Steel Princess (Royal Elite #2) by Rina Kent

It’s around five when I step into the house. It’s pitch black.

Everyone else left.

The rain is the only sound that can be heard inside the house.

I head upstairs with slow steps. I don’t know why Elsa went to her shrink right after that fucker Nash told her something she didn’t need to know yet, but my instincts tell me it’s not good.

As soon as I walk into the dark room, I hear the sound of running water coming from the bathroom.

With quiet steps, I stalk to the door and push it open.

A shadow stands in front of the sink.

I hit the switch. White light bathes the bathroom.

Elsa doesn’t squint or move. It’s like she wasn’t even aware that she was standing in a pitch-black bathroom.

She’s scrubbing her hands under the water over and over again. Her expression is serene, peaceful almost.

It’s so similar to her expression.

I hate that expression on Elsa’s face. My Elsa isn’t a washed-up version of someone else.

Elsa is Elsa with her infuriating stubbornness and breakable innocence.

She’s not that woman.

Her hands have become red, which means she must’ve been at it for a while now.

“Elsa,” I call her name.

She doesn’t pay me attention as if I don’t exist. She continues scrubbing and scrubbing and scrubbing.

At this rate, her hands will bleed.

I step to her side and clutch her arm.

She pushes me away and shoves her hands under the tap again. “They’re dirty. I need to clean them.”

“They’re not dirty, Elsa.” I try to pull her away again, but she squirms free.

I let her. Any type of force will have the exact opposite effect on her.

“I saw you,” she whispers.

“You saw me,” I repeat, unsure where she’s going with this.

“You were chained in the basement. That’s the reason for the scar on your ankle.” Her lower lip trembles and her scrubbing turns more aggressive. “Was it Ma or Dad?”

My left eye twitches.

She remembers.

She finally fucking remembers.

“No. Don’t tell me that,” she blurts. “I think I know. When Jonathan burnt Ethan’s factory down, Dad must’ve kidnapped you as a fuck you to Jonathan. Cole and Xander were taken by mistake, that’s why they were returned almost immediately and the kidnappers never asked for ransom. Ethan didn’t need the money. He only wanted to hit Jonathan where it hurts the most.”

I remain silent. If she remembers, everything else will start making sense.

She’s smart to connect all the dots.

“But it wasn’t Dad who kept you, was it?” Scrub. Scrub. Scrub. “It was Ma. The worst part is, I don’t think you were the first boy that she kept in the basement since Eli’s death. But usually, they’re gone after a day. You’re the only one she kept that long.” A tear slides down her cheek and clings to the teardrop in her upper lip. “You’re the only one she hurt that much.”

My face remains the same. I knew this time would come. I knew Elsa would remember, but hearing her choked tone and watching her trying so hard not to break hurts more than I thought it would.

I want to hold her.

Protect her.

But I doubt she’d let me.

“I’m a carbon copy of her.” She finally stops scrubbing, but her hands remain under the water.

Her eyes meet mine.

Those electric blue, blue eyes.

They’re rimmed with tears and red like she’s been crying since I left her ten years ago.

“How can you look at my face?” Her voice is barely a whisper.

“I told you,” I murmur. “You were a ghost.”

“You saw my mother in me that first day at RES, didn’t you?” Her voice cracks as if she doesn’t want to say the words.

I did. And sometimes, I see her when she’s slipping out of her element.

But not once have I mistook her for anyone else.

This is Elsa.

My Elsa.

I’ll fight the fucking ghosts away from her if I have to.

“W-what did Ma do, Aiden?” Her hands and legs shaking. She’s all shaking as if she’s coming down from an adrenaline rush.

“Don’t.”

“Don’t what?”

“Don’t ask questions. Not now.” I pull her wet hands from under the water and cradle them in mine. “I want to feel you, Elsa. I want to engrave myself under your skin as deep as you engraved yourself under mine.”

“How?” She sobs, gasping on the words. “H-how can you want me when I hate myself right now?”

“You can hate yourself, and I’ll still want you, sweetheart.” I tug her into me and grip her by the hips. “I told you I’ll protect you, remember?”

She stares up at me with broken blue eyes.

That look makes me want to rip my heart out and lay it at her feet.

It’s the same look she gave me when she first saw me in her parents’ basement.

And the look she gave me when I last saw her in that fucking house.

It’s her. Not her mother.

Elsa has always been different from the monsters who ruled her life.

She can be them sometimes, but deep down, she didn’t change.

She didn’t become like me.

Using her hips, I push her until her back hits the wall. “I want you. I need you. You’re the only one I’ll ever need.”