Fatal Princess by Ella Miles

Beckett

Listening to Ri’s truth broke me. She’s so selfless, so strong, so determined. I don’t know how it was possible for me not to fall in love with her for so long. I don’t know how I could have ever loved anyone else.

It’s why there’s a damn competition to win her. Men want her not just because they get her father’s kingdom but because they get her—a strong, fearless fighter. A woman that looks like a princess and fights like a warrior. She’s everything I’ve wanted and everything I never knew I wanted.

I hate myself for making her feel like I didn’t love her, like I’d ever choose another.

“I think I just had a hallucination. Can you repeat what you said?” Ri asks.

I sigh.

She’s not going to believe me, just like I don’t believe Odette. Ri’s story matches Odette’s, but I know I’m still missing a piece of the puzzle. I need to talk to my brother. I need to figure out the truth, but I need Ri more.

“I don’t love Odette,” I repeat firmly, so there is no mistaking my words.

Ri blinks, her only reaction.

“I don’t know if my marriage to Odette is still legal, but if it is, I’m filing for divorce today.”

Another blink.

“I don’t believe Odette’s story, not fully. I can fill you in later on the rest of the details she shared with me, but I don’t believe her.”

Double blink.

“I believe you, Ri, every word.”

Her mouth falls open, but then she snaps it shut. Two more times, she repeats the action until she’s starting to look like a shocked fish.

I smile at her.

“Ask me again.”

Color seems to return to her face, and her eyes water.

“Ask me again,” I repeat.

She clears her throat. “Why are you here?”

“I’m here to win you back.”

“You tried to kill me. I’m not sure you can win me back.”

“Except I didn’t. I didn’t try to kill you.”

She crosses her arms across her chest, and her face turns defensive. “You most certainly did. You dragged me into that arena. You tied me to a pole, showed the evidence on the big screen, and then you aimed a gun at my head.”

“I didn’t.” I rub the back of my neck, knowing she won’t believe me, but I have to try. I’ll keep trying every day until she does finally believe me.

She racks her memory, trying to remember that night. I’m sure most of her memories are foggy after whatever that bastard Kek did to her mind, so I explain as simply as I can.

“In order to become the leader of the Retribution Kings, I was given a final task—get retribution for Odette. Everyone has to get retribution in order to join. It’s the final act of initiation.”

I bite my tongue, not wanting to say the next part. This is going to get worse before I can make it better.

“The task wasn’t a problem at first. I assumed it was your father; everyone did. That is until I found the video of you.”

“The video that didn’t show the whole truth and that you never once showed to me or asked me about?”

I nod slowly at her anger. “Yes, at first, I thought it was true. I was angry. I wanted to end your life then and there for what you did, but then I studied the video more. If you had wanted Odette dead, you would have ended her life swiftly. She was no match for you. The fight was long and drawn out, and all of her wounds were superficial, not enough to cause the amount of blood we found.”

She frowns, her eyes narrowing at me, not understanding what I’m saying.

“So I had Gage dig deeper. He found the truth, but by then, it was too late. I was out of time.”

“How were you out of time?”

“If I didn’t complete my final initiation task, they would kill me.”

She gasps. She cares about me far more than I deserve.

“The problem was I didn’t have much proof other than my gut. What Gage found wasn’t enough to prove to the room full of people that you didn’t hurt Odette, not when Caius was filling their heads with lies.”

“I’m confused. You tied me to that pole. You were going to kill me even knowing that I didn’t kill Odette?”

“No,” I say firmly.

“No?”

“No, I had a plan. Gage, Hayes, and Lennox. I brought you there, knowing Odette would show herself. Gage tracked her to town. The plan was to play on Odette’s emotions. I figured Odette would still have feelings for me, and she wouldn’t let me die.”

Ri frowns, still not understanding.

“When it came time, I turned the gun on myself since they were going to kill me anyway. I was never going to shoot you, though. And I figured if I threatened my own life, Odette would show herself. I was right.”

Ri’s eyes are big, and her breath is finally calm. “And if you were wrong?” she whispers.

“Then I would have shot myself. The guys knew their job was to get you out of there and take you wherever you wanted to go. They were to help you run, to get free.”

“But…” She bites her lip and tucks the robe tighter around her body. “But you’d be dead?”

I nod. “Better than you being dead.”

She blinks rapidly, trying to process everything I just said. I didn’t try to kill her; I saved her. I don’t love Odette.

“This can’t be the truth,” Ri whispers.

“It is.” I want to say more—how much I love her, how much it’s her that I want, that I would die for—only her.

I’m not sure she’s ready to hear that yet. I’m not even sure she believes me or even can.

Then she looks up, and I see tears spilling down her cheeks.

I frown, not understanding why she’s crying. I can’t stand the distance anymore, though, so I jump out of my seat and run around the table to her. I yank her chair back and kneel between her legs. Looking up at her, I watch tears roll off her chin and drip down onto me.

“Fighter, why are you crying?”

She shakes her head, the tears falling faster now. “You’re a bastard.”

I frown. “I mean, I am, but I thought you would at least appreciate the ‘me saving your life’ part.” I try to smile, try to make her stop crying.

“Not for that, although you should have told me the truth.”

“That my dead wife that I suspected you of killing was, in fact, alive, although I couldn’t figure out why you didn’t just tell me or why my wife was on the run, and I couldn’t make sense of my feelings or yours? Which part should I have told you?”

She hiccups. “I’m mad at you for not spilling your guts the second you showed up tonight. For letting me—” she gulps. “Letting me fuck four guys in front of you. That had to have been torture for you.”

I grin. “It was torture, but mostly because I wanted to join them. It didn’t hurt me that you were doing that. We’ve made no commitment toward each other—no vows, no promises. And in this world, I’m not sure we will ever be able to make promises, but that doesn’t stop us from having feelings.”

“I still don’t understand why you let me fuck them.”

“Technically, you didn’t fuck them. They pleasured you, and I knew you needed it. You needed to get your anger out. You needed to heal your broken heart. You needed to know that you were strong enough without me or any other man. That way, if I’m lucky enough to have you choose me someday, it will be because you want me, not because you need me.”

She touches my face, her hand caressing my cheek. I close my eyes and lean into the soft touch.

“I wasn’t sure if you were ever going to touch me like this again,” I whisper.

“I wasn’t sure either.”

Then she grabs my chin roughly to force our visions to meet, her eyes like fire. “Don’t ever hide shit from me again. And don’t ever push me to fuck other guys so I can get over you. I love you, you bastard. But I’m going to be pissed at you for a long, long time.”

I grin like the fool I am—a fool completely and entirely in love with this woman.

“I love you too, my fighter.” We still have a lot of truth left to tell each other, so much history that needs to be shared and blood that needs to be spilled. A wife and Retribution Kings need dealing with. A game is still lingering, and we need to figure out how to win or escape to be together.

All that matters right now is this moment. We love each other. When I kiss her, that’s the only thought on my mind.