Twisted Kingdom (Royal Elite #3) by Rina Kent

According to Jonathan, Cliffords are bad until there’s a use for them.

“And me?” I chew on the food, but I don’t taste much.

“You’re my heir. It’ll put their minds at ease to see the future of the company as diligent as his father.”

Levi rolls his eyes, and I sigh.

I’ll find an excuse to skip the whole thing. If it were under different circumstances, I would’ve put on the show of a lifetime for Jonathan’s friends and persuaded them to sign with him on the spot. If I score my father a huge deal, he’ll leave me alone afterwards.

However, I’m not in the mood to kiss Jonathan’s friends’ arses.

There’s a ton of things I need to do and they all lead back to Elsa, not my family name.

She didn’t show up for school today. I shouldn’t have been surprised, but a part of me hoped she would. A part of me thought she’d confront me and drive me crazy with her stubbornness like before.

Even Reed hasn’t heard anything from her since yesterday and was having a mini panic attack about walking in the halls alone.

If I were a better person, I would’ve offered her my company. Unfortunately for Reed, I’m not. Astor spent the entire day with her, though. Knight killed him in a thousand different ways in his mind, then nearly broke his leg in practice.

Good times.

Back to Elsa. If she isn’t talking to her best friend, how the hell am I supposed to contact her?

I tell myself that she needs time, and that after a while, she’ll be open enough to listen to me.

The problem is, I’m not a fucking patient person.

Being away from her for an entire day is messing with my senses. I’m on a fucking withdrawal and it’s irritating and pissing me off. I can only return to normal when Elsa’s beside me where she belongs.

She promised.

She fucking promised.

If she thinks I’ll let her get away she must not know me after all.

I’m happy to have her relearn me all over again.

“Ethan will make his move during this fundraiser.”

Jonathan’s words bring me back to the present.

“How can you be so sure?” I raise one eyebrow.

“He must know I’ve been after this deal for months. It’s not mere coincidence he returned when the contract is near completion. He likes disrupting his enemies’ patterns.”

“Will he rival you?” Levi asks.

“Probably. I’m still not sure about his tactics, but I’ll be there to ruin every last one of them.”

“It’s been ten years, Uncle and you both lost your wives. Isn’t it time for bygones to be bygones? You can even ride into the sunset and shit.”

Jonathan cuts him a glare so harsh, Levi shakes his head.

“Just saying. Jesus.”

“You’ll both be there.” Jonathan wipes his mouth with a napkin. “That’s final.”

If Ethan goes, then Elsa most likely will, too. Not because she likes this sort of thing, but because Ethan will seize the chance to show off his daughter and Steel Empire’s heir to the world.

She’ll be there.

I can almost smell her coconut scent all the way to Friday.

“Fine,” I tell Jonathan.

He nods with approval. “See you both on Friday.”

“Wait a minute. I didn’t agree,” Levi protests.

But Jonathan is already out of the room. He’ll probably spend the night in his office making the world a bit more horrible.

“Little fucker.” Levi throws an apple at my head.

I catch it and take a bite.

“This is about Elsa, isn’t it?” he asks.

I lift a shoulder.

Everything is about Elsa, but neither he nor Jonathan need to know that.

Showing weakness is the easiest way to be beaten at your own battle with your own soldiers.

I throw the apple back at Levi and stand up, another plan forming in my head.

He catches the fruit and crunches a bite. “You don’t deserve her.”

“Just like you don’t deserve Astrid?”

“At least I changed for her. What did you do for Elsa?”

“I found her again.”

And no one will take her away from me.

I leave the dining room and retrieve my phone. A number called me 1001 times today. It’s an exaggeration, but yeah, he called me non-stop. I’m surprised he didn’t raid the school.

“Elsa, is this you?” Jaxon Quinn’s concerned voice filters through the phone. “You said you’ll come back today, but you weren’t at school. Your aunt is filing a missing person report.”

So they did raid the school.

“This is Aiden King.”

“Aiden.” He sounds taken aback, but he quickly adds. “Is Elsa with you?”

“No.”

“No?” he shouts, and I have to hold the phone away from my ear to not go deaf. “Where is she? What happened to her? Why didn’t you call and inform us?” He launches on a series of clipped questions.

“Ethan Steel took her to Birmingham.”

After telling him the details about Ethan’s reappearance, I hang up with a smile on my face.

I might not be able to bring her back, but her aunt and uncle will.





6





Elsa