Black Knight (Royal Elite #4) by Rina Kent

For a long time, I’ve been in total control of the questions I should ask and the ones I shouldn’t. I always have to keep that image I’ve spent years perfecting.

It could be because of the amount of alcohol I’ve been consuming lately.

Or the way she’s been getting on my fucking nerves since yesterday; the way she talked back, the way she smiled at Ronan as if he’s her fucking world.

Kimberly Reed is that rock in my shoe. It’s not harmful, but it’s annoying as fuck.

“At school,” Kir speaks through a mouthful of brownies.

She shouldn’t be at fucking school. She has no club activities to speak of and we don’t have practice, so she couldn’t have stayed to watch the football team.

Unless…

I retrieve my phone and check my messages.

There are several from my group chat with my three fucker friends.

Ronan: On a scale from one to ten, how many girls do you think I can fuck before my father marries me off like a whore for sale?

Aiden: Depends on whether they mean a fuck or not.

Ronan: Fuck off, King.

Ronan: Anyone else?

Cole: A hundred.

Ronan: Now we’re talking.

Cole: You’ll remember none of them, though.

Ronan: Fiiiine! I’ll just settle with one.

He attaches a selfie with Kimberly by his side. He has an arm on her shoulder like he did yesterday, but this time, his lips are on her cheek as she laughs at the camera.

Her eyes are closed slightly, leaving only a slit of those green irises that I want to think they appear like snot but are in fact the most mesmerising green I’ve ever seen.

Strands of her hair fly across her face, causing the green ones to stick to her small nose and full cheeks. Her teeth show with her laughter. I wish it was forced, or for show, as she does in her mother’s exhibitions.

I know Kimberly’s fake smiles. I’ve learnt them. I have them engraved in a dark corner in my heart, the one with her name written all over it.

This isn’t one of her fake laughs. She’s genuinely happy, enjoying herself in what looks to be a normal grocery store. Only Ronan would snap a selfie in the grocery store like some fucking commoner.

Another text comes from him.

Ronan: I’m having a new challenge. I’ll only fuck one girl and then, maybe my father will marry me off to her. Kimmy’s dad is a big shot, too. Earl Edgar would approve.

I type before I realise what I’m doing.

Xander: I’m going to fucking kill you, Ron.

I delete the text before my impulsive side makes me hit send.

Fuck him and the way he’s baiting me. It’s not working and it never will.

Cole: And she can make your cake bunny fantasy come true.

Ronan: Fuck yes, I took her to that section and she didn’t stop smiling. Next time, I’m going to have her try them on.

Aiden: When Reed visited Elsa last week, she wore those bunny ears girls put on their heads.

Give me a fucking break. Even Aiden is onto this shit? Shouldn’t he not care as usual?

I make the screen go black so that I don’t say something I’ll most likely regret. They can see I’ve read the messages, but fuck them, basically.

Fuck all of them.

“Your sister doesn’t have school,” I tell Kir with a smile.

If she thinks she can play around without the guilt trip of leaving her brother behind, then she has another thing coming.

He pauses chewing, looking up at me through his eyelashes. “But she said she does. That’s why Paul picked me up.” His lower lip trembles. “I hate it when our driver picks me up. The other kids have their parents do it.”

Well, fuck.

I might want her to suffer, but not at the expense of Kirian.

Besides, his case hits so close to home. I often rode with Aiden and Cole when we were kids. Neither of our parents cared enough to come pick us up personally, except for maybe Cole’s mother.

“Didn’t I tell you to call me when no one is there to pick you up?” I fetch another slice of brownie and slide it in front of him.

He lifts a shoulder. “Kimmy says I shouldn’t bother you.”

“We have bro code, remember? Next time, call me.”

His eyes light up as he finally dives into the chocolate. “You’ll really be there?”

“Always.”

“What does always mean?”

“It means, I’ll be there until the end of time whenever you need me.”

Even if I move out and never return here again, Kirian will always be with me. A part I’ll never try to shake off like all the rest.

He drops the piece of cake to his plate and stares at it, head bowed. “Kimmy also said that and then…”

“Then what?”

He shakes his head, his chin quivering. “I’m not supposed to tell.”

I lean over until only a small space separates his hand from mine. “What happened, Kir? You can tell me. As our bro code says, you can tell me anything.”

He lifts his eyes before focusing back on the brownies on his plate. “She promised that it won’t repeat.”

“Repeat what?”

His lower lip trembles again. It’s his tell of when he’s about to cry. She used to be the same when we were kids. It always happened before she started bawling.

Kirian is a lively kid and doesn’t cry, so the fact he’s fighting it right now should mean it’s something serious. Is it about their parents, or what exactly?