Cruel King (Royal Elite #0) by Rina Kent

I’m bracing myself for the bad news. No matter how many of them I got lately, it doesn’t get easy.

Before he can speak, I blurt out what I’ve been a coward to say all these weeks. “I’m sorry, Dad.”

“For what?”

“For saying what I said that day. I was angry. I didn’t mean that, you know, wanted you dead. I don’t. You’re my… dad. I just miss my mum and I wish I had both of you beside me.”

He releases a long sigh. “Me, too.”

“Really?”

“Yes. Jasmine and I decided to reunite officially right before her accident.” A sheen of sadness covers his gaze. “It remained as a dream after all.”

“Wait. You planned to divorce Victoria? But wasn’t she your wife since I was seven?”

“On papers, yes. She’s the perfect wife chosen by my parents, but she was never my wife. Your mother is the only woman I wanted to marry.”

“Then why didn’t you?”

“I did.” He scratches his forehead and clears his throat. “In Vegas.”

“Vegas? As in Las Vegas.”

“Yes. That’s the one.”

Whoa. I somehow can’t imagine my dad, Lord Henry Clifford, heir to the Clifford household and a member in the House of Lords, visiting Vegas let alone having a Vegas wedding.

“Mum never mentioned that.”

“But she told you, you weren’t illegitimate, didn’t she?”

“Yeah, she did.” Her version was that they registered their marriage secretly and that’s it.

“What is it?”

I shake my head, laughing awkwardly. “Sorry, I’m still wrapping my head around the Vegas part.”

“I wasn’t always so put together, you know. I was quite wild in my youth. How do you think I met your mother?”

“She always left that part vague. She mentioned something about a party?”

“I guess she can call it a party.” He shakes his head with a nostalgic smile. “That was probably her PG-13 version. My friends and I partied and gambled all night. In our drunken minds, we decided it was an epic idea to have skull tattoos. We went to this parlour down the road and Jasmine was there. She was… stunning. And I might have pushed my mates aside so she’d tattoo me. Only she made fun of my skull idea and how ‘unoriginal’ it was. So I gave her free reign to do anything as long as it can be hidden by clothes.” He pauses as if tasting his own words. “She looked out of her skin with joy. I’ve never seen someone look so happy before. Apparently, it was the first time someone gave her artistic freedom. She promised that I won’t be disappointed.”

I inch closer to him. “And what did she do?”

I didn’t realise Dad had a tattoo. Or maybe I did from when he lived with us and forgot about it.

He stands up and unbuttons his shirt. “I’ll show you instead.”

My jaw would’ve dropped to the floor if it weren’t attached to my mouth.

A black and red phoenix tattoo covers the middle half of Dad’s back in a 3D style sketch. Its tendrils resemble flames.

“Wow.”

I’ve seen so many of Mum’s work, but this is her most passionate one. I strive to sketch like her one day.

“That’s not all.” He rolls his sleeves to show me small tattoos in a vertical line along his forearm. A sun. A moon. A star. The sun on Dad’s arm is black.

“Like mine…” I show him my tattoo at the same place as his. Only in mine, the star is coloured black.

And in Mum’s tattoo, the moon is in black. I chuckle. “She got us matching tattoos.”

“I was against it since you were only fifteen, but I’m glad she did it anyway.” Dad smiles as he buttons his shirt and sits beside me again.

“How long did she take to do the phoenix?”

“About a week. We talked so much during that time. It was the first time, someone had genuine interest in me and not in my family name. So afterwards, I hid my real identity from her. We stayed together for months before I took her to Vegas.”

“How did Mum find out about who you are?”

“The horrible way. My parents got involved and it wasn’t pretty. People like me aren’t supposed to be with people like Jasmine. Even though I knew that, I couldn’t lose her. Especially when she was pregnant with you.”

I continue itching closer until there’s no space left between us. “What did you do?”

“I struck a deal with my father. The marriage will remain under radar and so will you and Jasmine. If I refused, they would’ve done it the harsh way and it would’ve hurt Jasmine.” He stops meeting my eyes with his identical ones. “Those seven years I spent with you two were the happiest times of my life, Star.”

A sob catches at the back of my throat. “Then why did you leave? Why did you end up marrying Victoria and tossing me and Mum aside?”

“Your mum did the tossing, actually. Now, I realise it must’ve been a ploy from either my father or Victoria or her parents. Or all of them. I had to leave. I’m the only heir to my family and I knew if I didn’t obey, my parents would’ve buried you and Jasmine until I could never find you.”

“Bad things for greater good.”

“No, Astrid. No.” He holds my shoulders. “There was no greater good about leaving you and your mother. There hasn’t been a day that I didn’t regret it. But every time I went back, Jasmine pushed me out. She allowed me to see you sometimes, but she cut me off from your lives saying you two didn’t fit into my world. Her constant rejections were my punishment.”