Twisted Kingdom (Royal Elite #3) by Rina Kent

“Finally.” Knox taps his chest. “I was hurt when you didn’t remember me. It hit me right in the tiny white space in my heart.”

“Your apology means shit to me,” Teal speaks casually as she sips her coffee. “It doesn’t give me back what I lost.”

I wince.

“You sound like a bitch, T,” Knox says with nonchalance like it’s a normal occurrence. “There’s something you need to know about Teal, Ellie. She has a weird way of expressing herself. Okay, now, T. Repeat that after thinking about the words.”

“Right. Okay.” She lifts her head, a crease etching between her brows. “I meant you don’t need to apologise for something you didn’t do.”

“See?” Knox grins. “That wasn’t too hard, was it?”

Teal isn’t focused on him, though. Her entire attention falls on me and I feel like a mouse stalked by a cat.

That’s… weird.

“Although you do look so much like that woman, I keep thinking about stabbing you to death with a fork while you sleep.” She takes her coffee and disappears around the corner.

“Haha, very funny.” Knox offers me a lopsided smile. “She’s kidding… mostly.”

My shoulders slouch. “She’s right, I’m a carbon copy of my mother. How can you be so easy going about that, Knox?”

“Because you’re not her. I’m going to be honest, the day of the pool’s incident, I was the one who lifted you when you fell to your knees in the car park. I think you were so out of it, you didn’t notice me. I was also so confused, thinking that woman had returned. Imagine my bloody shock! So anyway, I followed you and I found you floating in that pool.” He runs a hand at the back of his head. “For a second, I did contemplate leaving you there, but I didn’t because I knew you weren’t her. The more time I spent with you, the more I was positive you weren't her. Give T some time, and she’ll come to the same conclusion.”

“Thank you, Knox.” I fight the tears in my voice.

“No. Thank you. Ted was the first toy Teal and I received. Dad says it was your favourite. Children don’t give their favourite toys to anyone. Hell, I don’t give away my things now either.”

I swallow. “It was nothing.”

“It was something for both of us. T and I were the kind of children who weren’t allowed hope, but you gave it to us in the form of Ted.” He smirks. “We took great care of it, by the way.”

“Are you and Teal siblings?”

He nods. “Twins.”

“Twins?”

“Fraternal.” He winks. “I got all the looks.”

I’ll have to disagree with that. Although Knox is handsome, Teal has a unique beauty that’s rare to find; both innocent and hard. Adorable and dangerous.

“We were street kids,” Knox continues. “We ran away from a druggie mother who was about to whore us out for money and all that jazz.”

I gulp at the image and drop the toast. Not that I ever thought about eating it in the first place. “How about your father?”

“Never knew him. Dad is the only father we had.”

My heart warms as if I were thrust from a dark icy winter night straight into a summer day. Dad took two lost children and gave them a home.

“Did he take you in since the basement incident?”

He nods. “We used to live in a separate home with Agnus, but Dad came by all the time. After the fire, we moved in with him.”

“But he was in a coma.”

“He was still Dad even while he was sleeping.”

Everything that Knox told me about his father before makes sense now. He never stopped considering Dad his father even after he was in a coma with a slim chance of ever waking up again.

“Thank you for being there for him when he needed you.”

“Hey, don’t go all sappy on me. He’s my dad, too.” Challenge sparks in his eyes. “And I’m his favourite.”

I smile and take my first real bite of food this morning. Knox and I talk about the times he stopped himself from finding me. Apparently, Agnus didn’t like for us to get in touch without Dad in the picture.

We chat for a bit when a commotion sounds from the front door. I stand and Knox comes to my side. We both frown in confusion as we follow the source.

The butler talks to someone at the door. I barely manage to take a step forward when I’m hugged out of nowhere.

Nina Ricci’s perfume clogs my nostrils as slim arms hold me so close, it’s nearly suffocating.

“Elsie,” she cries in my neck. “Oh my God, you’re all right. You’re going to be all right, hon.”

“Aunt?”

“I’m here. Aunt is here.” She pulls back to search my face with frantic eyes. “Are you okay? Are you hurt? Have you been eating well?”

“I’m fine, Aunt.”

“Calm down, Blair.” Uncle’s voice is as soothing as I remember. He holds my backpack and stands with stone calm by the entrance.

I smile faintly at him.

I’m such a horrible person. It’s been two days since I told them I’d come home, but I disappeared without a word.

“I’m sorry,” I whisper to him.

Even though I’m still mad about how they hid the truth for a decade and actively forbade me from searching for it, Aunt and Uncle are still my parents. One way or another.