Cruel King (Royal Elite #0) by Rina Kent

“Answer me.”

“I told you I’m not giving up on my justice.” My lips part as I search his face. “Is this what is it about? Did you have something to do with the accident?”

A muscle ticks in his jaw and he focuses on the outside world.

I clutch his face with both my palms, forcing him to look at me. “You… did?”

Oh. God. Please tell me this isn’t true.

I search his pale eyes for any tell, but they’re glassed over. He’s sealing himself inside.

“I was there,” he says calmly. Too calmly.

A sob tears from my throat.

He was there.

Levi watched me being hit.

“But I wasn’t part of the accident.”

“Then you were a part of the ones who chased me like I was an animal?” I ask with stupor.

“No.”

“How the hell am I able to believe anything you say, Levi?” Everything clicks into place and I stare at him as if he’s not real. “This is why you approached me, isn’t it? You didn’t want me to reveal what you and your little band of friends did… wait… were Ronan, Xan, and Cole a part of it? Oh, my God. Of course, they were. Aiden told them to leave me to die, didn’t he?”

“Astrid!” He clutches my shoulders and I realise tears are streaming down my cheeks.

I promised myself that I’d never cry for him, but here I am.

Only, these tears are for myself. For the pathetic fool in me who considered trusting him again.

“For the last time, I’m repeating that I had nothing to do with the accident.”

“How did you feel when you saw me covered in my own blood, King?” I cry. “Did you get off on it?”

“No!” His grip tightens on my shoulder.

“Then why were you so insistent that I drop the case? Why did you make my life hell for it? And don’t lie to me. If you do, I’m erasing you completely. I swear.”

“You’re erasing me, huh?” He fists a handful of my hair in his fist, eyes menacing. “Do you think you can forget me?”

“Maybe not at first.” My voice is filled with emotions. “But I promise that I’ll eventually do it. I’m not your plaything, Levi and I never will be.”

He drops his hands from my hair and sighs. “Fuck it.”

Fuck it?

What the hell is that supposed to mean?

“Do you remember what happened the night of your accident?”

My brows furrow. “The accidental fire?”

“Only it wasn’t accidental.”

My eyes widen. “You…”

He nods. “I set my uncle’s mansion on fire.”

“But… why?”

“Arson leads to prison, princess. Uncle could’ve gotten me out of it, but that would’ve been at the expense of my freedom. That’s why I needed you to drop the case.”

“No. Why did you burn your uncle’s mansion?”

He laughs without humour. “Because I wanted to rebel against him? Because he threatened to take my inheritance and keep me on a leash? Because I wanted to be a dick and take his favourite holiday home right before the summer? Take your pick.”

Wow. I didn’t realise his relationship with his uncle was that strained.

“Can your uncle take your inheritance?”

“My father listed him as my guardian until I’m twenty-five. If I don’t play into his hands, he won’t let me touch a dime from the family’s money.”

“Can he really do that when you’re over eighteen?”

“Yeah. Even if he can’t, I can’t challenge him in court. No lawyer will beat Uncle’s harem of hotshot lawyers.”

“Why is he doing this to you?”

He releases a long breath. “He doesn’t want me to become my father. You see, my father wasn’t the perfect King that Jonathan is. James King loved life more and he never engaged in the family business. He played rugby in his early years and had a horrible injury that forced him into early retirement. He became depressed then manic. While Uncle built the empire, my father either gambled the King’s money or spent it on drugs.”

Humming energy pulses off Levi the more he talks about his father.

I inch towards him, slowly as if I’m afraid of setting him off. My heart aches for him and I can taste his pain on the tip of my tongue.

No king is born as a king. They’re made into one from their childhood. Levi never had a silver spoon. His mother abandoned him without a look back, his father had mental issues, and his uncle is obviously a control freak.

Oh, and his cousin is a psychopath.

“But you told me you had a good relationship with your father.”

“I did when he wasn’t manic or high, which leaves very little room for father and son bonding.” He pauses. “He taught me to be myself. I didn’t realise how much he really meant to me until I lost him.”

I lean my head against his tense shoulder, squeezing his hand in mine.

This must be why he has prejudices against drugs. It was part of the reason he lost his father.

“Jonathan doesn’t want me to be a failure like my father and Jonathan stops at nothing to get what he wants.”

I can see where Levi and Aiden got their ruthless side.

Levi wouldn’t admit to it openly, but he takes after his uncle in more ways than one.