you sure? One is on this floor, and the other is on the third floor.”
I laughed silently. Of course there was a third floor to this estate. “This is good. It’s close enough to the stairs.” I was in my ninth month of pregnancy, and climbing up and down stairs was not high on my list of things to do.
“There’s an elevator just down the way, also.”
I couldn’t hold back my laughter. Of course there was an elevator. “One flight of stairs, I can manage, Marco. Thank you for not sticking me on the third floor or the penthouse.”
“We don’t have a penthouse.” He paused and tipped his head to the side. “At least, I don’t think we do.”
I sat down on the edge of the bed and sighed. “I’ll add that to my room counting to find out if you have a penthouse.”
Marco laughed dryly. “Please do.”
I closed my eyes and fell back on the bed. I’m sure I looked like a beached whale with my stomach sticking up in the air, but I just couldn’t sit up anymore. “Close the door on your way out, Marco. I need to sleep before I fall over.”
“Are you okay?” he asked, his voice laced with concern.
I closed my eyes. “I’m pregnant and need a nap. Also, my brother just died. No, I’m not okay.”
“Royal,” he called softly.
“Just please leave me alone, Marco. I’m not okay, but I will be.” Eventually. My relationship with my brother was a strange one, but at the end of the day, he was still my brother. And now, he was gone. Because of me.
A sob escaped my lips.
“I’m here if you need me.” I listened to Marco’s footsteps cross the room and the door shut behind him.
I was alone.
Finally.
Another sob racked my body, and I turned onto my side. I grabbed a pillow and buried my face in it.
How had I gotten here?
What had I done for this to happen?
My mind swirled with thoughts, and a wave of nausea rolled through my body. I clamped down on my bottom lip and sucked in a deep breath. Getting sick wasn’t going to make anything better. I needed to buck up and deal with the cards that were dealt to me.
The nausea subsided but the tears still rolled down my chest. I hiccupped loudly and rolled onto my back. I grabbed the edge of the comforter and pulled it over me.
I laid there trying to think of anything other than Grit. The last time I had seen him had been a somewhat happy time, but it had been bittersweet. We only had a few minutes before Leo whisked me off to Rockton, and then, a few short days after that, Grit was gone.
I heard the muffled sound of something drop out in the hallway, but I didn’t have enough energy to get up and see what it was.
My eyes drifted shut, and I let my exhaustion take me over.
I finally slept.
*
Marco
I laid my hand on the cold door and leaned my forehead against it.
It was my fault she was sobbing.
I was the one who had put that grief in her life.
Now I had to figure out how I was going to make it better.
I really did have a royal mess on my hands, and now, I needed to be the man to fix it.
*
Chapter Four
Royal
My stomach grumbled, and I stared up at the ceiling.
I needed to eat, but I was afraid I wasn’t going to be able to find my way to the kitchen. I had woken up ten minutes ago with the little one in my tummy doing a tap dance on my bladder and managed to dash to the bathroom before I made a mess of the lush rug.
Now I was back in bed trying to remember the way from my room to the kitchen. I had thought I could maybe hold out until the morning, but there was no way little baby was going to wait that long.
I rubbed my stomach and sighed. “Okay, little baby. Let’s go on an adventure and try to find the kitchen.” I rolled out of bed and stood. I glanced at the clock on the wall and sighed.
That was why I was so hungry. It was almost ten o’clock. At night.
I had slept for over six hours. I guess I really had been exhausted.
After I shoved my feet into my slip-ons, I opened the bedroom door and looked down the hallway both ways. “Which way was it?” I whispered.
“She