Royal Rock:A Bad Boy Royal Romance(76)

I looked up and saw the mirror, obviously a one-way window.

"Stay here," I said to her, and then I shot the window.

It shattered. I saw flashes of bodies scattering inside, and I quickly pursued them, jumping in through the shattered glass.

I could feel shards shove themselves into my skin as I came up in a  quick rolling stop, but I didn't care. I had one mission and one mission  only: stop the Broken Hearts. I was fully in the throes of my blood  lust, and nothing could stop me. Rage and anger swirled through my body,  and I couldn't think about anything except for finishing what I had  started.

I went out the only door and saw them running away ahead. I followed, not bothering to call out.

Up ahead, I turned a corner and came to a screeching halt. Standing at  the end of the hall were three men: Joshua, a man I recognized as Al,  and Tommy, the man that ran the boat touring company.

Joshua was frantically trying to unlock the door in front of them as I slowly advanced, gun held out.

"Stop," I said softly.

All three men looked at me and put their hands in the air. None of them were armed.

"This ends here," I said.

"Okay. Okay. We're done," Joshua said. "Nobody has to die."







"Your hired goons are all dead."

"They were scum anyway."

"You took Claire."

Joshua was quiet for a second. "It was just business, Nathan. Only business."

I clenched my jaw.

"Listen to him, son," Tommy said, stepping forward. "It's going to be  okay. We only wanted to scare Mister Forester. We would never actually  hurt the girl."

"You told the pirates where to find us," I said to him.

He nodded. "Yes. I'm sorry about that."

I quickly took aim and shot him once. His knee exploded, and he collapsed onto the ground in agony.

I quickly aimed back at the other two. Their eyes were wide with shock and fear.

"Why Claire?" I asked. When neither of them answered, I yelled my question again.

"Motivation," the man named Al said quickly. "Forester doesn't care about anything but his money and his daughter."

"What was your plan?"

"Blackmail. Get him to drop out of the deal in exchange for his daughter."

I looked at Joshua. "Who are the Broken Hearts?"

He cringed. "We're an old fraternity, a secret society. Or at least we were. Now we're more like the local mafia."

"Why do you want Forester out?"

"He's dangerous. He fucks up the local economy everywhere he invests,  bringing in foreign money and screwing over the people that lived in the  town their whole lives. He's done it many times in the past, and I  couldn't let him do it again."

"We're protecting our families," Al said.

I stared at them quietly. The only sound was Tommy rolling side to side.

I walked closer to them, my body flooded with anger and rage. I wanted  to kill these men so badly. These men were the ones who had orchestrated  everything, who had started coming after us. They were the reason  Claire saw me kill a man. They were the reason she was almost snatched  outside her father's club.

And for what, because they didn't like Jonathan Forester's business  tactics? Nothing excused hurting an innocent girl. Nothing at all.

I took a deep breath. My rage was overwhelming me, threatening to drown  me, and I knew it. I knew I needed to take a moment, regain the Zen I  had lost. And as I did, as I calmed myself, Al decided to make his move.

He reached for his jacket. I watched, almost in slow motion, as he went  for something hidden in his pocket. As soon as I saw the barrel emerge, I  fired, putting two bullets in his chest. He dropped to the ground, the  gun falling from his hand.

I wheeled on Joshua, who didn't move an inch.

"I'm glad he made me do that," I said to him quietly, "because I want to kill you all."

"Please. You don't have to do this."

"You're right. Killing you would cause me more trouble than it's worth.  The mercenaries don't have families or people that care about them, but  you people are a part of this place. You can't just disappear."

I lowered my gun but remained ready.

"Leave town and never come back. Take care of this mess and then leave. Otherwise, I will hunt you down, and I will end you."

He nodded, terror in his eyes. "Okay."

I turned and walked away.

I could have killed them, but it would have brought a lot of heat down  on me. Fortunately, Al had made that decision easy for me. I knew that  once they saw one of their own gunned down, they were going to keep  quiet. These weren't hardened criminals, as much as they liked to  pretend they were. They were just scared men trying to save their dying  way of life. Plus, who knew what kind of incriminating shit I could dig  up with a cursory glance through the damn creepy factory.

They'd seen what I could do. I needed them to clean my mess up and get  the fuck out, and that was all. They were more useful alive than dead.

Which was why I needed the battle calm. Otherwise, I made dumb  decisions, emotional decisions that could cost me more pain in the  future.

I retraced my steps and climbed calmly back through the window. Claire looked at me, and I flinched at the fear I saw there.

"You look . . . horrible."

I looked down at myself. I was covered in blood, some of it my own.

"Shit. Sorry."

"Untie me, idiot."

I quickly did as she asked, and she threw her arms around my neck,  crushing her body against me. I didn't think I deserved it, but I  returned her hug, breathing her smell deeply. What was left of my  violent rage completely dissipated, returning to wherever it normally  hid.

"Fuck, I'm so happy you're okay," I said to her.

"I love you," she blurted out.

I pulled back, my eyes wide. She looked away, clearly embarrassed.







"I love you too," I whispered.

And in that moment I knew I always had. Even when I first got a taste of  her back in the club, before I knew who she was, I had loved her. When  my bitch mother asked me to stay with them, I decided to do it only  because I'd be closer to Claire. Because I loved her, I realized, and  wanted to be near her. She was the only one I was willing to do anything  for, to go so far for.

I kissed her, hard, and she kissed me back, wrapping her arms around me.  I'd never been so uselessly and hopelessly intertwined with another  person before. In the SEALs, you didn't get close with anyone, because  your future was totally controlled by Uncle Sam.

But with Claire, I had no choice. I couldn't say no to her, just like I couldn't predict my own future.

Finally, the kiss finished, she looked up at me with these wide eyes.

"Take me home, stupid," she said.

"Okay."

I whipped her up into my arms, and she laughed, hitting my chest. I  carried her out of there, avoiding the bodies, and took her back home.





19





CLAIRE

One Year Later

"I SHOULD HAVE SEEN this coming."

I was nervous, practically shaking, as my dad stared at us from across  the table. Never in my entire life had I dreaded a conversation more  than the one we were having. Even when those men took me over a year  ago, even that wasn't as bad.

But at least I had him. I looked over at Nathan and he smiled at me, squeezing my hand.

"I know, Jonathan," he said. "It wasn't something we planned."

Dad sighed and looked down at his hands. "I suppose it doesn't matter now. The divorce is only a matter of time."

"I know, Dad," I said softly. "It wasn't your fault."

"Damn right, Jonathan. Lucille is a complete wreck of a human. You had no chance."

He nodded thankfully at Nathan. "Well, I guess I can't stand in your way. What do I know about love?"

My heart suddenly swelled. It wasn't the glowing endorsement I had  secretly hoped for, but it also wasn't the total freakout I had really  expected.

"Thank you, sir," Nathan said. "And believe me when I say this: I love your daughter more than anything. She's safe with me."

Dad gave him one long look. "You know," he said finally, "I never did  ask you what happened with Joshua and his people. They just disappeared  one day."

"I figured you didn't want to know."

"I heard some rumors, some salacious stuff. Nothing that could be true."  Dad paused and smiled slightly. "You wouldn't know anything about them,  would you? About some psychotic ex-Marine, or maybe he was a Navy SEAL?  Either way, he took out a bunch of guards and saved some poor kidnapped  girl."

Nathan smirked and shook his head. "Sounds completely made up, sir, like a stupid fairy tale."

"Well." Dad smiled broadly. "We haven't been bothered since that day, at least."

"And I hear your hotels are doing better than expected."

"Damn right they are."

We all laughed, and I felt my entire body relax in a way it hadn't since the moment I first met Nathan.

So much had happened since that day in the warehouse, and yet it felt  like nothing had changed at all. I'd gone back to school, and Nate had  been called up on a mission. We spent a few months apart, and then  suddenly he was back, waiting on my doorstep. It was horrible living  without him, and every day I imaged that he had been shot to death in  the desert somewhere.