Ruthless Empire (Royal Elite #6) by Rina Kent

For a second, she seems disoriented, then her lips break into a smile as she stares up at me, her head lying on my bicep.

“What are you doing here, Silver?”

The smile slowly vanishes. “Mum has a late-night meeting at the party and I don’t like staying there alone. Besides…”

“Yes?”

“I don’t want to run away anymore.”

“And you decided to come to my room?”

She nods.

“If I remember correctly, you ran away when I told you to wait in the car earlier. Do you think you can come and go as you wish, Silver?”

“Cole…”

“Answer the fucking question.”

“I was scared, okay? You can be scary sometimes.” She half-turns so she’s tucked in my lap and glides her fingers across my chest. “But when I got to Mum’s and knew she wouldn’t be home, I was restless. I met Adam there the other time, you know. He said his uncle lives there, but he doesn’t. So I was scared he’d come find me.”

That fucker. I should’ve punched him a few more times.

“I couldn’t stay there,” she murmurs. “You’re the only person I wanted to see.”

I try not to let those words consume me, but I fail. All I can do is watch her — the rosy hue on her cheeks, the relaxation in her shoulders as she snuggles into me.

“Are you still mad at me?” she whispers.

“Depends.”

“On what?”

“On whether or not you hide things from me again.”

She gulps. “I won’t.”

“You won’t, huh?”

“No.”

“Adam is gone,” I tell her. “He’ll be forced to transfer tomorrow. You won’t have to worry about him again.”

Her eyes light up and widen like when we were kids. And just like then, I would do anything to bring that expression again. “Really?”

“Yes.”

“Thank you.” She plants sloppy kisses on my lips, my cheek, my jaw. “Thank you, thank you.”

It’s like she’s back to being a little girl, but I’m the only one who gets to see this side of her.

Just me. And it’ll remain this way for as long as we both breathe.

I reach my fingers under her T-shirt.

“Cole, what are you doing?” She swallows, her expression morphing from excitement to arousal.

“Punishment.”

“P-punishment?”

“You think you can hide things from me, flip me off and run away without paying the price?”

My fingers find her bare pussy and I grunt as her arousal coats my skin. “Looks like you’ve come ready for your punishment, Butterfly.”

Her breathing hitches as I thrust two fingers inside her.

“You’ll never lie to me again?”

“N-no.” Her thighs clench around me.

“Run away from me?”

“No…” It comes out as a moan as I pound into her and play with her clit.

“Take someone else’s side over mine?”

“Oh, God. Cole…” She tightens against my fingers, her lips forming an ‘O’.

Using my other hand, I slap her arse and she gasps even as her walls grip me like a vice. “That’s not the word.”

“No, no…” She falls apart around me.

“You’re mine, Silver. Only fucking mine,” I whisper against her ear.

She doesn’t nod. She doesn’t agree, but for the first time after an orgasm, she doesn’t tell me she hates me.





35





Silver





Unlike what I feared, Papa doesn’t say anything when I tell him about breaking off the engagement with Aiden.

He simply pats my back and tells me my happiness matters more than anything else. Besides, it’s not like Jonathan will stop backing him just because there’s no in-law relationship. Apparently, Papa can help him with a partnership with a duke’s family in return.

Jonathan hasn’t been as tolerant with Aiden, though. I think he’s taken him somewhere in China.

Mum is the same. She hasn’t been talking to me since she learnt the news.

She showed up here and started her usual fighting shows with Papa.

“You’re such a horrible influence, Sebastian. It’s because of you that Silver has no sense of responsibility.”

“Me?” He laughed with menace. “Do we really want to go down that lane, Cynthia? Because you’re the one who’s trying to make her a carbon copy of you, and not in the best way. If she doesn’t want to marry for money and status, she will not marry for money and status. I will not sell my own daughter like a whore the way you’re selling yourself to that Frenchman.”

Their fight just got more intense after that, it was like those divorce days all over again.

I squeezed Helen’s hand as we listened to them from outside Papa’s office. Helen was pale and I could tell she was uncomfortable, but she didn’t interfere or face Mum. If it were any other person, she would’ve kicked her out, and honestly, Mum would deserve it.

I apologised on her behalf to Helen and she stroked my cheek and told me it’s not my fault.

That was yesterday.

I haven’t heard a word from Mum since then. It’s the weekend, so I have no idea where she could be. Usually, she’d invent work, because unlike what she won’t admit, Mum is also a workaholic, just like Papa.