Royal Line (Tattered Royals #1) - Carrie Ann Ryan Page 0,26

through. Maybe somebody didn’t want to wait for the crown. “Are your brothers safe?”

She paled a bit but nodded tightly. “They have security too, even though Roman hates it. They all do. The only reason I didn’t was that I’ve never traveled under my own name, and I was safe. I’ve done it before.”

“Could someone have followed you?”

“No one is trying to kill me,” she said softly. There was steel in her voice. Like she needed to believe it.

“And what if they are?

“All they want is for me to produce a child.”

“With who?” The bitter bile of jealousy ate away at me. No way was I fucking jealous of an imaginary random asshole.

“I’m not.” She let out a breath. “My aunt has a farfetched plan to marry me off to some duke. It’s the twenty-first century, and I’m still going to be forced into an arranged marriage with a man I don’t even like to produce an heir, even though my brothers could do the same exact thing. But no, I’m the woman; therefore, I get to be the one who spreads her legs.”

An all-too-ready image of London spreading her legs under me flashed in my head, and my cock twitched.

Jesus Christ. I was losing my damn mind. I needed to sleep. I needed to get her out of my thoughts.

“Okay, then. Let’s assume that this could be a reason.”

Her brow furrowed. “If that is the case, then I’m worried about my brothers.”

“I get that. But like you said, they are well-protected and there is nothing you can do to help them. You are the priority right now.”

“Am I? Because if they’re coming after me, they could go after them too. Roman is a better target.”

“I’ll get Sparrow on it. She’ll contact their people, and we’ll figure it out. You and your family will be safe.” I just hoped to hell I wasn’t lying like I had the last time.

That scream echoed in my mind again, and I cursed myself.

“I can’t believe this is happening,” London said.

“But it is, and we can’t stay here for long. There are people after you, and if they knew where to try and run you off the road, then they’re watching you. They might have access to cameras and surveillance, so this is just going to be a temporary stop. We’re going to need to get you to someplace safer.”

“Okay,” she said before rolling her shoulders back and looking like the fierce princess I had met the night before. “As long as my brothers are safe, that’s all that matters. I’ll listen to you. Still, Rian has a safe place for me to go. If there’s someone actually after me.”

“Bullets, London. And we’ll see about you going to this Rian’s.”

“I heard you the first time. I’ll go along with this because not doing so would make me an idiot. However, I’m not just going to kneel and do everything you say.”

Visions of her kneeling filled my head this time, but I did a better job of hiding my reaction. “You’re going to listen, princess. Because I’m the one who’s going to keep you alive.”

“I’ll listen to you because I’m not stupid. But you don’t have to act like an asshole.”

“Baby, I’m always an asshole.” And then I turned on my heel and walked out of the room, needing some air.

Somehow, I was her protector. I was the one who was going to have to keep her alive.

I just had to get her off my fucking mind first.

Chapter 7

London

I thought a bed was for resting.

I’d been in here too long.

But the scalding-hot water had felt like such a reprieve after the call from hell. I wasn’t sure what I expected from Roman. I honestly should have known. He loved me; I knew that. Deep down, deep inside, when I looked really hard, I could see it, but damn, he really thought he was my father and not my brother.

One advantage of the shower was that it washed away the tears and I didn’t have to crumble in front of Kannon. He already made me feel unsettled and my skin far too itchy. I wasn’t going to add tears to the mix.

To make it all worse, I’d sneakily checked my emails. I knew what Kannon had said. I knew that prolonged usage of the phone and checking email could let someone know where I was. But I needed to check in with work.

Before I left home, I’d emailed my boss Brianne and let her know I