Ruthless Empire (Royal Elite #6) by Rina Kent

All I have to do is move in patterns neither she nor anyone else can detect.

She’s started to notice me, she’s started to get scared of me. She’s stopped responding with those soft smiles when she reads my texts and is now changing her number to escape me.

Doesn’t she know that’s impossible?

Right. She doesn’t. She’s just a little girl who’s scared. She only fucks like a whore, thinking no one knows about her forbidden romance.

It’s okay, though, because the doll will eventually fall at her master’s feet.

She already has.

She simply doesn’t know it yet.

I guess this is the part where you give the doll some breathing room. Let her believe that she got rid of me.

After all, the hunt is more thrilling this way.

Just when she believes she’s safe, I’ll come out, wash her, smell her, touch her.

Be with her.

Until then, I have to keep myself busy. Another doll lies in front of me, unconscious, in the darkness of the forest.

This doll secretly craved the high, the element of surprise, or she wouldn’t have run in a deserted place this early in the morning.

Her blonde hair is similar to Silver’s, but not really. Her white skin is the same shade as Silver’s, but not as soft.

For now, I have to settle for the second choice when the first is all I ever wanted.

Soon, my doll.

Very soon.

Do you see the sacrifices I make for you?





32





Silver





Today is off.

It started off.

I was supposed to have breakfast with Mum, but she said she has work at the party and can’t get together.

Then Helen brought me the packet I ordered. I dislike ordering online, only because I prefer seeing things, trying them on, and touching them before buying them. But desperate times, right?

I couldn’t possibly risk going to a pharmacy for a pregnancy test, so I ordered one, along with a bunch of makeup and clothes that I’ll probably never wear just to cover the initial purchase.

I have my own bank account, and since I turned eighteen, neither Papa nor Mum have the right to see my statements without my approval, so this is merely a precaution.

“Thanks, Helen,” I tell her, helping with the pack.

“What have you gotten in here, darling?” She drops the box on the bed. “It’s so heavy.”

“Just stuff.”

“Don’t take long. Breakfast is ready.”

“Okay.” I kiss her cheek, then lock the door behind her. I also close the balcony’s door for good measure.

As soon as I open the box, I rummage through the rubbish I bought until I find the test.

My fingers tremble as I clutch it.

You can do this. You’ve got this.

I read the instructions carefully before I go to the bathroom and follow them. As I wash my hands, I keep staring at the test.

Two lines means pregnant.

One line means not.

The instructions say I have to wait for five minutes. It’s been ten seconds and I’m already freaking out.

It took me some time to buy this test. As in, more than a couple of weeks. I kept thinking that if I didn’t know for sure, then nothing would happen. In a typical running from responsibility kind of way. Every day my period doesn’t show up, I freak out more.

During all this time, I’ve been letting Cole fuck me slow and deep until I think I’m going to faint from the amount of softness he actually possesses.

Other than that, weird stuff has been going on all around us.

Like when Uncle Jonathan took me to the Meet Up so he could announce to Elsa that I’m engaged to Aiden. There was a whole shitshow that involved her father and a lot of other things.

I wanted to run from there, and I did as soon as I could. Aiden is still after my head because I didn’t warn him about his father’s surprise visit, but fuck him. He made me believe Cole fucked Johansson when he never had sex with anyone else but me.

A small smile tugs on my lips at that thought and I gently bite my lower lip.

Cole was a virgin until me. It’s hard to believe that he never had sex until our parents’ wedding day.

I’m Cole’s first and last.

I frown at that. Last?

That can’t be possible. Not with the situation we’re in. That’s why I got the test. I need to figure out what to do about what’s growing inside me.

I glimpse at the timer, then at the test. Three minutes to go.

Letting my head fall into my hands, I pretend to play “Moonlight Sonata” in my brain.

I’m not here. I’m in another universe where I get to be with who I want without any restrictions.

Then I can even have this baby. I can be a mother and promise not to throw my emotional baggage on to him.

God. I sound like a bitch about my parents in my head.

The timer goes off and I release a breath as I peek from between my fingers.

Two lines.

Pregnant.

I’m pregnant with Cole’s child.

Holy. Shit.





I apologise to Helen, pretending I have a meeting with Summer and Veronica so I can’t have breakfast at home.

If I sit at the same table as Cole or Papa, I’ll eventually crumble, and I can’t do that.

My head is in complete chaos during the entire day. I can’t focus. I can’t play the piano. I can’t even take two steps without being in a daze.