” I tell him. “I’m just saying this aloud because I’m wondering if maybe I should try to track down my fake mother dearest and see if she knows anything. And she can’t do anything to me now that Drew’s isn’t after me.”

The corners of his pouty lips dip downward. “I don’t know about this plan. She tried to give you over to a guy that wanted to traffic you. How can we trust her?”

“We don’t have to trust her. And we can meet her someplace Royal. I can offer her an incentive to get her there.” I pause, contemplating. “I can offer her money. But it’ll be a lie.”

“You’re going to trick her?”

“Yep. Just like she’s done to me a ton of times. She probably already knows I’m attending The Royal Academy, so I can use that to my advantage. I can make it seem like I came into some money.”

“That’s very devious of you.” His voice is a mixture of impressed and apprehensive.

“It’s how she taught me to be.” I shrug, staring at the floor. “I’m not naturally like this. And I swear I’d never do something like to someone who didn’t deserve it.” I say it defensively, ashamed of my background in that moment.

And most moments.

He fixes a finger underneath my chin and angles my head up to look at him.

“I’m not judging you. You are the kindest, strongest person I’ve ever met, Maddison.

But I am worried about you doing this. I don’t trust the people that raised you.

She left you in jail for gods sake and stole your money.

That’s messed up. But if you want to do this, I’ll go with you.

You can act like we’re together and that’s where the money is coming from. ”

“The idea of pretending that makes me feel icky, but it’s a good idea.” I smile. “Thanks.”

“Don’t thank me. I didn’t do anything.”

“You’re mixed up this shit show because of me.”

“It’s my choice to be here. And I’d rather be mixed up in this than headed numbly in the direction I was before.” He brings my wrist to his lips and places a delicate kiss on my pulse.

It takes all of my focus to make sure my voice doesn’t wobble. “We’re supposed to be being friends until we can figure out how to get this target off of me.”

“Right. Sorry.” He blinks and releases my hand.

“Not that I mind you kissing my wrist,” I clarify. “But maybe save it for when we’re behind closed doors. Which, maybe you going with me to meet my mother might not be the best idea. What if the paparazzi spots us.”

“I know a place that’s pretty low key,” he explains as he unlocks the door. “If you were doing something else, I’d say go by yourself, but I don’t feel comfortable letting you go meet this woman by yourself.” He pushes the dorm door open and motions for me to enter first.

I step over the threshold, and he follows me, shutting the door behind us.

I face him. “You do realize I was raised by her, right?”

“Yeah, but that doesn’t mean you should’ve been.” He tosses his car keys into a dish that’s on an end table. “You should mention this to Grey too, because he’ll find out anyway.”

I grimace. “He’ll probably tell me not to. Not that that’ll stop me, but it’s so annoying how much of a parent he’s trying to be. I’m used to doing whatever I want whenever I want.”

“It might not be bad, though, to have a parent that cares about you.”

“How can he care about me? He doesn’t even know me.”

“Because he’s putting a lot of effort into making sure you’re safe. I know it’s annoying, but that means something.”

He’s right—I know he is. That doesn’t mean I feel any better about having to check in with Grey, especially when I’m an adult.

However, River is right. I have to tell him where I’m going so his bodyguard doesn’t wonder where the hell I’m going.

I text my mother first, to arrange the dinner. It takes her a while to reply. While we wait, River and I do homework in his living room, which seems oddly ordinary with everything else going on.

Eventually, my mother replies.

Mother: You want to take me out to some fancy dinner? Why?

Me: I need to talk to you about some stuff.

Mother: What’s in it for me?

Me: A nice dinner.

Mother: I want a hundred bucks cash, or no deal.

“Grrr,” I growl out as I read her text.

River glances at me. He’s sitting on the sofa close enough to me that our knees touch.

“What’s wrong?” he inquires.

“My fake mother wants a hundred bucks or else she won’t meet us for dinner.” My lip curls in annoyance. “I hate this.”

He places a hand on mine, stopping. “Just tell her will bring the money. I already said I was okay bribing her.”

I shake my head. “I’m not letting you pay her a hundred dollars. That’s too much money.”

“We’ll pay her with my father’s money,” he explains. “The irony in the fact that we’re using his money to get information that’ll help get him out of our lives is sort of amusing.”

My lips part in a protest, but he places his finger to my lips, shushing me. “Just do it, okay? We need answers.” He lowers his finger from my lips.

“By the time this is over, I’m going to be like a thousand dollars in debt to you,” I say with a weighted sigh. “I don’t know how, but I’m paying you back.”

He simply lifts his brows like: yeah, I’m not letting you do that.

I narrow my eyes at him, but he ignores me, returning back to the book he’s reading. He has a pen tucked behind his ear, and his hair is a mess. He’s so freaking cute it’s ridiculous.

I return to the text thread, loathing that I have to give this woman anything.

Me: Fine. I’ll text you the address to the restaurant later. Don’t be late.

I’m not worried about her not showing up. When it comes to money, she’ll do just about anything. Even hand over my life. Real daughter or not, I’m still her blood relative so all the messed up she’s done to me still hurts.

But not as much as my real mother allowing this horrible woman to raise me.