Royal Rock:A Bad Boy Royal Romance(36)

35





BRYCE





More explosions rocked the building.

I was stuck on my side. No matter how hard I struggled, I couldn't get  out of my restraints. I heard another explosion and then the sound of  what I assumed were gunshots. There was indistinct yelling, more  gunshots, and another explosion.

I tried to roll onto my other side to see if that would help, but I  couldn't even manage it. The floor was smooth and cool against my face  as gunfire continued.

Hope flooded my body. Trip was coming for me. Nobody else would attack the rebels like this. Trip was making his move already.

Still, this attack was intense. It felt like the whole building was  going to fall down around me in pieces. I was both terrified and elated  that I wasn't going to get shredded by Corvin's daggers.

Though that hope slowly drained from me as the door flew open behind me.







"You fucking bitch."

Corvin grabbed me and pulled me up. He was bleeding from a wound on his head and his eyes were wild.

"You fucking did this," he said. "You led him here."

"How?" I asked.

"I don't know," he raged, out of his mind. "You fucking whore. You tricked me."

"Trip is coming, Corvin. Give yourself up. Maybe he can be merciful."

"Merciful?" His laugh ripped from his body like a bandage torn from a  wound. "I've never known mercy from the lords and the ladies. Do you  know what they do to us?" He pulled out his daggers. "They bleed us dry  every day. They sit in their expensive houses with their money and their  servants and they play their little political games while the rest of  the country bleeds and toils for them."

"That's not true," I said. "I've seen the good things the king does for you."

"Lies," he said. "All lies. We have no voice in this country, no say in  what happens to us. We're a pathetic, backward people, and your fucking  king is holding us back." He stepped toward me.

"You don't have to do this," I said, shaking. "You really don't. I can make Trip show you mercy. I know I can."

"There's no mercy, not for me, not for you." He moved his horrible  blades toward me. "At least I can destroy something he loves before he  kills me. This way he can feel what I've felt."

"What happened to you?"

"My family worked the Corvin lands for generations and never went  anywhere. We were practically fucking slaves, and I got sick of it."

I had to keep him talking. The gunshots were getting louder, and the  explosions had stopped. They were inside the building; I could just feel  it. Trip was getting so close. I just needed this madman to keep  ranting for a few minutes longer.

"That's horrible," I said. "What happened to your parents?"

"Cancer took them," he said. "They couldn't be saved, not after their  bodies had been ravaged by working so hard their whole lives. Corvin  bled them dry like the king bleeds everyone else."

"My mother died of cancer," I said.

"You can't understand me," he shrieked. "How could you, you foreign whore? You know absolutely nothing."

"I want to learn, Freddy. Tell me. Make me understand so that I can make the king understand."

"No," he said, shaking his head. "No, no, no. It's over. Only democracy can save us, and I'll give my life for my dream."

I could see the blades coming. I could see my end coming.

I had failed. I couldn't survive. I had tried so hard to survive for  him, but I just couldn't pull it off. I did my best, but I just wasn't  equipped for any of this.

"Stop."

Corvin's head jerked. His face was shocked. "You?"

"Drop the knives." I knew that voice.

It was Trip.

"Trip!" I called out.

"Drop the knives, Corvin. Don't make me kill you."

"You fucking bastard," he screamed. "Die here and now!"

Corvin whipped his knives, flinging them behind me. I screamed as  gunshots went off, peppering Corvin's body with jets of red blood. He  stumbled back and then fell to the ground, bleeding, clearly dead.

"No! Trip!" I screamed. "Please!"

He appeared in front of me, crouching down and grinning. He pulled a knife from his shoulder, but the wound didn't look deep.

"Who the fuck throws knives?" he asked me.

"Oh god, Trip. You're okay."

He quickly untied me, and then I threw my arms around him, pulling him  close. He was wearing some kind of strange body suit that was both soft  and hard at once, but I didn't care.

"You came for me," I whispered.

"Of course I did," he said. "I couldn't leave you here. I could never leave you, Bryce."

"I thought-I don't know. I thought I was just getting in the way."

"No," he said softly. "You are everything to me."

I leaned back, looking him in the eyes. "What are you saying?"

"I love you, Bryce. God, I'm fucking madly in love with you. I'd burn this country to the ground for you."

"I love you too," I said simply. "Please don't burn anything for me."

He laughed and then kissed me hard. Intense relief and joy flooded  through me, a complex mix of emotions I couldn't even begin to explain.

"How about I just burn this place and all these bastards?" he said.







"Okay. I can handle that."

He pulled me close and held me. I could feel my heart beating fast in my  chest, but it felt right. I felt like I was finally where I was meant  to be, in Trip's arms. We understood each other now, and I knew what he  wanted.

He loved me. The king loved me. I didn't know what it meant for our  future, but I didn't care about that. He had come for me, and that was  more than enough.

"Sir." We both looked up, and Al was standing in the doorway. "We've  taken the main building. We're going to finish with the others, but it's  over. They're either dead or running."

"Catch them," Trip said. "Every one of them. Kill them all."

"Very well." He bowed and then left.

"Come on," Trip said, standing.

He helped me to my feet. The wound on my leg still hurt, but not as  badly. He wrapped my arm around his shoulders and helped me walk back  out.

We left the warehouse together. His men saluted and he nodded back,  giving out orders as we went. I could see the respect in their eyes, and  I realized the huge risk he had taken for me. Trip hadn't just sent his  own men; he had come himself for me. The men must have seen that and  must have really respected him for it.

As we got back to the trucks, I finally knew it was all over. Trip was  going to win. I could see it on everyone's face. No matter what  happened, Trip was going to win.

He couldn't lose. I knew he couldn't. My heart was full and deep, and I was happy.





36





TRIP





The attack had gone as planned. We breached the main wall of the  warehouse and used secondary explosives to mask our entry point. From  there, we engaged in a short firefight, but the rebels were outclassed  by far.

We were surprised by how many there were in there, though. We assumed it  was a small group, less than fifty, but we were wrong. There were at  least a hundred men in there with a serious stockpile of weapons. I  guessed they were preparing to assault the estate as soon as they did  whatever they were going to do with Bryce.

But we fought well. I killed who I had to, including Corvin. The wound  in my shoulder from his knife still hurt, but my bio suit had absorbed  most of the blow.

Once the main army finally returned from the field, they were dispatched  to begin cleanup operations. The rebel army they were originally sent  to chase after had disappeared into the south, which was pretty clearly  just a ploy to get my men into a losing situation.

Instead, they began to search out the surrounding area. Arrests of  suspects were happening hourly, and I had to eventually tell Max to stop  updating me until the next day.

Besides, I had more important matters to attend to.

"Ouch," Bryce said.

I frowned. "Sorry."

"It's okay. Just stings."

"You're lucky this isn't deep. I don't think you need stitches."

"Good," she said. "Based on the way you're cleaning it, I doubt you'd be good at stitching."

"You'd be surprised," I murmured, putting away the sterilizing alcohol  and grabbing a clean bandage. I began to apply it to her wound  carefully.

She cringed but didn't complain. "So what now?" she asked me.

"Now we wait," I answered. "My men will round up any survivors, we'll  find out what they know, and then we'll take the fight to them."

"In the south?"

I nodded. "That's right."

"You're not going, are you?"

I laughed, shaking my head. "No, I'm not going."

She looked relieved. "Good."

"Worried about me?"

"Possibly."

We were sitting on my bed in my chambers back at the estate. She was  wearing only panties, since we'd stripped off her jeans to get at her  wound. The medics had taken a look and didn't think it was serious, so I  had decided to take care of her myself.