Paper Princess: A Novel (The Royals Book 1) (8 page)

I
eat
breakfast in the kitchen alone the next morning. My legs ache and my feet are sore from walking two miles in new shoes that hadn’t been broken in yet. I dreamed that Reed Royal was chasing me in a pitch-black tunnel, his deep voice taunting me in the darkness, his breath hot on my neck. I woke up before he was able to catch me, but I like to think that when he did, I strangled him to death.

I’m not looking forward to school on Monday, and that ten thousand dollars in my backpack is calling out to me.
Leave. Run. Start over
. But there’s so much more money on the line…

Maybe the Royals are right. Maybe I am a whore. I might not be sleeping with anyone for money, but I am taking it from Callum for favors unspecified in the future. Brooke said he saved her, but I’m guessing from the way they act around each other that she’s definitely sleeping with him.

Footsteps thud in the hall, and Easton walks into the kitchen. He’s bare-chested and wearing gray sweatpants that ride low on his hips. I try not to stare at the hard ridges of his abs. But I do take a long look at the cut on his right temple. It must have bled at some point, but now it’s just a red line, an inch long and marring his perfect skin.

Without acknowledging me, he grabs some orange juice from the fridge and drinks straight from the carton.

Note to self: don’t drink from that carton unless you want oral herpes.

I focus on eating my yogurt and pretend he’s not here. I have no idea where he and Reed went last night or when they got home, and I’m not sure I want to know.

I can feel him watching me. When I turn my head, I find him leaning against the counter. His blue-eyed gaze tracks the movement of my spoon as I raise it to my lips, then lowers to the hem of my short sleep shirt.

“See something you like?” I crack as I take another bite.

“Not really.”

I roll my eyes and gesture to his head with my spoon. “So what happened? Bump your head on the dashboard when you were blowing your brother last night?”

He laughs, then glances at the doorway behind me. “Hear that, Reed? Our new sister thinks I blew you last night.”

Reed enters the kitchen, also shirtless and in sweatpants. He doesn’t even look my way. “See if she’ll give you some pointers. She looks like she knows her way around dick.”

I flip up my middle finger but he has his back turned to me. Easton sees it, though, and a slow grin stretches his mouth.

“Nice. I like a chick with a little fight in her,” he drawls. He pushes off the counter and comes closer, his thumbs tucked in his waistband. “What do you say,
Ella
?” He voices my name as if it’s a curse word. “Want to show us what you’ve got?”

My heart stops. I don’t like the feral look in his eyes. He stands in front of me. Then his smile widens and he slides one hand inside his pants to cup his junk.

“You’re our sister now, right? So come on.” He rubs himself. “Help a brother out.”

I can’t breathe. I’m…scared.

I shoot a glance at Reed, but he’s leaning against the counter now, arms crossed. He looks amused.

Easton’s blue eyes go smoky. “What’s the matter, sis? Cat got your tongue?”

It’s impossible to answer. My eyes dart toward the doorway that leads upstairs. The other door is behind me, but I don’t want to turn my back to Easton if I need to run for help.

He catches the fear in my eyes and starts to laugh. Just like that, his hand slides out of his pants. “Aw, look at that, Reed. She’s scared of us. Thinks we’re gonna hurt her.”

Reed laughs, too. From his perch on the counter, he smirks at me. “Not our MO. We have no problem getting laid.”

Sexual assault isn’t about getting laid, it’s about power, I want to say, but I can see now that I was afraid for nothing. They don’t need to hurt me. They already have power. This…whatever this was…it was intimidation. A game. They wanted to make me uncomfortable, and they succeeded.

As our gazes lock in a three-way stare-down, Callum walks into the room. He frowns when he notices Easton standing so close to me and his other son lurking at the counter. “Is everything all right?”

The Royal brothers watch me, waiting for me to tattle on them.

I don’t. “Everything’s awesome.” I take another bite of yogurt but my appetite is gone. “Your sons and I are just getting to know each other. Did you know they have a stellar sense of humor?”

Easton’s lips twitch. When his dad turns away, Easton’s palm grazes his crotch again.

“Did you enjoy the party last night?” Callum asks.

Reed cocks an eyebrow at me. Waiting again, this time to see if I’ll tell their father about the way they deserted me on the side of the road. I keep that to myself, too.

“It was great,” I lie. “Super fun.”

Callum joins me at the table, trying to provide a buffer between me and the guys, but his attention only draws sneers from Reed and Easton, who make no effort to hide their feelings.

“What would you like to do this weekend?”

“I’m fine. You don’t have to entertain me,” I answer.

He swivels in his chair. With an upward tip of his chin, he asks, “What about you two?”

The subtext is
what are we going to do with Ella
. It makes me cringe and a tightness that I’m beginning to call the Royal Pain appears between my shoulder blades.

“We got plans,” Reed mutters and walks out of the room before Callum can even open his mouth again. He turns to Easton, who raises both palms and blinks innocently.

“Don’t ask me. I’m the middle child. I do what everyone else tells me.”

Callum rolls his eyes and despite the tension, I snort softly into my bowl. Easton does what Easton wants. No one made him put his hand down his pants and proposition me. That’s a game he enjoyed playing and one he did without prompting. It’s convenient for him to pretend like Reed is his leader, absolving Easton of responsibility.

“Well, maybe you can let me know what Reed’s plans are for you later,” Callum grinds out.

Easton flushes. It’s one thing for him to cast Reed as a leader and another thing for their father to imply Easton’s a puppet.

“You never cared what I did on the weekends before.” He shoves the OJ carton back into the fridge. With a glare at his father that is hot enough to turn the hair on Callum’s head entirely gray, he walks off as well.

Callum sighs. “I’m not winning any father of the year awards, am I?”

I tap my spoon against the table a few times because I know better than to stick my nose where it doesn’t belong. But in this case, Callum is dragging me right into the middle of a messed-up dynamic and the collateral damage could get real bad if he doesn’t rein it in.

“Look, don’t take this the wrong way, Callum, and obviously you know your kids better than I do, but does it really make sense shoving me down their throats? Honestly, I’d rather they ignored me. It doesn’t hurt my feelings that they aren’t happy I’m here, and the house is big enough we could all go for days and not see each other.”

He scrutinizes me as if he’s trying to figure out if I’m being sincere. Finally, he smiles sheepishly. “You’re right. It wasn’t always like this. We used to get along fine, but ever since their mother’s death, the whole family hasn’t been right. Unfortunately, these boys are spoiled. They need a dose of real life.”

And I’m that dose?

I scowl. “I’m not an afterschool lesson. And you know what? I’ve experienced real life and it sucks. I wouldn’t force
real life
on the people I love the most. I’d try to protect them from that.”

I push away from the table and leave him behind.

Outside the kitchen, I find Reed lurking in the hall.

“Waiting for me?” I’m not even remotely sorry for the snide edge that’s crept into my voice.

Reed gives me the onceover, his gorgeous blue eyes lingering on my bare legs. “Just wondering what your game is.”

“I’m trying to survive,” I tell him honestly. “All I want to do is to make it to college.”

“And take a chunk of Royal money with you?”

I bristle. This guy just won’t let up. “Maybe with a few Royal hearts in my pocket, too,” I say sweetly.

And then, with a forced boldness, I lift a finger and trail it slowly across his naked pecs, my nail scraping across his smooth skin. His breath hitches, almost imperceptibly, but it’s there.

My heart leaps to my throat and blood begins to pound in places that I absolutely do not want to be associated with Reed Royal.

“You’re playing a dangerous game,” he rasps out.

Don’t I know it. Still, I can’t let Reed see he’s gotten to me. I pull my hand away, folding the fingers into a fist. “I don’t know any other way to play it.”

That bit of truth stuns him and I slip away. I’d like to think I won that round, but I feel like every encounter with Reed chips away at something vital inside me.

I
spend
the day exploring the house and the grounds. Beside the pool is a pool house made almost entirely of glass, which holds a sofa, some chairs, and a tiny kitchen. A stairway leads to the shore, but with all the rocks, there really isn’t anything you could call a beach, at least not unless you walk farther down the shoreline. Still, it’s beautiful, and I can see myself sitting down here with a book and a mug of hot cocoa.

It’s hard to believe this is my life now. If all I have to do is endure two years of insults from the Royal boys, it’ll still be a cakewalk compared to everything I’ve gone through in the past. No worrying about having enough to eat or wondering where I’m going to sleep. No moving from town to town, looking for a quick score. No sitting by my mom’s bedside watching her shake and cry from pain but being too poor to afford the medication that would put her out of her misery.

A sharp bolt of grief slices through me at those memories. Like Callum, Mom wasn’t the best parent in the world, but she tried hard and I loved her. When she was alive, I wasn’t completely alone.

Here, with the big endless ocean rolling away from me and not another person as far as I can see, the solitude hits me hard. No matter what Callum says or tries to do, I’m never going to be a Royal.

Maybe I’ll do my reading inside.

The big house is quiet. The guys are gone. Callum has left a note that says he’s working and provides me with the Wi-Fi password, his cell phone number, and Durand’s number. Under the piece of paper is a small white box. Cue heavy breathing. I lift out the smart phone like it’s made of sugared crystals. My old phones were disposable flip phones that sent and received calls. This one…I feel like I could hack a database with it.

I spend the rest of the afternoon playing with the phone, looking up random shit and watching really terrible YouTube videos. It’s wonderful.

Around seven, Callum calls to tell me that dinner is ready. I find him and Brooke out on the patio.

“Mind if we eat out here?” he asks.

I stare at the delicious-looking food and the beautifully lit patio area, and try not to roll my eyes because who in their right mind would hate this? “It’s perfect.”

During dinner, I get a chance to see a different side of Brooke. A strange, vulnerable one where she ducks her head and bats her eyelashes at Callum. And Callum? The man who heads up a corporation that builds planes for the military? He eats it up like candy.

“Can I get you more wine, honey?” Brooke offers. Callum’s glass is almost overflowing already.

“No. I’m perfect.” He smiles easily. “I’ve got the two most beautiful ladies sitting down to dinner with me. The steak is cooked perfectly and I just closed a deal with Singapore Air.”

Brooke clasps her hands together. “You are just amazing. Have I told you how amazing you are?”

She leans close, her breasts squashing against his arm, and plants a wet kiss against his cheek. He casts a quick glance in my direction before gently moving away. Brooke makes a small noise of disappointment but settles into her chair.

I dig into my steak. I don’t know if I’ve ever had a piece of meat so juicy before.

“Steak is very fattening. All red meat is,” Brooke informs me.

“Ella doesn’t need to worry about that,” Callum says brusquely.

“Not now, but later you’ll regret it,” Brooke warns.

I look down at the succulent piece of meat and then over at Brooke’s willowy frame. I think I get where she’s coming from. Like me, she’s poor. She relies on Callum’s generosity and probably fears that if she’s less beautiful tomorrow, he’ll be done with her. I don’t know if she’s wrong or right, but it doesn’t make her concerns less valid. Still, I’m hungry and I want this steak. “Thanks for your input.”

Callum smothers a chuckle as Brooke frowns. An expression I can’t make out flits across her face. Something like disappointment or disapproval. Her pouty lips firm and she turns to Callum, engaging him in conversation about some party they went to before I arrived.

Guilt makes my next bite of meat a little less delicious than the first one. I hurt her feelings and now she’s shutting me out. Other than Valerie, she was the one friendly face around in this new place and now I’ve offended her.

“Should we plan a party to welcome Ella into the family?” Callum suggests, trying to include me in the conversation.

And Callum. He’s been nothing but perfect since he dragged me out of Daddy G’s, but a party with the assholes from school? I’d rather have my fingernails pulled out one by one.

I place my fork beside my plate. “I don’t need a party. You’ve already given me everything I need.”

Brooke lays her head against Callum’s stiff shoulder. “Callum, don’t worry about it. Ella will make friends in her own time, won’t you, darling?”

I nod in agreement. “That’s right.”

I summon up my best smile, and it must work because the tension in his body disappears. “All right, then. No party.”

“Callum’s the best, isn’t he?” Brooke reaches up to toy with the top button of his shirt. Her actions are possessive, almost as if she’s trying to defend her territory. I want to tell her I’m not a threat, but I don’t know if she’d believe me. “We’re his soiled doves. Hopefully once we’re cleaned up, he doesn’t send us away.”